Nice, good post, but something tells me it’s loads of the same… pitty

1st btw, lol :P

dude, that just sooo awsome!

Funny this was posted today. Last week a blog did interviews with Mike Klay & 7 other poster artists: Link [stickersanddonuts.com]

Great collection, but i still think, you forgott this one:
Link [www.rockcandyposters.com]

agreed with Jurryt - too much of the same, but also a lot of inspiration.

İnteresting,thanks. | Turkey

Some really excellent work, but a lot of that is really awful.

I understand that a lot of gig posters are designed to commemorate the gig, rather than advertise it, but the first thing you notice should be the band’s name, then the date, then the venue - not the artwork.

Also, a lot of these are really out of keeping with the band’s image.

And, where were the Small Stakes?

I would have to say Rock posters are one of my biggest inspirations, So it was cool to see some artists in there that I didn’t know along with the heavy weights.

I do think a great artist to mention would have been Rick Griffen, as he was obviously a big influence on a lot of these guys.

Aussie artist Link [www.kentaylor.com.au] deserves a mention here.

Good！I like it

Okay… two in a row. There is nothing unique about any of these artists nor should their work be highlighted and published like this out of the blue. These guys know what they’re doing ( Link [www.artofmodernrock.com] ), if you’re looking for influential poster art. You, however do not. Smashing, what happened to the quality posts of old? I used to check your site every day for inspiration. One more BS ad to soak up advertising like this, and I am crossing you off my list. I advise and young and aspiring designers to do the same if you see what I see. Your work suffers when you waste your time on crap like this, I promise you.

Am I expecting too much?

thanks! i loved the first two. very inspiring. the others looked pretty much the same..

FAIL - every day that you put photos or random things like this I don’t click ads. When you put free icons, or fonts, or tools, good tips, lists of applications that help us or other good posts, I click at least 3 ads in one day, and refresh my page 10-15 times.

You are missing one of the great poster designers of our time: Link [derekhess.com]. I’d even throw Link [www.moderndog.com] in there too, despite the fact that they are a design firm, their gig posters are great.

Mike Klay’s work is awesome! Can’t belive it’s already Monday. :)

Well, there goes my day! Concert posters — and album covers — are two of my favorite sources of inspiration. Thanks for the fun links!

@Samuel Cotterall - I disagree. This is 2008, not 1968. We have the internet, tv, and advertisements everywhere: we don’t need such info prominently displayed on the poster anymore. If you want to know when your favorite band is playing, you don’t look for a poster, you go to their website. Posters are for the fans already at the show.

Concert posters are one of the few remaining places where an artist can truly go wild with creativity; I, for one, love it!

What?! No mention of Alan Forbes? I call shenanigans….

mind freshing ..twister art work

Dude!…. This post is mind blowing! Good an fun time invested. Though I miss many real good poster of pearl jam. BTW you should do the same here but with concert tickets.

amazing. nice post
ty 4 Brazil

Thanks for all the feedback. Sorry to those who think that this is too much of the same, but I have to disagree. I think this is a nice variety of artists and styles. Also, I like the fact that you can see shared influences in some of their works. To me that feeds the inspiration, but again, that’s just me.

@ mikemike - Sorry you don’t like the inspiration posts, I find them helpful, and well, inspiring. :)

@ Daniel - Alan Forbes, and fans, please forgive the transgression.

sausage fest.

No Aaron Horkey? This is terrible. And this deceivingly gives the reader the idea that all great gig poster artists do work for shitty, awful bands.

Nice collection, Smashing Magazine are expert in their own way….

It’s fine, but the title should like - horror collection

Failed to load any images.

More great posters and flyers can be seen at: Link [www.vera-groningen.nl]. A local underground club with a really cool homeprinted magazine and great posters.

no derek hess? wtf?

Doublenaut in Toronto does really great posters. Check them out!
Link [www.doublenaut.com]

@ #7 Rick Griffin should have been at the top, or most notable. There were definitely a few others during the 60’s and 70’s, that a lot of these artists borrow from. Rick Griffins work aside from concert posters is equally stunning.

@ Samuel Cotterall (September 28th, 2008, 1:39 pm)
“Some really excellent work, but a lot of that is really awful.”

I agree with this part of your post. Most of those are god aweful and I don’t understand how they ever made it to print. If I were to even suggest such rubbish to my customers (yes, a few are artists, although not (rock) bands) they’d go elsewhere before I’d finished talking. But perhaps it’s a culture thing, with such designs called good being rooted in the music style.

Still, it’s good to see such posts as they remind us how many different “good” designs there can be, and it can help us to think outside the box to accommodate new potential customers.

Great list, though I miss the ones from Atzgerei (Link [www.atzgerei.com]) for Sonic Youth, Melvins, Fu Manchu, Xiu Xiu, No Means No and many more. They are great! Have to be in the next smashing list!

Wow, thanks for leaving out Mati Klarwein, I guess you’ve shown the audience how limited your musical knowledge is; that’s what I’ve learned, and only that.

Whoa ! Now this is a truly interesting post !! I have an idea that you can do a blog post on - the creativity of Vinyl LP Sleeves - especially if you take the mid 60’s till early 70’s. Lots of complicated, intricate, phsychedelic freehand designs there. Let me start you off with Deep Purple’s The Book of Taliesyn ….

Link [www.dotnetmushroom.com]

something is missing

you forgot robert marx!!

No Coop? Awwwww.

mmm, some are nice, but some are REALLY awful!!!

Why are you guys compalining ? If you really think you can do a better job then give us something… Instead of mentioning just one or two names… The guy been doing his research and compiled it for us, show a little gratitude… Critics are critics, but there are limits guys…

Besides, the tittle is monday inspiration… If this post turns out didn’t inspire you then what’s wrong with that ? You can’t have the world always turn on your ways only man…

Btw, great job to you Robert… Thanks Man… Cheers..

Loving the “Sweet Vine” poster - Very Alphonse Mucha - One of my favourite poster artists of the Fin de siècle.

@b (September 28th, 2008, 10:18 pm)

“no derek hess? wtf?”

My thoughts exactly. To me, Hess has always been the first artist I think of when it comes to concert posters.

It does seem to be a very emo/rock biased collection.

Pity again you missed Peter Saville - Link [www.worldinmotion.net] or Link [www.24hourmuseum.org.uk] or Link [busstop.typepad.com]

Concert posters are crazy. Great gallery ! (and cool to see so many mars volta’s ;))

Yes they are of a very similar style! But with Concert Posters Especially American Events its all about the Venue and keeping that hand made photocopied feel and look. I agree the Cold Play poster made no sense but i love the Mars Volta Venue posters especially the System of a Down! Great Post

Mars Volta <3

Fantastic post! Love it!

Chris

nice post, but so very incomplete…if I had to rate this post on a 1-10 scale, it would get a 1 for incompleteness.

these are some great posters by some great artists, but there are even more missing…so sad.

My favorite is Jeff Wood of Drowning Creek Studio in GA. He’s done posters for Conscious Alliance, Christmas Jam, Smilefest, Widespread Panic, and many many more!

Link [www.drowningcreek.com]

All that being said…one of my biggest inspirations is concert posters, the walls of my office are almost literally wallpapered with posters, as I look up above my monitor, there are 20+ right in front of me…so that being said, good post for inspirational source.

I am with the guy that called fail due to no Horkey.

Well worth the time for anyone here to check him out.

Great post!

The Coldplay poster is a lot more exciting than the actual band experience. A credit to the artists.

fuck yeah FU MANCHU!

I’d add Salt Lake City’s Link [www.leiabell.com] to this list.

Wow, I was hoping for some really amazing posters, but instead I had to endure looking at probably the ugliest, most puke-inducing “art” I’ve seen in a long while.

Please, spare us this crap from now on.. Thanks.

@ bozo meko - Nice work, but there is a difference between ‘Album Covers’ and ‘Concert Posters’. Guess you should have tried to learn that as well. kthnxbye!

Thanks for all the links, love, and again feedback. Some really other great artists have been recommended, so thanks for that. Sorry for some of the omits, but I’m a deeply flawed individual so that’s probably why ;) .

@ emil - Thanks for that!

Once again, there have been some great artists mentioned and linked, so much gratitude for the heads up!

@ Jonathan - So what you are saying is that it made you feel something! That rocks!

This Art is the Bomb-bo Boombastic BooYA- YO !!!!

You missed the best artist by far R. Black

wow you ppl cry so much on here. typical “designers” who think they know everything. haha.

I loved the collection of Jack Johnson posters from this summer…very diverse…http://twoifbysee.blogspot.com/2008/09/jack-johnson-tour-posters.html

Where are the Ames Bros? Link [www.bigpopposters.com]

Needs more Horkey, Hess and Klausen

This just made my day. Excellent references.
Thank you SM.

Link [www.instantshift.com]

rex ray was a bit week, but lotsa good stuff here. Link [www.rockposter.de] has some good stuff too!

A really bad post. Promotional posters are supposed to communicate something. I couldn’t even read / understand what more than half of those posters were for. That makes them failures as posters. Art perhaps, but successful posters they are not.

@ Brandon, sorry to disappoint. Though, I do have to say, I disagree. I think these posters communicate so much, not just through the art, but with some very interesting typography. Though, admittedly, that may just be me, and they don’t speak that way to everyone.

@ Radkey, thanks for the reco’s!

@ RM, will keep that in mind! Thanks.

No Kuhn posters? Come on. Denver rep-rah-zent!

@ Jonathan - So what you are saying is that it made you feel something! That rocks!

The feeling I get is that the “designers” of such posters should not be allowed to design, and instead should be relegated to menial labor in some gulag in Irkutsk

i agree…def. derek hess needs to be here….and coop as well. i think someone mentioned small stakes…they’re stuff is great.

thanks for the recognition robert. truely humbled to be amongst some of the greats. picking out poster designs and artists it no easy feat because there are just so many excellent ones out there. visit a flastock and you’ll see what i mean.

oh and jonathan is soooo negative he needs to eat a bag of dicks.
link up your work buddy.

Had to add these guys. Link [www.theheadsofstate.com]

No Ames Bros, Klausen or Emek?!?!?!?!

@ Mike, no thank you for the wonderful and inspiring work. Glad that you’d stop by.

@ PosterMan, uhm, dude, Emek’s the first artist on the list.

So many ppl on here have negative things to say - so where is your work. - Well… Where are the links

There could’ve been something here since some variety would’ve helped. Perhaps a theme such as time period, distinctive style or even genre. Also, a lot of late 90’s and early 2000 posters containing every Photoshop filter out there.

I would have to say Emek and Mike Klay were my favorites.

Guess movie posters don’t count?

Intriguing post. Curious how these designers work with the same bands. No Storm Thorgerson or Rob Dobi? Brian Ewing? Alex Gray? I myself am very intrigued with the evolution of concert posters. Favorite would be Arnold Skolnick’s poster for Woodstock 1969.

Mike King’s been doing it since before most of us were born. Highly influential. Link [www.crashamerica.com]

Hmm. I agree with the comments that there’s a lot of the same here. I mean, it’s interesting, I suppose, but I see very little that I can even use for inspiration. A little, but not a lot. And I design websites for musicians. Just… not the kind of musicians that you’re pushing here. (Celtic, Americana, blues, Cajun, tradfolk…)

Branch out a little, kids.

I happened to come across this site - Link [www.splashposters.com], and I think they have an amazing range of posters too, although I don’t think all are concert posters.

@Samuel Cotterall: Glad to see that someone else expected to see Jason Munn of the Small Stakes here! He’s an exceptional artist.

What’s next: designers listing their favorite photoshop filters…. To all the people who say we should not be so critical: what’s wrong with criticism, some of these posters would have been much better if someone had told the designers to show some restraint in the use of effects over effects over effects. It just makes it look really cheap. Photoshop is great, but not if you just use all filters at once. Do yourself a favor as deisgner and show some restraint…

NOOOOOOO!!!!

you missed MALLEUS!!! Link [malleusdelic.com]

what a shame

My favorite concert posters are that of The Drive By Truckers. The artist is a guy named Wes Freed. Link [www.wesfreed.com]

oh and jonathan is soooo negative he needs to eat a bag of dicks.

While I respect your right to “eat” what you wish, I’ll pass on what must be your favorite snack.

Not impressed with this article frankly! Was hoping for some more gorgeous stuff.

Wow, so many great links have been offered here! Really appreciative of that. Some more artists and work to get lost in.

I’m really blown away by the amount of feedback, I wish I could take each message one by one to respond to, but alas, I cannot. So an overall blanket “Glad to oblige” to those who enjoyed the post, hope it was as inspiring to you as it was putting it together. And a blanket “My bad!” to those who haven’t enjoyed the post, I hope that though we differ on our appreciations of certain styles and artists that we can still find inspiration together elsewhere.

And once again, to all, thanks for taking time to drop off a thought or two! Much appreciated.

no Pollock or Jeff Wood? are you fucking retarded?

Wonderful collection of concert posters.

Amazing. Impressive. The whiners and complainers missed the point. This celebration of poster art makes everybody take note and increases the appreciation of everybody working in this genre.

Haters will hate on though whatever the occasion.

Cool stuff. Though it is rather strange to see Flyleaf just above Slayer.

I miss Storm Thorgerson in this list. My favourite..

Thanks again for more continued feedback.

@ catfiche, Perhaps people get upset when they don’t see certain artists on the list, thinking that their favorites are being dismissed, even though this is not a list of ‘the BEST concert poster designs of all time’ or the ‘the TOP DESIGNERS of concert poster art’ in fact it’s not a rating in any way, simply a compilation of inspiring work found in that genre. Maybe that’s the rub, maybe not.

Again, much appreciated on all the comments and sharing!

Some of these are really cool and some are not super appealing. Kudos to the artists on their different styles, very inspiring. As for some of these comments, could your nose be any higher in the air?! For what it’s worth, if it’s not your cup of tea, then move on and spare us why you think these type of posts are not up to your standards. Great Job to Smashing IMO for putting all artworks up for us to enjoy!

E - X - C - E - L - E - N - T - E - S !!!!!!

You guys missed Link [www.aestheticapparatus.com]!
Those guys are the gods of rock concert poster design.

Both their website and their Link [www.gigposters.com] are most definitely worth checking out.

first thing i think: they are all geting inspired by the same inspirations. designers should stop looking around and and look more at themselves.
but they (the posters) are still cool…

I have liked Jermaine Rogers’ work for a while. Very cool.

Fantastique, beaucoup d’affiche de style psychédélique… j’adore!!!

Merci pour ces minutes de bonheur des yeux

Link [www.booloo.fr]

Bir tasarım öğrencisi olarak çok beyendim bence hepsi çok etkileyici

dis is amazing

A nice article which raises awareness of a medium that a lot of contemporary artists work in (myself included), thanks for researching and writing.

People interested in concert poster art should most definitely have a proper browse through the work over at Link [www.gigposters.com]. Horkey, Hess, Hynes, Jay Ryan, Guy Burwell and all the other artists people have mentioned in comments are all on there, and a great community has formed around the site.

these are freakin awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :]

very inspiring. ooh ahhh :)

And then there’s…

Pedro Bell

Perhaps the best-known P-Funk artist, Bell and his distinctive style were responsible for illustrating Funkadelic classics such as Cosmic Slop, Tales of Kidd Funkadelic, One Nation Under A Groove, Hardcore Jollies and Uncle Jam Wants You, as well as more recent solo albums for George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars. Bell also pioneered the song illustrations that would accompany P-Funk liner notes.

There are far better Mars Volta posters available for sale on their site than what was posted here by them

Nice post. I am a collector of Concert Posters and there are some good designs here. I always appreciate peoples points of view, and tastes (i dont always agree:) . Maybe you could do a post on early artists like Griffin (He was mentioned). Mouse & Kelley or some of Pollacks works… just a thought. Thanks for the time you put into this post.

oh man, this post is great!
i am trying to design a concert poster myself, and this post gave me a shitload of ideas.
thanks!

I can’t believe Jefferson Wood is not listed here. He is considered by many to be the best tour poster artist in the world, has won 1st place in the Pollstar poster contest several times, and is possibly the most sought after concert poster artist of our time.