New Book!

When Skinner House contacted me to illustrate A Child's Book of Animal Poems and Blessings, I couldn't resist. 32 pages of animal pictures? Sure!

The publisher's description:

These poems, prayers and blessings about our animal brethren are drawn from around the world and throughout history. Speaks to a child’s sense of connection with the animal kingdom. By turns amusing and reverential, Blanchard weaves together a collection that inspires gratitude and joy for a world rich in diversity and wonder. Sources include the Bible, African and Native American cultures, Lewis Carroll, William Wordsworth and Christina Rosetti. Full-color illustrations by Joyce Hesselberth. Ages 5-7.

And while this project was months in the making, it flew by incredibly fast. Here are a few of my favorite spreads:

New York Times Illustration

Two new Dave Plunkert images recently created for the New York Times Book Review and Op-ed page.

Branding – Gunpowder River Artfest

The Northern Baltimore County Art Foundation (NBCAF) recently contacted us to brand their first art festival — Gunpowder River Artfest. The festival, located in Monkton, Maryland on the banks of Gunpowder River, will include over 60 artists, as well as music, food, and demonstrations.

The campaign we designed includes a logo, magazine advertisements, signs, banners, posters, postcards, and even t-shirts. Posters and t-shirts will be on sale during the event (proceeds will help support the foundation) and we hope you will come out and spend a day by the river with us. Spur Design will be there, with all of our Spur Stor posters and prints. We even have a few new products that we will be rolling out that day. Art! Music! Beer!

creative direction: Joyce Hesselberth and David Plunkert

poster design: Joyce Hesselberth

illustration: Joyce Hesselberth

logo design: Jess Neil

100 Heads for Haiti. Thanks to All!

Thank you everyone! The 100 Heads for Haiti event was a huge success. The gallery doors opened at 6:00 sharp with a line ready and waiting to buy art. Over 100 artists contributed artwork for the cause, and we are closing in fast on our goal of raising $10,000 for Doctors Without Borders. 100 Heads for Haiti continues online for one month.

Artwork © 2010 The Respective Copyright Owners.

Visit our Spur Gallery page to view the complete collection of art. The limited edition poster is available online as well. All proceeds benefit Doctors Without Borders.

New York Times Illustration

Here is  recent piece I illustrated for the New York Times, art-directed by Peter Morance. I worked with a lot of textures, and a hand-painted background. The story by Roni Caryn Rabin, discusses evidence that childhood obesity may start even earlier than we thought, and by the time that children are school age, damage is already done.

100 Heads for Haiti

In previous years, we used the large lobby space of our studio as a gallery to showcase some great illustrators and designers: Hatch Show Print, Charles Burns, Luba Lukova, Paul Sahre and Dan Gregory,Dan Yaccarino, and Steve Brodner to name a few. The gallery shows came to an abrupt halt after the birth of our 2nd and 3rd children. Twins. Dave handled the final gallery opening (Steve Brodner) less than 24 hours after the twins were born (a bit ahead of schedule). We had our hands full, and the gallery shows stopped.

At a recent production meeting Dave brought up an idea he had been kicking around to re-launch the gallery: invite 100 illustrators to donate work, a simple drawing of a head, to help with the recent Haiti disaster. Each head will be sold for $100. Our goal for the event: $10,000 for Doctors Without Borders. A limited edition poster showcasing the entire collection of heads will be available as well.

So for the last few weeks drawings, collages, and paintings have been pouring in. The illustration community's response has been overwhelming and we are thrilled to be hosting this event. Mark your calendars for the opening April 10th, 2010 from 6-8:30pm. For complete details visit the 100 Heads for Haiti page and see the list of participating artists.  Hope to see you there! Oh, the twins are now 5. And we still have our hands very full.

100 Heads for Haiti
Saturday April 10, 2010 6-8:30pm

Spur Gallery, 3504 Ash Street, Baltimore, MD 21211

This is my street and I never want to leave it

By far the most underrated British Invasion band if not the most underrated Rock act of all time, The Kinks engender a fierce loyalty in their fans that the pop acts of today can only dream about. It's that loyalty that compelled Geoff Edgers to film his quest to reunite the legendary band. Directed by Robert Patton-Spruill "Do It Again" has been described as a kind of "Sherman's March" with guitars and features appearances by Sting, Zooey Deschanel, Clive Davis, Robyn Hitchcock, Paul Weller, Warren Zanes and Peter Buck.

The official 25 x 39 inch poster Spur created for the film was screen-printed 2 colors (black and a musty coloured yellow) at Globe Poster. The venerable Baltimore poster printer has a long history printing gig posters for musical legends including: Led Zeppelin, Janice Joplin, and Stevie Wonder among others.

For my part, I wanted to depict the original line-up from their classic period, include a few Easter eggs for their fans, and put the Davies Brothers at the center of everything.

It's a love letter to the the ink (or is it tea?) that dripped from Ray's pen and the fuzzy guitar sound Dave created with a razor blade and an 8 watt amp, and for a group that left a musical stamp that's equal parts genius and madness.

"Do it Again" opens at the Rotterdam International Film Festival January 28, 30, and 31.

Society of Illustrators 52

Dave and I recently headed up to New York for the opening of the Society of Illustrators 52: Sequential and Uncommissioned Exhibit. Dave had a series of Theatre Project posters in the sequential category.

And I had a PrestoBingo giraffe print in the uncommissioned category. We took some time to wander through the city, un-froze ourselves with a lovely dinner at Fig and Olive, and then headed to the opening to catch up with some illustration friends and see the show.

Thanks for a Great Opening!

The recent gallery opening for Unfinished Business was a great success, thanks to the dedicated staff atThe New York Times. I had a chance to share some drawings with the crowd, and meet a lot of fellow art directors and illustrators.The show will be up through December, 2009.

Here is a small sampling of the 70+ drawings handed out at the show.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: David Plunkert & the Posters of Spur

With an emphasis on concept and form, Spur Design’s David Plunkert has produced screen-printed, letterpress, and offset posters that strive to delight, provoke, and persuade. On exhibit are dozens of posters created for  charities, theatre productions, and independent films.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
David Plunkert & the Posters of Spur

October 26–November 25, 2009

Opening Reception: Thursday, October 29, 6–8 p.m.
Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday,  8 a.m.–4 p.m.

Map and Directions: The building is located at 930 King Street, off Georgia Avenue. Park in the east Campus Parking Garage on Fenton Street and take the pedestrian bridge and path to the Arts Center. To view a map click here.

Information: Call 240-567-1368. For information about the arts at 

Montgomery College, visit their website.

Studio Renovations

Our studio is basically a big concrete box, which is both good and bad. On the good side: it leaves us lots of room for projects and collections and gallery shows and riding tricycles around in circles.

So take a look at our new exterior. With the bright, new color scheme, there's no way to miss us now. I love the security bars that Dave designed.

The entrance has a new facade: diamond-plated steel with lots of good rust, just the way we like it. Both the security bars and the facade were assembled and welded by Mike's Welding.

American Illustration

This year, Dave's winning entries are from the Theatre Project poster series, Le Cabaret De Carmen and Cyclopedia.

Joyce had two pieces selected for American Illustration's online gallery. The first, for The Chronicle Review's article disputing the Mars/Venus myth. The second, a cover for The Santa Fe Reporter about genetically modified chile peppers.

Kid Baltimore Nominated for Nickelodeon Parents' Pick

One of our blogs, Kid Baltimore, has just been nominated for the Nickelodeon Parents' Pick award for best local blog in Baltimore. Kid Baltimore is designed and maintained by Spur Design and focuses on kid-friendly activities around Baltimore, MD. To help support our blog, you can vote daily until July 15th.

South by Southwest - Award for Best Poster

​David Plunkert's poster for Dungeon Masters, a film directed by Kevin McAlester, recently took home the best poster award at the South by Southwest Film Festival. The poster was reproduced both digitally and as an oversized, three-color, 25 x 39" screenprint.

Gold Award - Society of Illustrators, New York

Marc Burckhardt and David Plunkert received gold medals for illustration and art direction, respectively from the Society of Illustrators in New York. The Directory of Illustration 26 brochure cover, with Burckhardt's amazing oil painting, illustrated the concept "put you best face forward."

Arts Cuts

My latest illustration, for Baltimore's Urbanite, is a about budget cuts in arts organizations. The Baltimore Opera, Baltimore Museum of Art, and Center Stage have been hit hard already, but some organizations are cautiously optimistic that better times will come soon. You can read the full story here.

Attack of the Chile Peppers

Joyce Hesselberth's recent cover for The Santa Fe Reporter was for a feature story about genetically modified chile peppers.

Directory of Illustration

The 25th Directory of Illustration, published by Serbin Communications, is officially released! Spur was responsible for the art direction and design of the book, as well as a number of collateral pieces for Serbin. The book features illustrator Dan Page's artwork on the cover and fly sheets. We had a great time working on this project and we are looking forward to starting next year's directory soon.

Giant Robot Invasion

Just in case you were wondering what goes during our "time off" around here, we thought we would introduce our latest robot companion. Dave Plunkert assembled this sculpture out of pipe molds, rusty chains and scrap metal. He stands over 8 feet tall and is now securely (we hope) fastened to our wall.

The Sky Below

Spur's David Plunkert illustrated the January 9th cover of The New York Times Book Review. The Sky Below, a novel by Stacy D'Erasmo. Check out the article online!