Flatstock 16

If you're at or heading to SXSW, or happen to be in the Austin area in the next few days, you should find some time to pop by Flatstock. We're not doing either, so have to enjoy it virtually, at a distance of a few thousand miles. Bah.

Flatstock is a convention for concert posters; a gig about posters about gigs, if you will. Predominantly US-based artists and designers show off their work and appreciative fans get the chance to buy some stuff to decorate their homes.

Browsing the sites of exhibitors, there seems to be a well developed system whereby local designers create posters for bands performing in their part of the US.

So when, say, The Decemberists play the Bay area, they might get The Small Stakes' Jason Munn to create a poster:

For Oregon gigs, it might be Dan Stiles:

For Seattle shows, perhaps Patent Pending:

When they hit the North East it might be Buffalo's Hero Design Studio:

And when they get to Lubbock, Texas, who else are they going to call but Dirk and Carol at F2?

The above posters might not all be for the stated locations, some of the type was indecipherable at web resolutions. But the principle stands: acts like Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, The Shins, Pedro the Lion and loads more all use a number of different designers to create gig posters. And these commissions tend to be on a regional basis (although there are some glaring exceptions, such as Jason Munn's work for a Shins show at The Manchester Academy, of all places).

Is this due to the size of the US? Smaller acts tend not to do the kind of national tours that would justify a single poster for all dates? Or is it a design business thing?

We haven't come across a similar approach to concert promotion in the UK. Or rather, what there is seems sporadic by comparison. Which is a shame, because the American approach has supported and given outlet to a wide range of fantastic design talent. As the above examples demonstrate.

Perhaps I'm missing something. If so, please point us in the right direction. We'd love to see.

***UPDATE*** Jesse at Patent Pending informs us that they are not at Flatstock this year. They're elsewhere.