“Getting a Walkman changed my life,” begins poster artist Lloyd Eugene Winter IV. “I had to have music with me everywhere I went.” Winter’s affair with music only heightened as the years went on. After entering college to study fine arts, Winter performed in approximately three music collaborations or bands per semester. It was during this time period, surrounded by a constant array of sound, that Winter discovered his love for screen printing and began to develop his personal aesthetic.
Currently residing in Portland, Oregon, Winter works as a graphic designer — a medium in which he is primarily self-taught — creating product packaging, logos, and various designs for Internet and print publications. His eccentric visual taste and musical passion are visible through his highly detailed band posters, albums, and T-shirt designs.
Like many contemporary artists, Winter utilizes both analog and digital tools. He often finds himself in endless cycles of “sketch, erase, sketch, erase” until he is able to visualize and create what he deems a decent illustration. Though he regularly uses software such as Photoshop, Winter favors the tactility of analog and handmade work.
As for inspiration, Winter notes his rock-art contemporaries Seripop and David V. D’Andrea. Winter is also on an endless search for hands-on resources from which he will derive an initial sketch or concept. “I love the library; I always feel like a trip to the library usually yields interesting and unique image finds,” he says. “I’m always on the lookout when I head to vintage and thrift shops for interesting books and magazines.”
Winter’s poster illustrations are imaginative, detailed creations of lush landscapes and ethereal animals. Through the use of tantalizing linearity, Winter creates psychedelic swirls of movement, which provide each piece with a sense of alertness and motion.
“It seems like the bands I work with usually want an element of psychedelia in the artwork, regardless of how psychedelic their band sounds,” Winter jokes. As an artist, however, Winter is careful not to go overboard with such requests; his posters generally remain timid while flirting with lively colors and interwoven textual elements. In fact, Winter hopes to incorporate typography more heavily into his future work; he’s particularly interested in expanding his knowledge of printmaking to include the technique of letterpress printing.
Recently, Winter has created rock posters for such bands as KTL, Om, Horse Feathers, and Silver Apples, as well as album art for Darkest Hour and Finn Riggins. He also designs band merch for many of his clients, and within all of his pieces, he strives to create a “meaningful and impactful visual experience.” He enjoys working in the vein of rock art due to the equal parts freedom and respect that he receives from musicians – whom he notes are often his close friends or acquaintances.
Winter also emphasizes that he enjoys working with the same bands over long periods of time. He is thereby able to expand upon his initial or instinctive ideas, and develop these designs into a coherent series or theme. Through this process, Winter can see his work, as well as the band’s, grow both visually and conceptually.
Winter describes album artwork as a slightly more sophisticated process than the “fast, furious” momentum that goes into creating gig posters. He states, “Album art takes a bit more time and thought to plan, conceptualize, discuss, and produce…and honestly, it is a little more challenging and exciting.” However, Winter has no intention of ditching his poster-making career any time soon. He appreciates the ephemeral nature of posters, the enjoyment that he derives from the process of creation, and the enthusiasm that he receives from both musicians and fans.