Curtis Parker + AAF ADmerica
Curtis Parker artwork is featured for this year’s American Advertising Federation conference, “Admerica”, which is being held on June 5-8th, 2013 in Phoenix, AZ.
Artist: curtis parker
Curtis Parker artwork is featured for this year’s American Advertising Federation conference, “Admerica”, which is being held on June 5-8th, 2013 in Phoenix, AZ.
Curtis Parker has illustrated the New Year cover issue for Barron’s Financial Forecast over the past twelve years. So naturally, the creative challenge each year is to make sure it stands apart from all the previous years’ covers.
Facing a readership of predominately stock market investors, art director Pamela Budz has this to say about working with Curtis over the past decade, “I’ve worked with Curtis for many years. His illustration truly has a magical aura. It’s strong both conceptually and visually — with beautifully crafted lines, composition and color. It makes any project I’m working on look special. Additionally, he’s just the nicest guy who makes me believe that my ideas are wonderful.”
Curtis says, “I asked Pam a question regarding some aspect of the bear and bull behavior in the painting and there was a pause before she said, ‘How long have you been doing these?’ Meaning, ‘I should know by now.’ Of course that is part of the challenge– to keep it fresh and organic.” Obviously, through his decade of successful illustrating for the company, Curtis has no problem with that.
Did you know Panera Bread builds each bakery cafe from the ground up, with architects and designers thinking through all aspects of the project, including which neighborhood it’s in? Realizing that, it makes sense that they wouldn’t choose off-the-shelf art for their carefully considered spaces.
And in the case of this custom mural for a building-side in a California location, SHA artist Curtis Parker cooked up a 40 x 12-foot painting that reflected the history of the city — local planners were emphatic that it couldn’t be about Panera itself — as well as evoking the feel that Panera was looking for.
VP / Design Creative at Panera Bread Jay Jung said “It turned out to be an amazing piece of art and full of incredible detail and activity” and we’d agree. Curtis did a fantastic job. Jay also mentioned enjoying the collaboration with Curtis, saying “it worked beautifully, just discussing the objectives of the project directly with the artist.” And as little bit of project trivia, Jay added, “If there just happens to be a small group of work men in an obscure corner of the mural enjoying a sandwich from Panera, I really can’t tell you how that got in there!”
Rough Sketches
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Final Sketch By Artist
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Panera’s Final Presentation Draft
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Panera’s Emeryville, CA Store Mural
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Close-up of Mural
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Close-Up Detail of Mural
Communication Arts Illustration honored Scott Hull Associates artist Curtis Parker for his artwork published in Orange Coast Magazine. “Gathering the Indigo Maidens”, the article which features Curtis’s artwork, tells the story of the young women who harvested the indigo plants to make the pigment for the art produced during the Spanish Colonial period in Central and South America. Curtis states, “I wanted the artwork to have the feel of the art of that period.”
This is what makes Curtis a truly unique artist.
We are honored to be selected by the staff of Alternative Pick for the Editor’s Choice Award for 2011. There is so such wonderful talents in Alternative Pick and we’re just pleased to be part of the success.
Congratulations to everyone!
Penelope Dullaghan
Curtis Parker
Larry Moore
Lorraine Tuson
Curtis Parker
Mesa, Arizona has a plan. The way they see it, their combination of resources makes them the optimal location for businesses in aviation, healthcare, tourism and education, so they’re launching a move-to-Mesa campaign encouraging those businesses to do just that. For help giving the campaign a visual voice, they brought in Curtis Parker.
His creative challenge: Keep the imagery simple yet bold. Maintain a business approach that covers all the bases. And once the project is underway, preserve the integrity of the original vision amidst a healthy amount of client input. To do this, Curtis worked closely with art director Art Lofgreen at Catapult Strategic Design through the entire process, keeping the ideas flying back and forth like dusty tumbleweeds roaming the Sonoran Desert. (In a business-focused sort of way.)
The end result connects the reader, whether it’s a tourist, teacher or captain of industry, to the city itself. It also connected with the client. The City of Mesa Marketing and Business Development Manager confirmed the positivity about their citywide revamp. “We look forward to promoting the campaign,” he said. “And Curtis Parker’s artistry, too.”
Curtis Parker – The New Republic
Curtis Parker – Tampa Bay History Center/Christopher Chadbourne Associates
Penelope Dullaghan – Vegetarian Times
Curtis Parker worked with Jeff Stammen, art director at Christopher Chadbourne & Associates, and created 4 murals for the Tampa Bay History Center. Curtis admits, “Personally, my favorite piece was the Tampa Bay’s Cigar factory illustration”. Apparently, the folks at the Society of Illustrators felt the same way.
Curtis was awarded the silver medal. The creative process went very smoothly, with all the clients and committees involved unanimously agreeing that Curtis’s visual solution perfectly captured the history of Tampa Bay’s Cigar Industry. Jeff Stammen asked the Center’s curators not to change a thing. He also told the client at the museum that, “They were getting more than expected.”
Curtis says, “I have to hand it to the client and the art director for giving me such creative freedom. I enjoyed working with them and the easy working relationship made the project fun.”
Curtis describes finding out about his award, “When Anelle Miller from Society of Illustrators called me, I assured her that my entry check was good. She laughed and told me that seven of my pieces were accepted in the Illustrator’s 52 show and that the mural had won a silver medal. I was blown away. I feel really honored and very lucky.”
Doug Knopp, art director for Visual Marketing Associates, started his search for the perfect artist by speaking personally with Scott Hull, then went to the SHA website and picked a style appropriate for the client. Doug and his team discussed each style of each artist they were interested in and landed on Curtis because of his sophisticated approach to the theme. Curtis Parker offered his stylistic solutions to give the school a visual voice.
The school wanted the concept of the illustration to support the tagline for the Bell Tower magazine…”Connecting Schoolcraft College Alumni & Friends”. It’s all about cultivating and sustaining a lifelong relationship with Schoolcraft College’s extended family of alumni, students, faculty, staff and the community at large.
So why did Doug and his colleagues decide to go with art versus photography? Several reasons. The client had an illustrated idea of what they wanted. It would set them apart, from most collage magazines that are driven by photos. Always a big fan of illustration, they wanted to go against the grain. Their final outcome must be more customized than stylized. Marrying both style of illustration with the architecture within in the school. They wanted something tactile and approachable.
Curtis describes the initial stages of starting the process, “The school has a bell tower on campus so I wanted to connect all the alumni to this tower. I thought it might be cool to have the alumni crowd holding on to the bell ropes as the ropes weaved their way through the crowd.”
The finished product was described in a brief but effective statement from Doug, “The client is ecstatic.” That’s about the best response any director can hope for. He also went on to say, “The staff is excited about new style the magazine is taking via the illustration. We absolutely loved working with Curtis. He started with thumbnail sketches, so we had a sense of what final illustration would look like. And we were more than thrilled with the final outcome. Conceptually, it was spot-on.”
Christopher Chadbourne Associates contacted Scott Hull Associates once again seeking collaboration with Mark Riedy and Curtis Parker. Well respected individually in the industry for both of their years of creative illustration and high quality finished products, both Mark and Curtis were perfect for what the Tampa Bay Historical Center needed for it’s grand opening.
Vice President for Programs, Liz Dunham wanted the new museum to convey uniqueness, boldness, and a one-of-a-kind style that is synonymous with Tampa history and heritage. Hanging from the entryway ceiling, illuminated with custom made neon lights, Mark Riedy created larger than life signage illustrations of everything from ships to baseball players. Mark made the signage in a way that resembled the hand painted style of the 40’s and 50’s. These alone reached as high as 9 feet.
The Cigar City murals that Curtis Parker painstakingly worked on, depicted the culture and varied people who worked, lived, played and socialized in the communities.
Liz further expounds on her satisfaction in working with Riedy and Parker by saying, “The artists were both extremely open to the creative process and produced the most wonderful product. The icons are the most visible component of our museum. All our visitors comment on how wonderful they are. The curatorial staff is amazed and thankful for the Cigar City murals – they say it all the time! We only could wish we had more funds to seek their work again. The experience is well worth repeating.”
