Designed by Monkeys Neutral Milk Hotel Petaluma Poster

Mike from Designed by Monkeys shot me an email about his new poster and I thought it was pretty cool looking. I have no idea who or what Neutral Milk Hotel is but I thought you guys might dig this poster from a new artist.

This limited edition poster is available for sale at designedbymonkeys.etsy.com. It is 11x19, and printed on French Paper, 140lb “Speckletone Madero Beach” (flecked) and letterpress style.  It is limited to a run of 300 posters, signed and numbered by the illustrator, after which the band info will be removed, and it will continue to be printed as an art print.

Illustration by Michael Houghton of Designed by Monkeys as a gig poster for Neutral Milk Hotel’s appearance at The Phoenix Theater, Petaluma, CA.

“I wanted to create something that was a dream-state portrait of [singer] Jeff Mangum,” says Houghton. “I really worked hard on finding the right balance between a straight likeness and something stylized – actually kind of drove myself a little crazy getting it just right. The birds and the roots of his beard are based loosely on the song ‘Little Birds”, which is in the ‘throw your daughter down the well’ tradition of folk music. It’s a really beautiful song.

“Neutral Milk Hotel’s album Aeroplane Over the Sea is my favorite album of all time,” continues Houghton. “It’s just gorgeous and soaring and has meant a lot to my life. I wanted to try to do something as a tribute to what their music has meant to me.”

Houghton is an illustrator and graphic designer, living in Santa Rosa, CA (better known to the rest of the world as “wine country”, an hour north of San Francisco).