Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Flatstock follow-up and photos

The Hero booth at Flatstock 21 at Pitchfork Music Festival


Sorry for the late post, but things have been crazy since we've gotten back! We had a fabulous time in Chicago filled with a super rad road trip, great friends, huge root beers, great music, posters, vodka smoothies, expensive ok-ish bloody marys, zoo trips, and so much more. We always love to hang out with all of our amazingly talented friends from all over North America, live the carnie lifestyle for a few days and to meet a ton of people that geek out over design and printing the way we all do.

Thank you to everyone that came out, said 'hi', bought posters, bought us ice cream (I'm looking at you phoondaddy), Dan Crosshair and the API for putting together another successful Flatstock and an extra special thanks to Grizzly Bear and Blitzen Trapper for hiring us to do the exclusive posters for their shows at Pitchfork. We are of course fans of both bands so they were super fun gigs for us and it was a pleasure to hear both of them live again, too.

Here are just a few of the highlights from the trip - you can see all of our photos from the trip in our Flickr set.

Us and Strawberryluna with our HUGE root beers from a rad old timey drive in somewhere in Indiana

Us on our day off in Chicago


A visit to Delicious Design League's new HQ

Our booth neighbor (our forever neighbor) Strawberryluna

Flaming Lips at the end of Sunday night at Pitchfork

Friends. Lincoln Park Zoo

A stop off on our drive home to a Fireworks Warehouse in Indiana. My first time. I got Wonder Hands!!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

New stuff at Hero today!

Fortune Dunny 8-Inch in Gold by MR. Shane Jessup
Limited edition of only 1000!


Holy Roller FatCap 6-Inch in Green by Deph
Limited edition of only 1200!


Yummy Donut Plush 12-inch in pink and brown

And the winner is...

Blogger
And the winner* of our

Modern Housewares Contest - AllModern.com Giveaway

is...

Aesthetic Outburst said...

Oooooo! I can't resist entering this give-away because the Eames Hang-it-all rack has been on my wish list for a million years. Not only is it lovely and functional, but I'd like to walk past it every day and be reminded of Charles and Ray Eames, a couple I find very inspiring.




Thanks again to everyone for being a part of this contest, for posting your comments and reading our blog!!

Hopefully this is the first of many contests like this!!


* winner was chosen at random using random.org

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Modern Housewares Contest - AllModern.com Giveaway



Eames ® Hang-It-All ® Rack

Alessi Paradise Birds Set - Salt and Pepper Set, Milk Jug and Sugar Bowl


Alessi - Tigrito Cat Bowl (you choose the color)


Blomus Wine Set - Cioso Wall-Mounted Wine Bottle Holder and Vinotto Wine Set


Modern Housewares Contest - AllModern.com Giveaway


If you follow the Hero blog, you know about our love for designer housewares and home accessories. From limited edition prints and collectible toys to bedding and vases, and everything in between.

Which is why we are thrilled to have teamed up with AllModern.com to give away must have items from their site. The winner will have a choice of one of the prizes pictured above.

HOW TO ENTER:

All you have to do is share with us in the comments section, what you think is a must have, well designed houseware that you cannot live without or tell us which of the above items you would like and why?


The winner will get to choose from one of the following prizes:

Eames ® Hang-It-All ® Rack

Alessi Paradise Birds Set - Salt and Pepper Set, Milk Jug and Sugar Bowl

Alessi - Tigrito Cat Bowl (you choose the color)

Blomus Wine Set - Cioso Wall-Mounted Wine Bottle Holder and Vinotto Wine Set


**The small copy**
Please note that this giveaway is only for residents of the United States.

The contest closes Wednesday, July 22 at 11:59 pm. A winner will be chosen at random (using random.org) and announced as a comment on this post and as a separate blog post on this blog, on Thursday, July 23. After we post the winner, if you are the 'chosen one' you will be expected to contact us by Thursday, July 30, to choose which prize you would like and send us your shipping info. If you have not contacted us by that date, another winner will be chosen. We suggest subscribing to receive email follow-ups in the comments if you really really want to make sure not to forget to come back and check for the winner.


I had the pleasure of choosing the items for the giveaway so I spent a lot of time on AllModern.com. All Modern has a fantastic selection of modern furniture and home accessories from many leading designers. Part of CSN Stores, All Modern is just one of over 260 retail sites that offer a diverse array of products from Herman Miller’s popular Aeron Chair to cookware by Rachael Ray.

Pitchfork Music Festival Exclusive Posters for Grizzly Bear and Blitzen Trapper

We were lucky enough to work with two great bands, Grizzly Bear and Blitzen Trapper, to create posters for their Pitchfork Music Festival 2009 performances.

These posters will be available exclusively from us at our booth at Flatstock 21 during Pitchfork, Saturday July 18 and Sunday July 19. Read more about these events here.

Get yours before they sell out!! If any copies remain after the festival they will be available in the Hero web store after Monday July 20 (but we make no promises).

Grizzly Bear




Blitzen Trapper

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Hero at Pitchfork Music Festival & Flatstock 21

Hero will once again be in Chicago this upcoming weekend for Flatstock 21!!! Flatstock 21 is being held at Pitchfork Music Festival in Union Park. Saturday & Sunday July 18th & 19th, noon to 10pm both days!!!

Poster artists from around the world will be pitching tents in Union Park for the world famous convention sponsored by the American Poster Institute, dedicated to the promotion of music poster art and design worldwide. Come grab posters and hear the stories behind them straight from the artist. Since beginning in 2003, Flatstock has presented 20 events in the U.S. and Europe and has become the epicenter of the current phenomenon in handmade poster art.

FLATSTOCK is free for everyone with a Pitchfork Music Festival pass so if you are gonna be there, make sure to pass through Flatstock. Show up early and be ready to be overwhelmed with amazing posters (you might want to bring some dough too since you won't want to leave empty handed.) FLATSTOCK is an all-ages event.

Be sure to stop by the Hero tent and say 'HI!' We have a bunch of new posters, including some brand new artprints, exclusive posters for two Pitchfork 2009 performers, and lots of other fun things!

This years Pitchfork Festival has an phenomenal lineup including: The Flaming Lips, Built to Spill, The National, Grizzly Bear, Blitzen Trapper, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Thermals and so much more. Go to pitchforkmusicfestival.com to check out what's happening this year.


A little bit more about what Flatstock is:

The FLATSTOCK poster show series is presented by the American Poster Institute (API). It is an ongoing series of exhibitions featuring the work of many of the most popular concert poster artists working today.

The API is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to serving poster artists and promoting the art form. Both the API and its FLATSTOCK series were organized in 2002 as a result of conversations between interested artists and supporters frequenting the popular web site GigPosters.com. The best concert posters have always captured both the essence of the music they promoted and the spirit of the time in which they were produced. This is as true today as it was in San Francisco during the Sixties.

The FLATSTOCK shows provide the general public with an ongoing series of opportunities to see fine poster art in person and to meet the artists who've created it -- they provide the API with a way to present the poster artists collectively while showcasing the breadth of individual styles they represent.

Upcoming releases at Hero from Kidrobot *Updated*

Lots of goodies coming out from Kidrobot in the next weeks. Check out everything we are getting at Hero.

July 16


Fortune Pork Plush Mini Series 2 from Tado

July 23


Yummy Donut Plush 12-inch in pink and brown
(please note we are ONLY getting the 12-inch donuts in, not the 24-inch)




Fortune Dunny 8-Inch in Gold by MR. Shane Jessup
Limited edition of only 1000!
(please note the black Lucky Dunny is a very limited SDCC exclusive that we will NOT have available for purchase)


Holy Roller FatCap 6-Inch in Green by Deph
Limited edition of only 1200!
(please note the Purple colorway is a SDCC exclusive that we will NOT have available for purchase)



Mid August Sometime

Choop! Plush 10-Inch from Tado


August 6


Smorkin’ Labbit 10-inch - Day Glo Polka Dot
Limited edition of only 850!
(please note we are ONLY getting the Polka Dot version, not the bronze or silver)


Rippers Enamel Zipper Pulls
23 different pieces. Only $2.99 each!!


August 13

Futurama Mini Figures
12 iconic characters, including 2 chases

Magnolia Electric Co. This Thursday at Mohawk Place - FREE SHOW.


One of my favorite bands, Magnolia Electric Co. will be playing a FREE show at The Mohawk Place in Buffalo NY, this Thursday July 16 with The Donkeys and Tracy Morrow. Yeh you heard me, it is a FREE show! Why not go?

And why not buy a poster while you are there? We did the official poster for the show and they will be available for sale the night of, for only $10 each!! Come by the Hero merch table, say 'hi', buy a poster and enjoy some seriously great music.

Any remaining copies of the poster will be available on our website after Monday, July 20.

Monday, July 13, 2009

New stuff added to the Hero Webstore

Check out all the new stuff added to the Hero web store. Click each item to purchase. All items are also available in store at the Hero Boutique.








Thursday, July 9, 2009

Vitra - Zoo Timers Wall Clocks

We are going to have a super exciting giveaway coming up very soon on our blog, so stay tuned for that.

Today while doing some lurking for this upcoming contest, I came across these adorable wall clocks designed by George Nelson from Vitra on AllModern.com. They are all so illustrative and colorful. As a truly multi-talented designer, George Nelson was also successful as a graphic designer. Built using original documents and specifications from the George Nelson Archive, this is an authentic re-edition of the Zoo Timers Clocks, which were originally issued in 1965.

Check out all of the other goodies from The Vitra Design Museum Collection on AllModern.com, including some really great stuff from Alexander Girard.









Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Marquee Ampersand!!


I would like this please! Thank you.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Type Bags



Check out these fabulous type bags from da da da studio that I found after checking out Delicious Industries' blog post about their tees. Available in Avant Garde Medium, Frutiger Black, Helvetica Bold (shown above) Helvetica Bold 108p (shown above). I of course LOVE both Helvetica versions. Of course the tags are equally as cool as the bag itself. Check out all the bags here.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Lot's of printing. Process pics via Twitter.

There is a lot of printing going on at Hero lately. You can follow Hero on Twitter, as well as owners Mark and Beth to get process photos of our current print projects. Stay tuned for a whole lot more too!!

Here are a few highlights from this week: