The Great Ten Dollar Poster Sale at Hero

Beginning this coming Monday, October 5 and every Monday until the end of 2009, we will announce a new poster that will be available for just $10, that week only!! Some quantities will be very limited at that price, so you will have to get 'em quick.

Each $10 poster will be available in store and online** in the Hero web store only!

Also available:

A 5-poster Mystery Tube for only $40. We will choose 5 of the $10 posters at random for your tube.

or

Get a subscription to all 13 posters for just $100. These will only be available from October 5 to October 19 at 12pm EST. These subscriptions will ship the first week in December.

*We are not announcing the posters ahead of time, so each Monday check out the blog and our website to find out what that week's $10 poster is. There will be a page on our website where the featured poster will be available for sale, along with all the details about the mystery tube and subscription.

**Online purchases are subject to regular shipping fees.

Tim Burton's Magical Fashion

I am a big fan of fimmaker, Tim Burton's work. The colors, the intensity, the exaggeration - it is just all so beautiful. In anticipation of his retrospective at New York's Museum of Modern Art, Burton reimagines the season's dark delights for Harper's Bazaar. Photographs by Tim Walker.

Many of Burton's movies fall on my all time favorite movies list and I am eagerly awaiting Alice in Wonderland, now it looks like I may have to make sure I get to New York for his retrospective at the MoMA.

In addition to Tim Burton, Halloween and the Fall are my absolute favorites, so to get you in the mood for the season, check out these fabulous photos, see the entire collection here.

Dunny Series 2009 are Almost Sold Out!

Hoping to get your hands on some of the newest series of Dunnys, Series 2009? Hurry and get 'em now before they are gone. We are down to the last two boxes and they are going super fast! We are unable to order more, so get yours while you can!!

"Flintstock", "Graphic Beauty" and "Flashback" - Music & Posters in Flint

Flintstock is happening this weekend in Flint, Michigan (yes, I said, Flint)! What is Flintstock you ask?

Flintstock will take place at the Flint Institute of the Arts (FIA) this Saturday, September 26, 2009 from 12pm - 10pm. It comprises of 7 legendary bands and TWO poster art shows, so it's kind of a big deal. Check out the great feature Paste Magazine wrote about the show!

We have 10 posters in the exhibit entitled “Graphic Beauty: Contemporary Rock and Roll Posters”, which features posters from over 30 contemporary working poster artists from around the US, some of whom will be on hand at Flintstock, selling their works. Also being shown in conjunction, is an amazing retrospective called “Flashback: Posters from the Golden Age of Rock and Roll”, the 80-plus posters, taken from the Bill Graham collection, will include psychedelic art luminaries like Rick Griffin and Stanley Mouse, but also lesser-known works from New York and Boston that departed from the famous psychedelic look.

Both exhibits will be on display at FIA from September 26 - November 8, 2009. For more info on Flintstock and the poster exhibits, visit the Flint Institute of Arts website here.

Things we are into right now... Chicago Edition

With this being our fifth or sixth trip to Chicago in the last couple years and second trip this summer alone, we thought it best to put together a "Things we are into..." for Chicago. Chicago has slowly become one of my favorite cities, and this trip has a lot to do with that. We are hoping to be going back again in December for another festival. So here are just SOME of our favorites from Chicago.

Delicious Design League
Jason and Billy from Delicious are two of our favorite people in the whole world. Like Hero, they are a screen printing, illustration and design duo. Their level of talent just makes my head hurt!! Their work is very vintage-esque in the most authentic way possible. They recently they set up shop in a new raw warehouse studio, you check out photos of their new space here from our last trip to Chicago in July. On this trip to Chicago, Jason, his lovely wife, Margaux, and of course their super adorable son, Desmond, put us up at their place and that made this visit, by far the best one yet.

Anne Benjamin
Another one of our good friends, Anne Benjamin, makes our favorites list, because she is just plain RAD! Anne, too is a printmaker and illustrator, she makes custom letterpressed invites, cards and prints. Her work is beautiful and I was so happy to get to see some of it in person finally at her booth at Renegade. You may recognize her name and work from the custom show we did last year, Anne made this beauty. On top of being über talented, Anne is one of the sweetest and funniest people I know.

Threadless Kid's Store
If you aren't familiar, Threadless is an online, community based, artist submitted, t-shirt company. Members of the Threadless community submit t-shirt designs online; the designs are then put to a public vote. A small percentage of submitted designs are selected for printing and sold through an online store. Creators of the winning designs receive a prize of cash and store credit. In 2007 they opened a store in Chicago and in late 2008 they opened a kid's store in Wicker Park. The store was just up the street from our booth at Renegade and our friend Margaux works there, so I stopped in to see her and of course left with a couple of great Christmas gifts! Tons of great designs and styles to choose from and they even have tees for grown-ups, too.

Wrigley Field
What is there to say about this classic that hasn't already been said. We went there to see the Cub's play at my first major league baseball game, and I couldn't think of a better place to have seen it. Wrigley Field is the second-oldest ballpark in the majors behind Boston's Fenway Park and this year marked it's 96th season. With all it's history and to be with such good friends, it just gave me chills. Shit, they even had gluten free beer, being at a baseball game, with good friends, kettle corn and a beer in hand...I could have died happy in that moment.

Marcello's
When you think of Chicago, I guarantee the thought of deep dish pizza enters shortly thereafter. With my gluten intolerance this was never a possibility for me, so on all of our trips to Chicago, I had to sit by while everyone else had pizza, multiple times. This summer on our first trip to Chicago of the year, our good friend Billy Delicious told me about a local Chicago pizzeria that served the famous Chicago style deep dish, and that also served gluten free pies. No, my pizza wasn't deep dish, but while everyone else got their deep dish, I could also enjoy pizza! And it was quite possibly, some of THE best gluten free pizza I have found yet. And in my searching to write this review, I learned that they DO in fact also have deep dish gluten free pizza, so I will be back!!

Intelligentsia Coffee
I have had Intelligentsia's coffee on multiple occasions and every time I ask, "what is this coffee, why is it so good?". So on this trip, while having a fabulous brunch at Feast in Wicker Park, after tasting the coffee and asking those very same questions, I then asked "where can I get it?". So we walked up the street to Cipollina and I grabbed a bag. I'm not a fancy, coffee know-it-all, so I can't tell you what makes it so good, I just know I really like it!

Photos from Hero's Dunny Series 2009 Trading Party

Thanks to everyone that came to the Dunny Series 2009 party at Hero a couple weeks ago. We had an amazing time and we hope that you did too. Each party is better than the last, since each time people bring even more goodies to trade. Quite a few full cases were bought, we gave away some great prizes and lots of trades were made. I even picked up an entire binder of Garbage Pail Kids! SCORE!!

Check out all the photos from the party and make sure to get your ass to the next one - they are so much fun!!

Photos from Seattle

I am far too scatter brained right now to post a proper follow up from our trip to Seattle for Flatstock 22 from a few weeks ago. So, between the "Thing We Like" post that we put up yesterday and this photo collection on Flickr, you should be able to get a pretty good idea of what a rad time we had!!

We hope you enjoy.

See all the photos we posted here.

Things we are into right now... Seattle Edition

Seattle is one of our favorite places that we are fortunate to visit each year, so writing this was so both fun and hard too, since it made us sad that we'll have to wait a whole year to go back and experience this all again. We had an amazing time at Flatstock 22 and Bumbershoot this year and we will be posting photos soon, but until then, here are some things we like in Seattle. - Beth & Mark

Pike Place Market
It is hard to think of Seattle and not think of the Pike Place Market. One of my favorite places in the entire world. It is THE best farmer's market you will ever go to and if we weren't flying home, I would try to buy one of everything to take home with me. With fresh produce, flying fish and beautiful flowers everywhere, this bustling indoor/outdoor market has over 200 year-round vendors, there is definitely something for everyone there. We make the trip to Pike Place yearly and as part of the trip, we also make a visit for lunch at Lowell's. A three floor restaurant and bar that overlooks the Port of Seattle. Lowell's has some of the best seafood I have ever eaten in my life, and a couple years ago that is where I tried my first fish taco! YUM!

Bluebottle Art Gallery and Store
After our yearly trip to Pike Place and a filling lunch at Lowell's, we decided to do some walking so we didn't all pass out. Our best pal and traveling partner, Strawberryluna asked if we could stop by a gallery/boutique that carries her work. We walked to the Capitol Hill area and stopped into Bluebottle Art Gallery and Store. It is small, quaint and it instantly made me happy. I saw artwork from some of our very talented friends, like Strawberryluna, Tad Carpenter, Eleanor Grosch and also work from some of my other favorites, Amanda Visell, Drake Brodahl, Julie West and so so many more. Bluebottle is owned by husband and wife team, Andrea and Matthew Porter. Bluebottle serves as headquarters to Matthew, who is an artist and Children's Book illustrator. I am a big fan of Matthew's illustrations, I bought his alphabet book last year as a gift for my nephew, Noah, and wanted to buy it again this year for my brand new niece, Teagan. Matthew was manning the register at his lovely store and was kind enough to sign both books that I bought. This store had so much stuff I wanted to buy, I really had to hold back.

Dick's Drive In
One of the greatest things about living in a free society is fast food. The idea that you can simply pull into restaurant, cough up two bucks and be on your way with a burger, still blows my mind. So, I try to exercise this right as much as possible and thank my lucky stars that I live in the glory of freedom and not a communist country like Europe. Needless to say, nothing symbolizes my right to choose like a fresh bag of Dick's! With a overly simple menu and even simpler pricing, they turn it over quick. I prefer the simple burger and not the fancy one. I also always have the strawberry shake, which sometimes I pretend is Pepto Bismol, so I don't feel like I'm stuffing myself too much. Sure, the skeptics will complain that you have to pay for ketchup, but I say, ask any European if they'd pay a nickel to be free! Hero Fun Fact No. 238: I (Mark), have never spent over 24 hours in Seattle without putting some Dick's in my stomach!

Easy Street Records
It's easy to see how Seattle keeps such a great music and design scene. With Easy Street sitting proud to nurture the ears and eyes of Seattle. It's big but not overwhelming. It rocks, but not too loud. It lets you be, but is friendly if you need help. It's everything that is right about an indie record store and everything that is missing when buying a track off iTunes. For the kids at Hero, it's our second favorite record store in the world! Number one being ear X-tacy in Louisville, of course!

The Mecca Cafe
The Mecca is a fabulous 80 year old dive diner/bar up the block from the hotel that we stay at every year. Complete with vintage vinyl booths, a jukebox and most of the original decor from it's beginnings in 1929. We love to hit the Mecca up for breakfast, we love their super delicious unpretentious coffee and the Salmon Saute is pretty much the most amazing breakfast, with the freshest salmon you could ever imagine. Oh and I have three words for you, THICK CUT BACON!!! (see above photo) Probably the best bacon I have ever eaten. The Mecca is also a great watering hole, but most times we are drinking on the rooftop of our hotel with the fabulous view of the Puget Sound.

Area 51
On our day off while walking, we stumbled on this great furniture and housewares store, Area 51. A huge space filled with new and vintage, modern furniture and housewares. So many beautiful mid century modern pieces that I would die to come across in a thrift store or at a garage sale. Obviously, these items were all carefully selected and far out of my price range, but I could have spent all day in there. They had the largest collection of over sized sign and marquee letters I have ever seen in person. I had to fight wanting to walk out with one.

So much insanity...

September has been one THE craziest months ever for Hero. So, sorry for the lack of posts on the blog.

In the coming days look for - 'Things We Are Into' posts, reviews and photos from Flatstock and Renegade, photos from the Dunny party, new releases at the boutique for the next month and much more!

We'd also like to update you on the Artvoice art-stealing debacle, but there really isn't much more to tell you at this point. We had hoped to handle the situation as amicably as possible, however their response to us and choice of how to handle their mistake, didn't quite mesh with what we thought was fair, given the circumstances. So, we chose to not take their offer and are continuing to move forward in other ways. More on that when there is more to tell.

The 7th Annual Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago

Hero will be participating in the 7th Annual Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago will be September 12 + 13 from 11am – 7pm on Division St. between Damen Ave. and Paulina St. in Wicker Park! click here for directions

Over 300 artists are traveling from all over the country to participate and sell their handmade goods: from clothing and accessories, to stationery and concert posters, with everything from bath-products, ceramics and housewares in between! This FREE TO ATTEND DIY craft, art and design extravaganza occurs in one of Chicago’s liveliest neighborhoods, on its busiest block!

So make sure you come by the Hero booth and check out all of our goodies, including a bunch of new greeting card designs and brand new Hero pillows!!!

Read more about Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago here.

New Buffalo Prints from Hero Design and Buffalo Rising

Buffalo Rising Print
16" x 20" - 4 color silkscreen print

We were proudly commissioned by Buffalo Rising to create four, brand new limited edition Buffalo Art Prints for their online store. Each design is a 16" x 20" silkscreen print and each is an edition size of only 150 prints, the colors vary from 3 to 5 colors per print. They are all printed on Accent Opaque Smooth White 100# cover stock.


The prints are available now and can be purchased online in the Buffalo Rising store or in person at the Hero Boutique at 93 Allen Street in Buffalo, NY.


From Buffalo Rising:

We've had the good fortune of working with Hero Design in the past and, based on that experience, we were anxious to find another opportunity to work together. Well, we found it and we couldn't be happier with the results.

If you're not familiar with Hero Design, take some time to check out their work. They are hyper-talented young designers the city should be proud to be home to and their work has been lauded in Spin Magazine and elsewhere.

We commissioned Hero Design to create, design and print four distinct Buffalo-themed prints. The results are four unique, beautiful, hand-crafted prints which capture different parts of the Buffalo identity.

Queen City Print
16" x 20" - 4 color silkscreen print

Good Town Print
16" x 20" - 3 color silkscreen print

Steel A Great City Print
16" x 20" - 4 color silkscreen print