Monday, June 6, 2011

The Cars Show




That's me in the middle of one of the coolest places on earth, the atrium at the Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California. They were nice enough to hang up the Cars 2 posters I had worked on along with my coworker Stephane Kardos and Pixar's Harley Jessup, John Lee, and Craig Foster. When you enter the Pixar campus, you can immediately feel the creative energy in the air. There's tons of development art, maquettes, and huge statues of many of their beloved characters everywhere you go. It's quite an honor for me to visit the place where all of those amazing films are generated and it's an even bigger honor to have something I worked on hanging up anywhere in their building, let alone the main area. Amongst my daily duties at work, the posters are definitely the most difficult and time-consuming projects. I believe this particular series stretched over 4 or 5 months. They also are the most fun because they combine everything I like to do - layout, illustration, and typography.

When we started the project, we knew that there had to be 12 individual pieces, rendered in different styles, that had to hang together in harmony. When I hear they're printed and ready to be hung, I always tend to panic a little because I never know if it will work, or look like a confusing mess. When I walked in to see them this morning, I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief and thought they actually looked pretty cool as a series. The idea of having Italian, Japanese, British, and vintage Spy designs as inspiration worked! Just when I could enjoy feeling that they were finally up and I was completely done, I got word that they may need a whole new set for their next film. Oh well, back to the drawing board. ;)

7 comments:

Ricardo De Los Angeles said...

That's so awesome Eric! So would the next film posters be for "Brave?"

Unknown said...

Ricardo!!! shushhhh!!!!! it's SECRET!!!!!!!!!!
Eric, you're a Rockstar! now come back, it's enough hanging out with the cool people up there in some fancy atrium :) Hope the wrap party was good?

Anonymous said...

Thats awesome man...Truly wonderful posters!

Matt Jones said...

They are a joy to behold on a daily basis Eric. We all want the Pixar Store to make these available as prints to buy & frame- they are highly admired up here.

Tanner said...

Thanks for the kind words guys! And thanks for stopping by the blog. I'll definitely try to update more than I have in the past.

Ricky, shhh! Or Stephane will make you 'disappear'. Not sure if I'll be getting that project yet. It's just a discussion at the moment.

Stef, yes the people there dress much trendier and drink water that has flavor to it. I must go back to my humble home.

Patrick, thanks so much man! I'm glad you like them.

Matt, it was a pleasure to meet you through Stef and see your Searle presentation to us here in Glendale. I'm sure your upcoming projects at Pixar will be amazing and can't wait to see them.

Junichi said...

Eric -

I am a huge fan of your work. Your posters filled all the kiosks in downtown SF last week and it made it that much greater of an experience walking around in the city.

I'm really interested in contributing to the 'Eric Tan art supply & framing fund' in order to buy some prints for my wall.

I see some listed here at Amazon --

http://tinyurl.com/3swlk6w

and here on eBay--

http://tinyurl.com/3qt8453

-- but I'm worried that those people are just ripping you off.

Any thoughts on how to get my hands on the Tokyo poster with Tokyo Tower in the middle and the colorful skyscraper on both sides?

Thanks and keep up the stellar work.

blukats said...

I saw your Cars art on the trash cans at Hermosa Beach today! They work fast with getting the advertising out.

I will try to put a photo on my blog this weekend. Congratulations!