Someoddpilot

“There was underground music. And then under that, there was us.”

Chris and Annika are speaking at our gallery Public Works on Thursday evening. Would love to see you!

In the late 90s graphic design felt new (!!), and small studios were showing up on the radar in places like The Empty Bottle, Fireside Bowl, and record stores - credited for designing album covers, posters and flyers. Most of our work was done in trade for records and free shows, beer, free ads, friendships or just for fun. It felt like a vibrant art made on the fly, wild and free. In order to see any of it, like the famous saying goes, you had to be there. None of it was on the internet. Show photography was tricky. Stages are dim, and setting the camera down in order for the shutter to open for 3-5s to get an exposure on film meant you got what you got. Most of the frames sucked. A few were in focus.

Our original office in 1999, the art & design clubhouse of our dreams 🤗 It was cheap, riddled with fire code violations, bright gothic skylights and wtf rooms - like one with the building’s compressor in it that produced occasional deafening noises when you walked by it (in the dark), or a bathroom we shared with the men who lived across the hall and showered in its sink. We built a soundproof room so our band could practice without them noticing. Respect! We were happy to be alive. We smoked at our desks. We advertised for new clients in indie magazines by telling them we were “incredibly mature, clean and professional” then describing how disheveled and dirty our space was in words and pictures. 🤷♂️ We were 2 designers, a band, and a record label. $700 a month split four ways. We proudly built our desks from whatever was laying around the dumpster. The only thing guaranteeing our freedom was our frugality. Design. Film. Music. Cause what else is there?

Meat our newest client, Kettle & Fire Grass-fed, free-range creative simmering for 2025

#15! Sharing rare air with the top indie agencies in the country – incl our Chicago buddies at Quality Meats Creative. Thank you to Doug Zanger from Indie Agency News and our amazing team at Raven Public Relations.

WELCOME TO SOMEODDPLANET. VIEWING REQUIRED BEFORE ENTERING OUR ATMOSPHERE.

BTS dreamscape for Travelpro Products, Inc. (shot in our studio)

Catch flights not feelings 🛫 We launched Travelpro Products, Inc. new daybag collection with a multi-channel campaign that honors the brand’s roots in aviation. Shot entirely in our studio with a $30k projector 😂 What a great collab Andrew Shripka, Valérie B., Alejandro Forero!