Throne of Lies, or black metal goes Montucky Mountains

Erin Gillett can shred. And shred and shred and shred. He shreds more upon waking up than most rockers do when fully warmed up, onstage in front of  a packed house, and 3 shots of whiskey into a hard rock tunnel. Which might be why I like him so much, enhanced by the fact that this Montana boy does Black Metal like nobody's business. I wrote a year-end review over at the Modus Operandi zine blog featuring some of my favorite local bands this year. I hadn't met Erin yet, but I had to mention Throne of Lies out of respect for their sheer radness.

Later I was lucky enough to be approached by Erin at a show and asked to whip up a Throne of Lies band logo. Apparently, Rachid from Zebulon Kosted had told Erin that my design work might be up his alley. Lucky me! I busted this puppy out during a week in which I had 4 other deadlines, but I believe it came out more awesome than it would have on a quiet week. I have included both raster and vectorized versions for your perusal, although the vectorized piece is actually just a .png of the vector itself.

Raster:

and vectorized:

You can notice some subtle differences in cleanliness and detail, so there you go. I would like to link to Throne of Lies website, but alas, there is none to be had yet. I will, however, post more about them as they expand their empire of villainy. Hit me up if you like what I'm doing, need a logo made, or would just like to talk about, you know, things 'n' stuff. Peace!

Elephantitus of the Punks

Missoula=music=bands. Simple equivalencies aside, I have to give props to my friend Joey Running Crane - who, if more bands = more radness, would have to be a giant playground of raditudes for the number of bands he fronts or plays in around town and indeed the country.  The list:

Goddammitboyhowdy!, Gretchen, Holy Family Mission Band, Bird's Mile Home, ex-Bridgebuilder, and now King Elephant!!!!! I'm sure I missed some other bands in there, and he jams a mean one-man banjo band thingy as well. When does he sleep?

King Elephant has everyone's overalls in tight, excited twist with the rockrockrockpower they bring to both their live shows and recorded material. Also, for having been together such a short time, they've wrapped their tentacles all around the US, having already toured, recorded, gone to New York (New York City?!?!), and finished a Kickstarter project to tour again with a documentary filmmaker!!!

Here's the humble logo, expressly done black metal style at their request:

I can't wait to wear this t-shirt (hint hint, Joey). I wish them all the best of luck, the finest of gas station hot dogs, the least amount of van troubles, and the most fun out of anything ever.

Who we are, what we do, where we're going!

Howdy folks!


I'm Dave, a screen printer and graphic designer who has been slinging ink and wielding pencils in Missoula, Montana since 1999. I've worked in a number of screen shops over the last 7 years as well as printing for friends and businesses with my own DIY set-up. My folks and I finally decided to break out and start our own business, Iron Image Industries, to provide top-notch design and hand-crafted prints to individuals and businesses in the Missoula Valley and beyond.
I design both by hand and with digital tools - I use only open-source programs, which satisfies my ethical concerns about  class-related access to technology. I plan to provide information to other screen printers and designers about my analog-to-digital workflow, and over the course of time I will compile precise data on how to achieve excellent prints through the use of The GIMP and Inkscape. Little information about color separations for open source software has been made available on the web, and I intend to do my part to expand that knowledge base.
We can print a wide variety of images on a large spread of substrates - if you have a print project in mind we can tackle it! We primarily use water-based inks for a softer hand to our prints and a more environmentally conscious print process. We do not use old-school pthalate-laden or plastisol inks, and as new ink technology becomes available we will strive to use the safest and least harmful chemicals and processes.
We also intend to use this blog as a documentation of the start-up and growth of our family's business as we pursue our vision of the American Dream. We hope that you'll join us in this journey of discovery, and we look forward to hearing from each and every one of you! Thanks!

-Dave, Sue, and Roger Johnson