What could sk8er boi's, Dave Matthews Band, six year-old girls, and the Tufts Daily possibly have in common? Believe it or not, the answer lies in the artist behind that adorable, if random, umbrella-toting bunny perched on the right-hand corner of the front page of the paper in your hands.
Since 2003, graphic designer Eleanor Grosch has graced the art, fashion and music communities with her innovative designs. Her signature vibrant animal icons have spread throughout those sectors, adorning everything from Keds shoes to skateboards.
Grosch started out working with the art of silk-screening to create hand-printed posters for various music groups. Her designs provide an innovative alternative to the trite group-pose posters most frequently featured on decaying club walls. Her gift lies in translating the album, concert or band into an engaging, unique piece of art, fit for any apartment, club or gallery.
Grosch initially got involved in the poster business and indie music scene after finishing her degree in art at the University of South Florida in 2002, when a boyfriend connected her with a friend of his who was promoting shows in Tampa.
Reflecting on her good fortune, Grosch remarks that, "[My then-boyfriend] knew I was looking for a way to do some artwork. It was a perfect fit." From bright blue walruses to fishnet-clad legs, her designs personify the trendy, yet edgy feel of the indie music scene.
Following her initial success, she created her designing business under the name, Pushmepullyou Design, after the two-headed llama from the "Dr. Dolittle" children's book series by Hugh Lofting. While her first "official" client was the ever-popular indie/folk music group, Wilco, Grosch supposes her first projects began during grade school.
Today, other musical clients include ?ber-famous bands such as Death Cab for Cutie and Dave Matthews Band. Her achieved status as "rock artist" entails designing everything from posters to T-shirts.
Kids, here's how you try this at home
Grosch's style of screen-printing requires her to design her images on the computer, print them on transparencies, and then transfer them to an emulsion-coated screen via photo exposure. Basically, the process involves a combination of photo developing and printing.
This method requires a darkroom with a red light. There, a transparency of the desired design is burned into the screen by a light bulb. After burning the image, the screen is rinsed and then attached to a sturdy cardboard rig where the image is pressed from the screen onto the paper. When dealing with textiles or other materials, the process is slightly altered.
Grosch later transitioned from screen-printing band posters to creating art prints of the same quality. Grosch prefers this to her more commercial screen-printing business. "Art prints are so much nicer, since I'm designing them for me," she wrote in an e-mail to the Daily. "I don't have someone else to please, and they can just be about whatever I want them to be about."
Still, Grosch remains fascinated with both of her artistic specialties. "I think that textile design is so different from poster design," she wrote. "I like them both."
From her mind to Mischa Barton's feet
For inspiration, Grosch tends to go with the flow. "I usually just go with an idea that I've had, or something that comes to me. I use animal images a lot, since I've always loved drawing animals. I have a lot of practice looking at them and seeing their basic forms."
While Grosch gives the entire animal kingdom "screen time," she admits to harboring a secret love for one in particular: the seal. She also enjoys depicting birds.
Although Grosch's passion initially lay in creating band posters, her catchy icons soon caught the eye of people outside the music community. In March of this year, the Keds Corporation recruited Grosch to design a new fall line of "skimmers" - or slip-on - closed-toed shoes.
The patterns include Grosch's llama, sea horse, fox, cat, raccoon and owl icons adorning comfy shoes, some of which are insulated with a "faux-sherpa" lining. In response to her new textile endeavor, Grosch is nothing but enthusiastic, noting, "It's been so great! I love it. It's a nice way to add another design outlet." Now, every trendy Jumbo can be indie from head to toe, or at least from toe to the Daily in hand.
It is obvious that the Daily would be somehow incomplete without the ever-so-popular bunny logo. Yes, it could be construed as slightly random in conjunction with our infamous Jumbo mascot, but another elephant would just convolute things.
The staff approached Eleanor to do the design last year, and she had her own ideas behind the construction of this particular mascot. Grosch wrote, "I played off the name 'Tufts,' like a tuft of hair on a rabbit's tail."
Hippity, hoppity, guess what's on its way
Pushmepullyou's newest endeavor, executed in conjunction with Mammamade, a children's clothing line, is to design a new line of dresses complete with Eleanor's infectious style. Although, this time, it appears her designs are a bit toned down for the youngsters.
A visit to her Web site, www.pushmepullyoudesign.com, can fulfill any trend-setter's wildest dreams. The company designs wedding invitations, hand bags, logos and Web sites, as well as personalized skateboard decks. Her skateboard endeavors have been most frequently centered on the skating company Alien Workshop.
Eleanor is still very attentive to her original passion, art. She is active in gallery showings nationwide while running her business out of Philadelphia. In June of 2005 she was featured in Salt Lake City's "Paper Dolls - Ladies of Gig Poster Art," a gallery highlighting a group of 12 artists from across the country.
Grosch also recently released a new line of art prints entitled, "Seasons," her depiction of autumn entailing a galloping horse with a mane and tail of wheat flowing behind him.
Eleanor Grosch's broad spectrum of artistic endeavors, from designing a college newspaper logo to a line of shoes for a branch of the Stride Rite Corporation, indicates a rarity within the community of "typical indie artists," musically or otherwise.
She explores many avenues, despite social or monetary connotations normally associated with commercial artists. Following her passion for design, she continues to broaden her horizons and brighten the art, music and fashion communities with each new footprint and furry face.
