Scrojo (born Craig McKenzie Haskett June 9, 1967) is an American
poster artist
''Affichiste'' is the French word for a poster artist or poster designer, a graphic designer of posters.
Etymology
The name first appeared around 1780, but with a different meaning. It meant one involved in a poster's production and distributi ...
,
illustrator
An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
and
graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...
. He is particularly known for his prolific work in the music industry and the surf and skate community. He has illustrated over 2,000 posters to date for concerts and other music events. Many of those for the Belly Up Aspen in Aspen, Colorado, as well as the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, California, where he has been the resident artist for 30 years, beginning at the age of 19. Scrojo has also regularly worked for such notable venues as
The Fillmore
The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California.
Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fil ...
(San Francisco),
The Casbah (San Diego ),
Alamo Drafthouse
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the movie, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...
(Austin),
The Troubadour (Los Angeles) and
House of Blues
House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...
( multiple locations ).
Career
Scrojo was born in
Oceanside, California
Oceanside is a city on the South Coast (California), South Coast of California, located in San Diego County, California, San Diego County. The city had a population of 167,086 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is a popular ...
, and began his career as a professional artist in the late 1980s while he was an employee of the San Diego-based Pannikin coffeehouse chain, where he decorated chalkboards with his whimsical and sometimes disturbing art. His efforts proved very popular and led to his designing
chalkboard art
Chalkboard art or chalk art is the use of chalk on a blackboard as a visual art. It is similar to art using pastels and related to sidewalk art that often uses chalk. Chalkboard art is often used in restaurants, shops or walls.
Characteristics
Ch ...
, T-shirts and logos for 25 to 30 San Diego cafes. It was also at this time that his work was noticed by Grammy winning producer Chris Goldsmith who hired him to create a poster for a gig at the Belly Up in
Solana Beach
Solana Beach (''Solana'', Spanish for "warm wind") is a coastal city in San Diego County, California. Its population was at 12,941 at the 2020 U.S. Census, up from 12,867 at the 2010 Census.
History
The area was first settled by the San Dieg ...
. The club loved the poster and a decades spanning association began.
Scrojo's poster and chalkboard work grabbed the attention of the multitude of surf and skateboard companies based in coastal So-Cal in the 1990s. Scrojo designed T-shirts, skateboard decks, advertising and other merchandise for dozens of action sports companies based between Del Mar and Costa Mesa. These companies include
Quiksilver
Quiksilver is a brand of surf-inspired apparel and accessories that was founded in 1969 in Torquay, Australia, but is now based in Huntington Beach, California. It is one of the world's largest brands of surfwear and boardsport-related equipm ...
,
O'Neill
The O'Neill dynasty (Irish: ''Ó Néill'') are a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin, that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically the most prominent family of the Northern ...
, Nectar,
Tum Yeto
Tum Yeto is a skateboard distribution company that operates out of San Diego, California, United States (U.S.).
History
Founded in 1989 by former professional skateboarder, Tod Swank, Tum Yeto manufactures, distributes, exports and wholesales th ...
,
DGK Skateboards
Stevie Williams (born December 17, 1979) is a professional skateboarder who was included in the twenty-seventh position of the "30 Most Influential Skaters of All Time" list that was compiled by ''Transworld Skateboarding'' in late 2011.
Early lif ...
and Tracker Trucks. The most notable of this work was an early design, the original label for Sticky Bumps
Surfwax
Surfboard wax (also known as surfwax) is a formulation of natural and/or synthetic wax for application to the deck of a surfboard, bodyboard, or skimboard, to keep the surfer from slipping off the board when paddling out or riding a wave. It is al ...
for Wax Research. Illustrated freehand with a pen on a scrap piece of paper, the logo helped propel the brand to become the top selling surf wax in the world selling millions of bars.
His corporate work has included commissions from
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The company is headquartered ne ...
,
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
,
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...
, the
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
,
Jägermeister
( , ; stylized Jägermeiſter) is a German digestif made with 56 herbs and spices. Developed in 1934 by Wilhelm and Curt Mast, it has an alcohol by volume of 35% ( 61 degrees proof, or US 70 proof). The recipe has not changed since its creation ...
,
Fender Guitars
The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC, or simply Fender) is an American manufacturer of instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment, however it is best known for its sol ...
,
Focus Features
Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...
,
William Morris Endeavor
Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, WME or WME-IMG) is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California, United States. The compa ...
,
Converse
Converse may refer to:
Mathematics and logic
* Converse (logic), the result of reversing the two parts of a definite or implicational statement
** Converse implication, the converse of a material implication
** Converse nonimplication, a logical c ...
, House of Marley,
The Island Def Jam Music Group
The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by the Universal Music Group. It consists of labels devised and consisted under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordin ...
, the
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, housing 4000 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies on of Balboa Park leased from the City of San Diego. Its parent organization, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is a p ...
and many others.
Publications
Scrojo's work is heavily featured in The Art of Modern Rock by Paul Grushkin and Dennis King. The book is considered the defining work on modern concert posters. He is also featured in the two follow-up volumes Art of Modern Rock Mini #1: A-Z and Art of Modern Rock Mini #2: Poster Girls
Other books and publications showcasing Scrojo’s work include:
* ''Rock Poster Art: Serigraphies de Concert'' by Didier Maiffredy
* ''Burlesque Poster Design: The Art of Tease'' by Yak El-Droubie and Ian C. Parliament
* ''Electric Frankenstein! High-Energy Punk Rock & Roll Poster Art'' by Sal Canzonieri
* ''SWAG: Rock Posters of the ‘90s'' by Spencer Drate foreword by Art Chantry
* Rockin Down the Highway by Paul Grushkin foreword by Mike Ness
* ''Show Posters: The Art and Practice of Making Gig Posters'' by Pat Jones and Ben Nunery
* ''Panda Meat'' foreword by Frank Kozik
* ''Classic Rock Posters: Sixty Years of Posters and Flyers: 1952 to 2012''
* ''The Art of Metal: Five Decades of Heavy Metal Album Covers, Posters, T-Shirts, and More'' by Martin Popoff and Malcolm Dome foreword by Lemmy from Motorhead
* ''The Art of Gothic'' by Natasha Scharf
* ''Gig Posters'' by Clay Hayes
* The Art of Modern Rock Calendars
* Gig Posters: Rock Art for the 21st Century Wall Calendar 2013, 2015, & 2016
Scrojo did all the illustrations for T''he Ultimate PGA Tour Book of Trivia''.
Museums and Exhibitions
Scrojo is a founding member of
FLATSTOCK, an ongoing series of exhibitions of poster art that has become part of South-by-Southwest, the annual music industry confab in Austin, Bumbershoot music festival in Seattle and other music festivals across the globe.
His group shows include:
* “Lowbrow Art: Nine San Diego Pop Surrealists" at the Oceanside Museum of Art co-curated by Michael Gross, the original art director for National Lampoon
* “The Assembly of Awesomeness” at ArtLabStudios
* “TRPS Festival of Rock Posters” and “Rock Art By The Bay” in San Francisco
* “The Modern Mythological Gods of Propaganda” (with Emek and Mark Arminski) at Art Rock Gallery, San Francisco
* “Art of Modern Rock Poster Show” at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
* The “Art of Modern Rock” exhibit at the Experience Music Project in Seattle (Experience Music Project has Scrojo’s ”Punk-o-Rama” skateboard deck designed for LA-based Epitaph Records as part of their permanent collection.)
Solo exhibits include:
* Career Retrospective at EVE Encinitas in 2017.
* Haugaland KunstVerk in Haugesund, Norway 2011 which sold out on opening night.
* “2,375 ft High & Rising: The Painfully Prolific Poster Art of Scrojo” in 2010 at D.King Gallery in Berkeley, CA celebrating Scrojo’s 1,500th poster.
* Ducky Waddles Emporium in Leucadia
Film and television
Scrojo’s posters have lent atmosphere to film and television productions, including ''
Dave Chappelle's Block Party
''Dave Chappelle's Block Party'', also known as ''Block Party'', is a 2005 American documentary film hosted and written by comedian Dave Chappelle, and directed by Michel Gondry.
The film and its soundtrack are dedicated to the memory of music pro ...
'', ''
Baby Driver
''Baby Driver'' is a 2017 action film written and directed by Edgar Wright. It stars Ansel Elgort as a getaway driver seeking freedom from a life of crime with his girlfriend Debora (Lily James). Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, Jamie ...
'', ''
Spoken Word
Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
'', ''
Minority Report
Minority Report may refer to:
* Minority report (Poor Law), published by the UK Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905–09
* "Minority Report", a 1949 science fiction short story by Theodore Sturgeon
* "The Minority Report ...
'', ''
Nurse Jackie
''Nurse Jackie'' is an American medical comedy-drama television series. It premiered on Showtime on June 8, 2009, and its seventh and final season premiered on April 12, 2015. The series finale aired on June 28, 2015.
The show stars Edie Falco ...
'' and ''
Fear The Walking Dead''. His John Prine poster features prominently in the acclaimed interior design of the studio apartment set on the HBO television series ''
Girls
A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary ...
''.
He was an early contributor to the Alamo Drafthouse’s popular poster series designing prints for showings of ''
The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respective ...
'', ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...
'' and a cast attended marathon of ''
Party Down
''Party Down'' is an American sitcom created and primarily written by John Enbom, Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge and Paul Rudd that aired on the Starz network in the United States in 2009 and 2010. The series follows a group of c ...
''.
Scrojo appears in the award-winning 2009 documentary ''American Artifact: Rise of American Rock Poster Art'' which is featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum.
Awards
He won the 2006 OUT Music Award for Best Album Design for Candye Kane’s ''White Trash Girl''.
Concert Posters
Scrojo has designed posters for acts across all genres of music. Those bands include:
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
,
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
,
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
,
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
,
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...
,
Alice In Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
,
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands from t ...
,
The Pixies
Pixies is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering ...
,
Devo
Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...
,
Blondie,
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...
,
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...
,
Tom Jones,
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...
,
Public Enemy
"Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe p ...
,
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...
,
Ice Cube
An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...
,
Sugar Hill Gang
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double s ...
,
B.B. King
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimm ...
,
Bo Diddley
Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...
,
Etta James
Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...
,
Henry Rollins
Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...
,
The Cramps
The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2006. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. T ...
,
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run.
Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...
,
Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness (lead vocals, lead guitar), Jonny Wickersham (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Brent Harding (bass, backing voca ...
,
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946)
is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''.
Called the "punk poe ...
,
Jimmy Cliff
James Chambers OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, t ...
,
Ziggy Marley
David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician, actor and philanthropist. He is the son of reggae icon Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 200 ...
,
The Skatalites
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including " Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many othe ...
,
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...
,
Lyle Lovett
Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and relea ...
,
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...
,
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...
,
George Clinton, and
Gwar
Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. After th ...
In 2016 he designed the poster for the opening date of
Juan Gabriel
Alberto Aguilera Valadez (; January 7, 1950 – August 28, 2016), known professionally as Juan Gabriel (), was a Mexican singer, songwriter and actor. Colloquially nicknamed as Juanga () and El Divo de Juárez, Juan Gabriel was known for his f ...
's final tour. Gabriel was among Latin America's best selling singer-songwriters and recorded the best-selling album of all time in Mexico.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scrojo
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
American poster artists
American illustrators
American graphic designers
Psychedelic artists
People from Encinitas, California
Living people
1967 births