Street Stickers
Street Stickers
Published on the occasion of the exhibition Street Stickers The Design Center at Philadelphia University 4201 Henry Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19144 215-951-2863 www.philau.edu/designcenter Editor: Myra Lloyd Design: Myra Lloyd Photography: Myra Lloyd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system) without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Š 2016 The Design Center at Philadelphia University
Street Stickers A collection curated for The Design Center at Philadelphia University
Curated by Myra Lloyd
Contents Foreword Slap a Sticker on it and Call it a Day
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Interview Amy Tells All 13 Featured Writers Antboy 17 Heds 19 MQ 21 Pez 23 South 25 Supe 27 Xeme 29 Atomik 31 Casual 32 Gamovr 33 Oats 34 RF 35 Rukus 36 The Collection East Coast 39 West Coast 51 International 57 No Location 63 Index 71
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Slap a Sticker on it and call it a day
Recently, graffiti stickers are almost as ubiquitous as spray paint and markers vandalizing every major city. They are seen peeling off mailboxes, decaying on metal poles, and littering the doors and walls of buildings around town.
S
ince stickers are lower risk than paint and marker tags, graffiti writers often find themselves creating stacks and stacks of these little works. A writer can spend minutes crafting the perfect sticker in the comfort of his own home where it is safe to do so and then only spend a second in the act of vandalism when peeling and sticking in public. This convenience has lead to the growth of sticker graffiti, and many artists and writers have honed their craft and become local legends in the graff community. Most of the new talent who write graffiti started off as people who make stickers or “sticker kids� as they are called in the graff community. These sticker kids often come up with a character to represent them and stick to it. These are often animals, cartoon people, or robots. Some of the ones around Philly are flamingos, monsters, and little people. People who are not into graffiti are often fans of these stickers, and many artists have gained local attention from blogs, newspapers and artshows. Ordinary people are not as much into the graffiti side of stickers, but if you know what to look for, you start seeing them everywhere.
Graffiti and stickers are also featured in an array of publications. The Infamous Magazine is one such publication. It mostly features traditional graffiti and trains, but has some content on stickers. A famous sticker and graffiti writer MQ recently had a special edition made of the magazine. The website 12oz Prophet also features graffiti stickers, and it showcases videos of people making them as well. The sticker company Eggshell also releases videos of writers using their brand of stickers. Videos are quite popular in the graff community and writers often make cool movies set to rap and hip-hop music. Members of the community also make graffiti and sticker zines. Rat Milk Zine and Zipgun are two of the most known sticker zines. Instant Lunch Zine is an up and coming sticker zine being made by writers in the Philadelphia area. In the modern era, graffiti has changed quite a bit due to the internet. Newbie writers can easily see styles they want to emulate and
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great works done by legends right from their computers instead of trying to find these pieces in alleys and the downtown areas of major cities or on passing freight trains. Also because of the internet, many writers are easily able to communicate and collaborate with each other or get into petty fights over whose throw dripped onto whose and who took a good spot. Outsiders may think that graffiti writers use the deep web or some crazy forum to display work and communicate, but many just do it on Instagram. Instagram allows them to keep their true identity anonymous and to interact with fans. Popular writers often have thousands of followers, and there are millions of graffiti posts and reposts on the social media site. Since Instagram is so picture based and so accessible, it is an obvious pick for a platform. Tumblr is also used as it facilitates any level of anonymity the user desires as well as being a highly visual platform. Graffiti stickers come in many styles. Some are made by street artists, and they feature a character or some sort of art piece. Graffiti writers put up their name in the form of a hand, throw, or printed sticker. A hand is like an autograph or a simply written name. A throw looks like bubble letters and there are two types: hollows and fills. Many writers create printed stickers as they are easy to mass produce and there are more design options. Printed stickers are often well designed and colorful. Printed stickers may be more eye-catching, but hand done stickers are a treasure since each one is an original by that writer. To a discerning sticker aficionado, writing implement and surface are of vital importance and must be selected with
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“No one can just whip out a can of spray paint or a marker in center city, but anyone can walk around all day and get their name all over the city in sticker form.�
Oats Philadelphia No Crew
the utmost care. Many writers use Pilot markers, but some use paint markers. Highlighters and chrome markers are often used on fills. Colored markers are also commonly used in sticker production. Ink should be considered for stickers that will face such elements like rain or sun fading. Markers from Japan are considered top quality for their build, ink, and smooth applicator. The blank sticker itself is also important. Eggshell brand stickers are some of the most popular. Not only are they well designed graphically, they also have an industrial design quirk that vandalists love: they are almost impossible to remove. The name comes from the fact that when attempting to peel one off, the sticker cracks and only tiny pieces come off at a time. This also makes them good for placing on uneven or grooved surfaces like fire hydrants or ATM keypads. Postal labels are also popular since they’re free and easily accessible to all.
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Stickers are one of the most popular forms of modern graffiti and have even become their own sub-genre. The writer MQ remarked that stickers have become so ubiquitous because they’re the only form or graffiti people can really do in broad daylight. No one can just whip out a can of spray paint or a marker in center city, but anyone can walk around all day and get their name all over the city in sticker form. If a cop said anything, the person would only get a littering fine since the nature of vandalism is transforming the original surface in a permanent way. Stickers are removable, and yet they are everywhere. Graffiti stickers are portable, tradeable graffiti that many people collect. Like other collections, each graffiti sticker has a unique value, and famous writers’ stickers are more valuable and desired by collectors. Graffiti stickers are easy and fun to have in a collection. This is an example of one such collection.
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Amy Tells All A young up and coming writer with a strong foothold in the Philadelphia graffiti scene talks graff stickers and street art. Cool and aloof are two words that describe Amy. When we meet up with the young writer at the Carman Roller Rink in Germantown Amy gives an introduction by raising a finger and glides over to the skate rentals. After a few rounds of skating, we order cheese fries and settle into a booth tucked away in a corner. After consuming the gooey goodness that is fried potato sticks covered in melted cheese, Amy warms up to us and opens up about graffiti and stickers. When was Amy born? Mid 2015. I used to write Aime because me and my friends were into alternative spellings for names, but everyone thought it was “love” in French not ay-mee. Aime was sick and it had great letters, but I don’t want to be misrepresented. Why did you choose that name? I thought it would be funny to write 13 | Street Stickers
a girl’s name because no one does that. There are very few girls in the graff scene, and people on the internet sometimes notice and send me hearts and flirt with me. I pretty much identify with that name now even though it’s girly. Do you have any art training? I was into graphic design and art in high school, but I mostly just paint canvases in my room. I’m really into mixed media and making collages with vintage issues of porno magazines. I’m really inspired by pop art, but I hate most of the modern art you see with the painting the canvas one color and stuff like that. I don’t have an art degree or anything like that if that’s what you mean by formal art training. Any favorite writers? My all time favorite is MQ and I got a lot of my inspiration from his M. I also like Oats, and he taught me most of what
I know about graffiti and writing. I also like Remio, Soviet, Rukus, RK, Cool, UFO, Nemel, and Lush to name a few. How did you get into graffiti stickers? Stickers are really addictive because you can pump out a whole stack in one sitting and put them up all day. I don’t remember exactly when or how I got into them. Most writers do stickers before they get into marker throws or spray paint. I wrote first because my mentor thought that stickers were corny, but now we both love them and get so hyped when we get new stickers. How has your style evolved? Changing my name from Aime to Amy was a big step in a new direction. I spend hours each day drawing and practicing my letters, and when I look back at older hands and throws it makes me cringe. I’d say that I get gradually
“To me, graffiti is anti-street art. It’s not there for people to ooh and ahh over; it’s there to spread your name and style.”
better from practicing so much so it’s hard to determine when my style evolved significantly. Are you in any crews? No, not right now. I was in a crew called UVA for a bit, but I left because I hated all the drama and the group chat blowing up my phone. Most of the kids were younger and in DC. We took on some new writer and his throws looked awful and he wouldn’t listen to criticism so that was a pain because it brought down the quality of the whole crew. There was also weird girl drama, and
I just had it and would rather write without a crew, you know? What’s the social media scene like? It’s sick because there’s so much inspiration and you can see styles from all over. It’s also great that you can just contact known writers and ask for stickers or advice. There are downsides though. A lot of writers are petty and catty. Once I got this guy really mad at me because he thought my throw covered up his, and I got into a fight with him in my Instagram DMs until he realized I
Amy Philadelphia No Crew
was right and backed down. People just get really pissy over stupid stuff like that. We’re not all the tough hardened criminal types like people think. Any thoughts on the graff sticker scene? Street art and street art stickers are corny. I hate street art. To me, graffiti is anti-street art. It’s not there for people to ooh and ahh over; it’s there to spread your name and style. I just don’t see a point to street art. Hand done stickers are way better than printed stickers, but printed stickers
have designs done on computer programs so they can look really sick. Sticker kids who only do characters and don’t even do them by hand are the corniest. It’s cool when you see a sticker from a writer you like. I saw a lot of them when I was in New York City recently, and I see a lot of good ones around Philly and New Jersey. You just need to know where to look.
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Featured Writers
Antboy New Jersey | ESP Crew Antboy is known for doing rollers and for his character stickers. He is known for being a train hopper as well. He paints his character on not only stickers, but trains as well. __
Postal Label Hand & Character Hand Done
Green Border Hand Hand Done
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Green Border Crew & Character Hand Done
Green Border Random Identifier Hand Done
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Postal Label Hand Hand done
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Heds Canada | FTW Crew Heds has a tradional 1970s New York subway style. He uses yellow and black colorways, but also red and blue. He uses permanent markers on stickers, and has different styles. __
Postal Label Throw Hand Done
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MQ New York, San Francisco, Tokyo | 246 Crew MQ grew in popularity in the late 80s and early 90s. He started in New York City doing mostly stickers. Then went to San Francisco in the mid-nineties and gained a lot of popularity there. He later moved to Tokyo to paint streets. MQ always paints streets. __
Small Stickers Assorted Prints Printed
White Label Throw Printed
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Cut Out Throw Hand done
Small Stickers Hand & Crew Printed
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X-Files Print Hand Hand done 23 | Street Stickers
Pez San Francisco | DFW, BBB & US Crew PEZ is a San Francisco writer who is known for his unique style. He is friends with MQ since BBB and 246 have a lot of the same members. He is also friends with the writer Nemel who is also from San Francisco. __
Postal Label Character Hand done
Postal Label Hand Hand done
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South New York | LNE Crew South is a young writer from New York in LNE Crew. He mostly paints straights and throws. He makes a lot of stickers, both printed and hand done. __
Assorted Labels Hand Hand done
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Egg Shell Throw & Crew Hand done
Postal Label Throw & Crew Hand done
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Postal Label Hand Hand done
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Supe France | DFW, THR, FMK & AOK Crew Supe is an artist who has gallery shows in France as well as doing sign painting on the side. He is in 4 crews because he is seen as a good writer and knows a lot of people in the global community. __
Name Label Hand Hand done
Postal Label Hand & Crew Hand done Street Stickers | 28
Xeme Hong Kong | KB Crew Xeme is from Hong Kong who makes a lot of printed stickers. He has a really Asian style of graffiti writing. He has never come to the US to write or visit. __
Triangle Hand Printed
Assorted Labels Hand Hand done
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Egg Shell Hand Hand done
Assorted Labels Hand Printed Street Stickers | 30
Atomik Florida | TSC & MSG Crew Atomik mostly paints trains and lives in Florida. He mostly paints his character, which is an orange with a can of spraypaint. He also has his own artshows and self-promotion. __
Postal Label Hand Hand done Postal Label Character Hand done
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Casual Philadelphia | UVA & LS Crew Casual is a Philadelphia writer who does hands and stickers. He is known as a “tagger�. __
Jam Label Hand Hand done
White Label Crew & Hand Hand done
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Gamovr Los Angeles | NBC Crew Gamovr is a writer who travels the country painting for NBC Crew. He makes printed stickers with a shiny gloss finish. __
Glossy Sticker Throw Printed
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Oats Philadelphia | No Crew Oats is a Philly writer who until recently was in UVA Crew with some Philly and DC writers. He is known around Philly and has a lot of friends in the graff community including Nemel, Casual and Amy. He has an interest in hand painted signs. __
To From Label Two Letter Hand Done
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RF New York | TMR & WSK Crew RF is from New York originally. He now lives in Florida. He uses artistic techniques on his stickers that are more often seen in pieces and more elaborate graffiti. __
Postal Label Throw Hand done
Postal Label Hand Hand done
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Rukus Florida | PG13 & IH Crew Rukus is a tattoo artist who lives in New York. He paints a lot of throws and single letters. He has a funky style that is instantly recognizable. The single letter on the stickers that looks like a character is the letter R. __ Black Label Singe Letter Printed
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The Collection
East Coast
AIDS Crew New York LNE Crew New York Nemz New York XTC Crew Comzer New York No Crew Klops New York LOL Crew Faust New York No Crew Merf New York PPP Crew
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opposite Cool New York 907 Crew this page Leamur Boston No Crew Leamur Boston No Crew NBone New York DMS Crew Easy New York RLB Crew
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opposite Skid New York DMS Crew this page Claw New York PMS Crew Claw New York PMS Crew Ket New York XTC, DTK, WKS, AOK, RAS, and MTK Crew Panic New York No Crew Panic New York No Crew
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opposite Ader New York ATM Crew this page Ader New York ATM Crew JA New York XTC Crew Fevoe Clout New Jersey No Crew Ojae New York FYC Crew Fevoe Clout New Jersey No Crew
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opposite Acroe Jersey City YAK & AIDS Crew this page Acroe Jersey City YAK & AIDS Crew Acroe Jersey City YAK & AIDS Crew Dick Philadelphia Mayhem Crew Gong Philadelphia BFD Crew Pie Philadelphia No Crew Ten Philadelphia No Crew Snod Philadelphia TKU Crew Donut Baltimore X-FIles Crew
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opposite Soviet Pittsburgh NSF Crew this page Soviet Pittsburgh NSF Crew Modest Chicago No Crew Modest Chicago No Crew XYZ Delaware TSU Crew Kerm Washington DC UVA Crew Tale Washington DC DMS Crew Zeam Florida BTM Crew MZer Florida WSK Crew
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West Coast
Butt Club Los Angeles Butt Club Los Angeles Jaber Los Angeles No Crew PDog California No Crew Norm Los Angeles MSK Crew Hael Los Angeles AL, OTR, and DMS Crew Resq San Francisco 246 Crew Death Oakland DMS Crew
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opposite Remio Portland VTS Crew this page Kaput Portland VTS & NR Crew Lary Seattle No Crew
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opposite ChuNeed Los Angeles Butt Club Crew King Baby Los Angeles Butt Club Crew Ache Los Angeles BHB Crew Gusto San Francisco No Crew this page ChuNeed Los Angeles Butt Club Crew Boo Los Angeles SRT & BBB Crew Boo Los Angeles SRT Crew MyBad Los Angeles NGC Crew
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International
Sax Crew Mexico Sax Crew Mexico Roach Mexico Sax Crew Roach Mexico Sax Crew QP Japan MSK Crew Bates Copenhagen TNA Crew Relfy Vancouver FTW Crew Relfy Vancouver FTW Crew
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opposite LFK Crew Japan this page 246 Crew Tokyo Lush Melbourne No Crew
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opposite Want Tokyo 246 Crew Want Tokyo 246 Crew this page Pasoe Vancouver No Crew Darel Asia BMB Crew Racer Canada NPE Crew Darel Asia BMB Crew Yumoh Asia KB & TWB Crew
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No Location
Nekst Deceased Mad Society Crew Jade Deceased BTM Crew YNot Deceased No Crew Begr Rich No Crew Obese NoCrew GRH No Crew OCNSM ATM & LFK Crew
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opposite Oil Deceased DTT, WGE, nad FS Crew this page OCNSM ATM & LFK Crew
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opposite Tie Deceased T2B this page Montagne SacrĂŠe NBC Crew DMoter No Crew Holms LD Crew Base No Crew Klazee NBC Crew Holms LD Crew Unknown
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Index Ache 56 Acro 47, 48 Ader 45 Alwais 48 Amy 13, 14 Antboy 17, 18 Atomik 31 Base 67 Bates 58 Begr Rich 64 Boo 55 Casual 32 ChuNeed 55, 56 Claw 44 Comzer 40 Cool 42 DMoter 67 Darel 62 Death 52 Dick 48 Donut 48 Easy 41 Faust 40 Fevoe Clout 67 GRH 64 Gamovr 33 Gong 48 Gusto 56 Hael 52 Heds 19, 20 Holms 67 JA 45 Jaber 52 Jade 64 Kaput 53 Kerm 49 Ket 44 King Baby 56 Klazee 67 Klops 40 Lary 53 Leamur 41 Lush 59
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MQ 21, 22 MZER 49 Merf 40 Modest 49 Montagne Sacrée 67 NBone 41 Nekst 64 Nemz 40 Norm 52 OCNSM 64, 65 Oats 9, 34 Obese 64 Oil 66 Ojaes 45 MyBad 55 PDog 52 Panic 44 Pasoe 62 Pez 23, 24 Pie 48 QP 58 Racer 62 Resq 52 RF 35 Relfy 58 Remio 54 Roach 58 Rukus 36 Skid 43 Snod 48 South 25, 26 Soviet 49, 50 Supe 27, 28 Tale 49 Ten 48 Tie 68 Want 61 XYZ 49 Xeme 29 YNot 64 Yumoh 62 Zeam 49
Colophon Typography Futura family Paul Renner, 1927 Memphis family Rudolf Wolf, 1929 Avenir family Adrian Frutiger, 1988
Curated, edited, and designed by Myra Lloyd. A collection curated for The Design Center at Philadelphia University. Published on the occasion of the exhibition.
4201 Henry Avenue • Philadelphia, PA 19144 • 215.951.2863