Erin Gallagher...fashionista?Considering that my daily apparel of choice is Levi's, a tee and a sweat-shirt, one wouldn't assume by looking at me on a typical weekday that I am at all interested in fashion– but I'm actually a secret fashionista-wanna-be. I try to jazz it up when I'm out on the town of course, I love Project Runway and I'm a sucker for fashion magazines. As a kid I used to sit for hours drawing girls in made-up outfits or versions of my own, and I recently thought– why don't I do some more of that? So here are some sketches, and I'm sure now that I've caught fashion fever again there will be more to come.

New LogoThis is a new logo for the demo-fest held every Tuesday evening at the Chelsea Whole Foods Market store. Every department has free samples available from 5pm–7pm. I wanted to convey Springtime, freshness, and simplicity with this design. I like both of the fonts a lot on their own, but I also dig how they contrast– one a bit edgy and more contemporary, but still with a home-made quality– the other with a clean, retro charm. Besides all that, who doesn't like free samples?

The Decemberists Poster ContestThis is my super-rushed entry into the The Decemberists poster contest. The objective was to design a poster for The Decemberists first show playing their new album, the Hazards of Love, in Austin, Texas. The album is a high-concept piece (naturally) involving a "rake" who is excited to find "love" and lust in marriage, but not so happy once all the kids and responsibility come around. When the fiend's wife dies in childbirth, he decides a fresh start is in order and quickly and efficiently disposes of his offspring. I believe there is an enchanted fawn and a fairy queen of some sort involved in the narrative as well, but we'll all have to wait for the albums official release on 3/24 to discover the whole story.
I really only had a day to work on this, so it's not how I envisioned, but I'm glad I was at least able to get the idea down. Hopefully next time there's a fun illustration contest I won't be packing up my whole apartment in two weeks!

It's Electric!– A New Threadless Tee Shirt Submission– Help Me Win!!!

Threadless is an awesome tee shirt company that prints designs submitted by artists and voted on by fans.

Click here to check out my new Threadless submission and please vote for my design to get printed. Thanks everyone!

p.s. You have to register with Threadless.com to vote, but I promise it's quick and painless– unlike a jellyfish sting!

Storm's a-comin'

I went to the New York Comic Con two weeks ago– and boy was it overwhelming. But it was also inspiring– I realized don't have nearly enough drawings of the comic-book characters I love. I grew up in a house full of boys who read comics and watched Star Trek, and having always been interested in making pictures, I looked at comics before I even read them. My brothers were avid Marvel comics fans, and, therefore, so was I. One of my favorite books was X-Men, and I really loved when Storm, the leader of the X-Men, fought Callisto for control of the underground, even-more-outcast-than-the-X-Men mutants, the Morlocks. After Storm successfully beat Callisto, and went to Japan and met Wolverine's lady-love, the free-spirited Yukio, she gave herself a rebellious new look– a punk mohawk with a leather & studs get-up. Rad! (And way cooler than Hallie Berry.)

Whole Foods Market Chelsea Tee Shirt Design

This is a design for the first-ever Whole Foods Market Chelsea Store Tee Shirt! I was happy to design it. The tee was given out to Team Members at a Team Member appreciation event (with ice cream!) today. The Chelsea store was the first Whole Foods Market to open in New York City, and now there are 5 stores in Manhattan, with more on the way. Chelsea may not be as flashy as the other stores anymore, but it's got a great neighborhood feel. We wanted to present that in the design, so we went with an old-school palette of browns and copper, and a seventies-style font, and of course, the ubiquitous yellow cab.

Spread the love and enjoy the day!

Vote for me on Threadless!

Threadless is an awesome tee shirt company that prints designs submitted by artists and voted on by fans. If you want proof of how awesome it is, I bought Tom 5 Threadless shirts for this past Christmas.

Click here to check out my first Threadless submission and please vote for my design to get printed!

Thanks everyone!

p.s. You have to register with Threadless.com to vote, but I promise it's painless if you know your name and email, which hopefully, you all do. :)

"Amma" means MotherThis is the original watercolor painting I did for Imagine: A Benefit Art Exhibition (see the previous post for more information). The word "Amma" means Mother in Sanskrit, one of the oldest written languages. To me this image represents the simple yet powerful contentment of motherhood– being able to provide nourishment for your child. Unfortunately mothers in so many parts of the world are unable to uphold this basic human right for their families without help. This piece, and many others, will be for sale to help raise money for the Whole Planet Foundation, established by Whole Foods Market.

"The Whole Planet Foundation's mission is to create economic partnerships with the poor in those developing-world communities that supply our stores with product. Through innovative assistance for entrepreneurship - including direct microcredit loans and tangible support for other community partnership projects - we seek to unleash the energy and creativity of every human being we work with in order to create wealth and prosperity in emerging economies."

New Watercolor Piece in Show!I will have an original watercolor painting for sale at the Imagine Benefit Art Exhibition in New Jersey. Profits from the pieces sold at the show go to the Whole Planet Foundation, which gives micro-loans to women in developing countries so they can start their own business and break the cycle of poverty. The opening reception will be on Saturday, January 3rd, from 6–11pm, in Ridgewood, New Jersey. My friend Lauren Roth spearheaded the show– great job, Lauren!
For more information about the Whole Planet Foundation, click here.