JASON MUNNTHE SMALL STAKES

EXHIBITION GUIDE

Jason Munn is originally from Wisconsin

but now calls Oakland, California home.

Arising from a love of independent music,

design, and making for the sake of mak-

ing, his posters soon became a fixture in

the local independent music scene.

He started The Small Stakes in the fall

of 2003, and it has since unfolded into

a successful independent design studio,

producing nationally and internationally

commissioned work in a range of print

materials, including book covers, album

packaging, T-shirt designs, screen-

printed posters, and illustrations.

Jason’s work has appeared in Print,

Communication Arts, Step Inside Design,

Computer Arts Projects, ReadyMade, and

Creative Review. His work has also been

featured in numerous exhibits and is part

of the permanent collection at the San

Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

About

Jason Munn is originally from Wisconsin but now

calls Oakland, California home. Arising from a love

of independent music, design, and making for the

sake of making, his posters soon became a fixture

in the local independent music scene.

He started The Small Stakes in the fall of 2003,

and it has since unfolded into a successful

independent design studio, producing nationally

and internationally commissioned work in a range

of print materials, including book covers, album

packaging, T-shirt designs, screen-printed post-

ers, and illustrations.

Jason’s work has appeared in Print, Communica-

tion Arts, Step Inside Design, Computer Arts

Projects, ReadyMade, and Creative Review. His

work has also been featured in numerous exhibits

and is part of the permanent collection at the San

Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

About

Jason Munn is originally from Wisconsin but now

calls Oakland, California home. Arising from a love

of independent music, design, and making for the

sake of making, his posters soon became a fixture

in the local independent music scene.

He started The Small Stakes in the fall of 2003,

and it has since unfolded into a successful

independent design studio, producing nationally

and internationally commissioned work in a range

of print materials, including book covers, album

packaging, T-shirt designs, screen-printed post-

ers, and illustrations.

Jason’s work has appeared in Print, Communica-

tion Arts, Step Inside Design, Computer Arts

Projects, ReadyMade, and Creative Review. His

work has also been featured in numerous exhibits

and is part of the permanent collection at the San

Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

About

Jason Munn is originally from

Wisconsin but now calls Oakland,

California home. Arising from a love

of independent music, design, and

making for the sake of making, his

posters soon became a fixture in the

local independent music scene.

He started The Small Stakes in the

fall of 2003, and it has since un-

folded into a successful independent

design studio, producing nationally

and internationally commissioned

work in a range of print materials, in-

cluding book covers, album packag-

ing, T-shirt designs, screen-printed

posters, and illustrations.

Jason’s work has appeared in Print,

Communication Arts, Step Inside

Design, Computer Arts Projects,

ReadyMade, and Creative Review.

His work has also been featured in

numerous exhibits and is part of

the permanent collection at the San

Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

About

1

Jason Munn is originally from Wisconsin but now

calls Oakland, California home. Arising from a love

of independent music, design, and making for the

sake of making, his posters soon became a fixture

in the local independent music scene.

He started The Small Stakes in the fall of 2003,

and it has since unfolded into a successful

independent design studio, producing nationally

and internationally commissioned work in a range

of print materials, including book covers, album

packaging, T-shirt designs, screen-printed post-

ers, and illustrations.

Jason’s work has appeared in Print, Communica-

tion Arts, Step Inside Design, Computer Arts

Projects, ReadyMade, and Creative Review. His

work has also been featured in numerous exhibits

and is part of the permanent collection at the San

Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

About

1

Favorite poster you’ve created?

The 1st books poster

Where does the Small Stakes name

come from?

A song by Spoon of the same name.

The song is about taking chances

and I saw starting my own business

as taking my own chances.

What were some of your early influ-

ences?

Album covers, especially from some

of the mid-west bands like Boys Life,

Promise Ring,and Giant’s Chair. Also

Jeff Kleinsmith’s work on Sub Pop.

Jeff’s cover for Sideshow’s lip read

confusion really stuck in my mind

and inspired me to be a designer. Be-

sides album covers, I was really into

skateboard graphics, the designs on

the bottom of the decks etc.

Did you goto an art/design school?

Well, I went to a university where I

studied fine arts. I thought I needed a

Interview

2

fine arts degree if I wanted to get into

advertising/design. It wasn’t till later

that I realized what I really need were

classes in design.

When did you start doing posters

full time?

I had just moved into my own studio

apartment (I was previously living

with 4 other guys). I needed a way

to come up with rent each month

so, thats when I started to take my

poster design work more seriously.

When did you start getting the bigger

jobs?

I started to get know many of the

bands that played at the ramp. If they

were coming to town I would contact

them directly and ask if I could

design the poster for the show. I met

Death Cab for Cutie’s management

and They hired to me to do a poster

and some merch designs for them

and it received a fair amount of

attention and that led to more work.

and hand drawn elements?

My posters take longer to create.

Plus, it takes a while to come up

with a strong central image. I’m

also adding different types of found

imagery. For example, in the Bright

Eyes poster I used real flowers and

scanned in black pieces of paper for

the bow. For the Stellastarr poster I

used a wedding veil for the hair.

3

Around this time there were some

guys in Berkeley that put together a

book called The art of modern rock. I

submitted some pieces for that. The

book did really well so, that led to

more work as well.

Many of your earlier works were

created using found imagery. Where

were you finding your source mate-

rial?

I was searching public libraries,

Dover books, found image books etc.

Why were you using found imagery?

At first I wasn’t confident in my

abilities to draw etc. Plus it was a

huge part of the learning process

for me. I was learning how images

work together but, as I became more

confident, I started to incorporate

more illustration into my work.

Whats it been like to make that tran-

sition between working exclusively

with found imagery to a mix of that

Favorite poster you’ve created?

The 1st books poster

Where does the Small Stakes name come

from?

A song by Spoon of the same name. The song

is about taking chances and I saw starting

my own business as taking my own chances.

What were some of your early influences?

Album covers, especially from some of the

mid-west bands like Boys Life, Promise

Ring,and Giant’s Chair. Also Jeff Kleinsmith’s

work on Sub Pop. Jeff’s cover for Sideshow’s

lip read confusion really stuck in my mind

and inspired me to be a designer. Besides

album covers, I was really into skateboard

graphics, the designs on the bottom of the

decks etc.

Did you goto an art/design school?

Well, I went to a university where I studied

fine arts. I thought I needed a fine arts

degree if I wanted to get into advertising/

design. It wasn’t till later that I realized what I

really need were classes in design.

Interview

2

3

When did you start doing posters full time?

I had just moved into my own studio apart-

ment (I was previously living with 4 other

guys). I needed a way to come up with rent

each month so, thats when I started to take

my poster design work more seriously.

When did you start getting the bigger jobs?

I started to get know many of the bands that

played at the ramp. If they were coming to

town I would contact them directly and ask

if I could design the poster for the show. I

met Death Cab for Cutie’s management and

They hired to me to do a poster and some

merch designs for them and it received a

fair amount of attention and that led to more

work. Around this time there were some guys

in Berkeley that put together a book called

The art of modern rock. I submitted some

pieces for that. The book did really well so,

that led to more work as well.

Many of your earlier works were created

using found imagery. Where were you finding

your source material?

I was searching public libraries, Dover books,

found image books etc.

Favorite poster you’ve created?

The 1st books poster

Where does the Small Stakes name

come from?

A song by Spoon of the same name.

The song is about taking chances

and I saw starting my own business

as taking my own chances.

What were some of your early influ-

ences?

Album covers, especially from some

of the mid-west bands like Boys Life,

Promise Ring,and Giant’s Chair. Also

Jeff Kleinsmith’s work on Sub Pop.

Jeff’s cover for Sideshow’s lip read

confusion really stuck in my mind

and inspired me to be a designer. Be-

sides album covers, I was really into

skateboard graphics, the designs on

the bottom of the decks etc.

Did you goto an art/design school?

Well, I went to a university where I

studied fine arts. I thought I needed a

fine arts degree if I wanted to get into

advertising/design. It wasn’t till later

Interview2

that I realized what I really need were

classes in design.

When did you start doing posters

full time?

I had just moved into my own studio

apartment (I was previously living

with 4 other guys). I needed a way

to come up with rent each month

so, thats when I started to take my

poster design work more seriously.

When did you start getting the bigger

jobs?

I started to get know many of the

bands that played at the ramp. If they

were coming to town I would contact

them directly and ask if I could

design the poster for the show. I met

Death Cab for Cutie’s management

and They hired to me to do a poster

and some merch designs for them

and it received a fair amount of

attention and that led to more work.

Around this time there were some

guys in Berkeley that put together a

book called The art of modern rock. I

submitted some pieces for that. The

Eyes poster I used real flowers and

scanned in black pieces of paper for

the bow. For the Stellastarr poster I

used a wedding veil for the hair.

3

book did really well so, that led to

more work as well.

Many of your earlier works were

created using found imagery. Where

were you finding your source mate-

rial?

I was searching public libraries,

Dover books, found image books etc.

Why were you using found imagery?

At first I wasn’t confident in my

abilities to draw etc. Plus it was a

huge part of the learning process

for me. I was learning how images

work together but, as I became more

confident, I started to incorporate

more illustration into my work.

Whats it been like to make that tran-

sition between working exclusively

with found imagery to a mix of that

and hand drawn elements?

My posters take longer to create.

Plus, it takes a while to come up

with a strong central image. I’m

also adding different types of found

imagery. For example, in the Bright

Favorite poster you’ve created?

The 1st books poster

Where does the Small Stakes name

come from?

A song by Spoon of the same name.

The song is about taking chances

and I saw starting my own business

as taking my own chances.

What were some of your early influ-

ences?

Album covers, especially from some

of the mid-west bands like Boys Life,

Promise Ring,and Giant’s Chair. Also

Jeff Kleinsmith’s work on Sub Pop.

Jeff’s cover for Sideshow’s lip read

confusion really stuck in my mind

and inspired me to be a designer. Be-

sides album covers, I was really into

skateboard graphics, the designs on

the bottom of the decks etc.

Did you goto an art/design school?

Well, I went to a university where I

studied fine arts. I thought I needed a

fine arts degree if I wanted to get into

advertising/design. It wasn’t till later

Interview2

that I realized what I really need were

classes in design.

When did you start doing posters

full time?

I had just moved into my own studio

apartment (I was previously living

with 4 other guys). I needed a way

to come up with rent each month

so, thats when I started to take my

poster design work more seriously.

When did you start getting the bigger

jobs?

I started to get know many of the

bands that played at the ramp. If they

were coming to town I would contact

them directly and ask if I could

design the poster for the show. I met

Death Cab for Cutie’s management

and They hired to me to do a poster

and some merch designs for them

and it received a fair amount of

attention and that led to more work.

Around this time there were some

guys in Berkeley that put together a

book called The art of modern rock. I

submitted some pieces for that. The

Eyes poster I used real flowers and

scanned in black pieces of paper for

the bow. For the Stellastarr poster I

used a wedding veil for the hair.

3

book did really well so, that led to

more work as well.

Many of your earlier works were

created using found imagery. Where

were you finding your source mate-

rial?

I was searching public libraries,

Dover books, found image books etc.

Why were you using found imagery?

At first I wasn’t confident in my

abilities to draw etc. Plus it was a

huge part of the learning process

for me. I was learning how images

work together but, as I became more

confident, I started to incorporate

more illustration into my work.

Whats it been like to make that tran-

sition between working exclusively

with found imagery to a mix of that

and hand drawn elements?

My posters take longer to create.

Plus, it takes a while to come up

with a strong central image. I’m

also adding different types of found

imagery. For example, in the Bright

4

DR. STRANGELOVE

Two color silkscreen

18” x 24”

5

4

DR. STRANGELOVE

Two color silkscreen

18” x 24”

5

4

DR. STRANGELOVE

Two color silkscreen

18” x 24”

5

4

5

DR. STRANGELOVE

Two color silkscreen

18” x 24”