(Topic ID: 364632)

Stern Pinball Factory Mural Art

By RandyMartinez

13 days ago



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    #1 13 days ago

    Hey Pinball Fans! Did you happen to go to the Stern Pinball Factory during Pinball Expo?
    If you did, you saw the brand new mural, recently revealed at the front of the Stern Pinball Factory!
    I am very happy to share that I (Randy Martinez) am the artist who illustrated this giant piece of art!
    I am beyond honored Stern Pinball asked me to Illustrate this Giant "Welcome" sign for all the fans and visitors to enjoy!

    This mural was a fantastic collaboration of artists and creative minds. The concept for a giant pinball playfield was from the mind of video game and pinball legend George Gomez! The color scheme and flame motif is inspired by graphics created by the great Jeremy Packer. I was tasked with designing and illustrating this huge playfield, and Kevin OConnor made final edits to make the art fit, and look awesome!
    I am so honored to have illustrated this mural and am proud to be part of such a cool collaboration!

    This art project had a unique set of challenges. With Murals, you have to conceptualize how the composition will look on a massive scale. It's tougher than you might think. The next challenge was creating art that will be broken up by fairly wide borders. The challenge was creating a continuous image, that "jumps" the borders, while still maintaining the concept of a zoomed view of a playfield. This is where teamwork really comes into play. George Gomez was very helpful and articulate about what he had envisioned, and I did not want to disappoint. We knew early on that the color scheme and Flame motif would be based on graphic designs Jeremy Packer (Zombie Yeti) had previously created for Stern. It was really great to have such cool graphic designs as starting point. There is one more creative mind I want to acknowledge and that is the (now retired) art director Greg Freres. Greg is a legend, as you know, and I feel so privileged
    to have had the opportunity to not only work with Greg, but to receive so much guidance and wisdom from him in this Pinball industry. He will be missed. Greg came up with the idea to put the Elk silhouette on the Pinball, as a nod to Sterns Home town of Elk Grove Village, IL. Nice little touch!

    If you get a chance to see the mural, go check it out!

    Best,
    Randy

    to see more of my art
    Visit
    Www.randymartinez.art
    *images provided by Stern Pinball

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    #2 13 days ago

    Did notice this in the sharing of the expo photos. Thought it looked awesome and very fitting of Stern. Didn't realize it was new, though. Great job!

    To me, the art makes it look like Stern is cutting edge, but rooted in the classic elements of pinball.

    #3 13 days ago

    Excellent. Love our Mando LE. Thanks Randy!

    #4 13 days ago
    Quoted from MiniPinHead:

    Did notice this in the sharing of the expo photos. Thought it looked awesome and very fitting of Stern. Didn't realize it was new, though. Great job!
    To me, the art makes it look like Stern is cutting edge, but rooted in the classic elements of pinball.

    Thanks!

    #5 13 days ago
    Quoted from KozMckPinball:

    Excellent. Love our Mando LE. Thanks Randy!

    Thank you!

    #6 13 days ago

    Thanks for sharing some of the process of how it all came together, looks amazing! Hope to see it in person one day .

    #7 12 days ago

    Awesome mural, very well done by you and the team! I wish more companies commissioned stuff like this. I know it cost a lot and doesn't bring in hard revenue, but it does build brand and help people see that the company is proud of what they do and believe in their products.

    #8 10 days ago
    Quoted from roar:

    Thanks for sharing some of the process of how it all came together, looks amazing! Hope to see it in person one day .

    No prob, I love to share! Thank you!

    #9 10 days ago
    Quoted from Jmclairmont:

    Awesome mural, very well done by you and the team! I wish more companies commissioned stuff like this. I know it cost a lot and doesn't bring in hard revenue, but it does build brand and help people see that the company is proud of what they do and believe in their products.

    Thank you. Yeah, I always wish there was more art job opportunities for every one! But I know what you mean. When I was a kid, I used to paint murals all the time with my Dad (Back in the 70.s and 80's). By the 90s, at least where I lived, it seems like public art became passe'. I think part of it is the advent of printing processes that made signage a lot less expensive and quick. The problem was, people would also cheap out on the art the would have printed on their signs. So the creativity and splashy designs really dipped, in public advertising. Also, and probably more important, cities started putting super restrictive ordinances on where you could or couldn't paint a mural, and what you could paint a mural of. Thankfully, it seems in a lot of cities I visit, a lot go downtown areas are opening up to the idea of murals and public art. I think it helps beautify, but really adds/helps with the quality of life of the people who work and life in the cities.
    For the Stern Mural, I think they originally wanted to paint the building... dont quote me on that, I may have just wanted to pain on the building and just dreamt that, haha. But the great thing about having a building filled with creative people is if there is a will, we find a way!

    #10 5 days ago
    Quoted from RandyMartinez:

    Thankfully, it seems in a lot of cities I visit, a lot go downtown areas are opening up to the idea of murals and public art.

    Search "murals in Springfield, Ohio." Those came to mind immediately for me. It really is becoming more common again to see big murals in public areas of towns and cities. I'm a big fan of them!

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