Case Study: Illegal Pete’s
Illegal Pete’s smartly used their marketing budget as a means to bolster local culture: they presented comedy and music shows, supported independent artists, and even ran a record label. After working closely with them in the comedy and music scene marketing, I joined the team full-time in 2010 to help guide the company’s art direction and visual marketing. It was something of a dream job, the intersection of food, culture, arts, community, and irreverence. Here are some of my favorite projects from that time.
COMPANY
Illegal Pete’s
ART DIRECTOR
Michael David King
DATE
2015-2020
- 2017 · Michael David King: Top 100 Colorado Creative, Westword
Photo shoot direction for Nacho Catering—I think my helping on the far right looks most appetizing
To keep the photo assets as fresh as the food I liked to do menu photo shoots at least once a year.
We tried to think carefully about every facet of operations. Catering packaging, for example, was an opportunity to bring some originality and added excitement. The food is important, but the entire experience needs to shine.
Even the matches we provided to keep the sterno cans going gave us a moment to create something fun and collectible.
And, of course, we loved T-shirts and swag of all shapes and sizes as yet another fun way to get our brand into the world.
In my tenure, I directed (and, in one case, built) 2 complete web overhauls to make sure the online experience carried the same no-rules spirit that made the brand refreshing.
