Look for The Label!

Back so many years ago before I even dreamed of having my own house and my own chickens, I was finishing up my education and preparing to do my own shopping. The year was 1978, and this commercial was a huge hit—almost as big of a hit as “Where’s the Beef!”

Playing this song for Pearl one afternoon recently, she told me that we needed a label for our stories and illustrations, like label of The International Ladies Garment Workers Union. It would be something that people could look for to make sure they were helping the right group, and getting “The Genuine Article”!

If you’ve followed along here and elsewhere, you know that Pearl enjoys dressing up in her own costumes that she makes carefully and I’d say tediously. So labels were not a new thing for her.

I suppose using a label made Pearl feel more like a “real lady” instead of like a real chicken.

Anyway, we designed the label above for a set of books that we are currently working on. The illustrations are in a style we call “Totemic Steampunk” because it blends the Totem artwork of the Māori people of New Zealand with the Steampunk Art which has shown up so often in projects that we have done under the name J.R. Spiers.

Personally, I like the label below which is much older even though it hasn’t been used in print anywhere unless someone has printed out something from our online work.