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Exactly what the HOS duo is doing back in Philly, but for one night they rocked Columbus with their garage band feel; that base aesthetic appeal, past era inspired, and also flavored with an air of familiarity that brand Dusty and Jason as a groupie favorite, with more than REM and Wilco. Noted by Communication Arts, Print Magazine and American Illustration, yet for their success they would credit their casual conversational brainstorming and the benefit of two comedic viewpoints; it seemed we were sitting across a basement band room on an old beat up couch discussing our sketchbooks in between the battling banter of Dusty and Jason. After all, we had stuff to talk about, since along with HOS, “We don’t want to be the guys who design sandwiches.” At the same time, a sandwich would have worked nicely into our underground session.
Over an hour or so, the HOS guys poured out the best and worst of their folio demonstrating how they collaborate on their spare conceptual designs. Socially conscious statements and artistic revivals alike; projects like “Solo” and a new “Great Gatsby,” along with “Obama’s New Deal” for The New York Times Magazine impressed with HOS’ ultimate ease of creating way beyond that “perfect storm of shadows” and seamless appeal for book covers, illustrations, and even their beginner basic poster projects. They made genius look like a simple two minute interchange, but Jason and Dusty quipped, “If we don’t have a concept we want to slit our throats” and “Every artist has an identity crisis,” at least once. Dustin added on, “You don?t have to be the greatest designer… it’s how hard you work.” And they have obviously “worked” since that first band poster whose identity was a victim of faulty spray mount and orange construction paper, but it’s obvious that HOS sticks. Their work ethic has generated impacting designs that are inspiring thinkers and creatives to unwrap the conceptual package… while they make it look as effortless as a few lines from a Sharpie.
They would have us believe their style is that basic; in reality there is an “over the limit” suitcase to unpack in each graphic they present. Maybe they “spare the words,” but the juxtaposition of image and text went up in flames before our eyes… and we were ready for that bonfire. Makes complete sense that the HOS guys closed the evening with a flaming HOS logo. We shouldn’t expect anything else from these two; in fact, grab a chair or your own comfy couch space, a beverage (or two) and a really good sandwich, sit back, and mold the next revolutionary idea… or instead, just talk about how “we can put Barack’s ears on anything.”