Help me make folksy art out of a Tom Waits quote

September 4, 2014 10:50 AM

I'm looking to take a Tom Waits quote and turn it into something folksy I can hang on a wall. The quote? "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." Any thoughts on good styles and/or artists who could help?

I'm not looking to spend a lot of money, but I have flexibility depending on the level of work that it takes. The final piece would go up in an office in a law department, but it's pretty casual.

(PS - yes, I'm aware that Waits didn't coin this phrase, and it was used by Amos and Andy, and beyond)

posted by evadery to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

I would do it in the style of this iconic British poster. Instead of a crown, clip-art of a stack of papers?
posted by jbickers at 11:03 AM on September 4, 2014

Sounds like a good candidate for the cross-stitch treatment.
posted by contraption at 11:37 AM on September 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

I love the illustrated quotation artwork Wendy MacNaughton and Maria Popova made of quotes from Susan Sontag. Brain Pickings has done a couple of these for different authors that you could look at for inspiration.
posted by ialwayscryatendings at 11:47 AM on September 4, 2014 [2 favorites]

Printed on newspaper would look great, and also printed on wood. The search function on Pinterest is absolutely the best way to look for stuff like this.
posted by raisingsand at 11:56 AM on September 4, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks for the great suggestions so far. Any tips on someone that would do a good, cheap job of cross stitching?

Any other ideas would be appreciated.
posted by evadery at 12:27 PM on September 4, 2014

I would make the first part of the phrase large and bold (maybe in a gothic face), no comma, with an asterisk that refers to the second part (in small print, of course, maybe a sans serif).
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:41 PM on September 4, 2014

I don't know of a specific artist, but I'm sure one of the many people selling cross-stitched stuff on Etsy would be happy to do a custom piece for you (perusing those listings might also help you decide how you want it to look in terms of layout.)
posted by contraption at 10:53 PM on September 4, 2014

I'd poke around Etsy and see if you can't get someone to make it custom for you. This might be a good starting point. I can't vouch for them, though, because I've never bought anything from them. I just started looking around the site and they jumped out at me.

Whoever you get to do it, I'd recommend having the first part of the quote in a medium-sized font and then the second half of the quote enlarged to fit in the massive lens of a magnifying glass.
posted by GrapeApiary at 6:48 AM on September 5, 2014