tata&friends illustrate rock band icons with literal graphics

tata&friends illustrate rock band icons with literal graphics
all images courtesy of tata&friends

spanish graphic design studio tata&friends has illustrated ‘rock band icons’, a series of posters which delineate the names of renowned bands using straightforward and literal graphics. a hot yellow background describes each canvas, with black lines marking the pictographic representations. some motifs portray motion — like the two circumventing arrows wrapping around the image of a rock, indicating ‘the rolling stones’; others narrate the musician’s name with a stacked series of static graphics — like the open shell beside the jar of marmalade, representing the 90s rock group ‘pearl jam’. rebus puzzles, or allusional devices that use pictures to represent words, are a common thread throughout the series. take a look below at the collection of posters to see if you can name the band based on the pictograms, before you read the name.

two arrows and a rock delineate ‘the rolling stones’

a boom box sits on top a set of shoulders describing ‘radiohead’

‘led zeppelin’ is made up of an LED light and a blimp

a leaf beside a calendar describes ‘green day’

a series of closed portals illustrates ‘the doors’

the character’s question mark face indicates ‘the who’

three stacked pictograms describe ‘stone temple pilots’

alice in wonderland beside a chain link becomes ‘alice in chains’

the ‘smashing pumpkins’ is represented by a hammer and the orange gourd

the sex pistols

guns & roses

red hot chilli peppers