|
You
may
not
know
his
name,
but
chances
are
you
have
seen
his
work.
Through
his
graphic
arts
studio,
Pop
Life
Designs,
Eric
Herb
designs
many
of
the
advertisements
for
Fort
Lauderdale
gay
clubs
and
bars.
Herb
counts
Boom,
Coliseum,
Babylon,
Circuit,
VooDoo
Lounge,
Elements
and
Cathode
Ray
Club
among
his
clients.
Every
week,
Herb’s
colorful
and
attention-grabbing
ads
grace
the
pages
of
gay
publications
in
South
Florida,
including
this
one.
Herb
first
began
designing
ads
while
working
for
local
publications,
particularly
bar
magazines.
When
Herb
went
off
on
his
own
he
already
had
a
working
relationship
with
many
of
the
gay
business
owners
in
town.
And
others
soon
came
to
him.
Herb
also
has
clients
outside
the
gay
community,
including
the
theater
department
at
Florida
International
University.
Having
worked
with
the
same
clients
for
so
long,
Herb
is
often
aware
of
what
they
want.
“Some
clients
like
Gary
Santis
of
the
Coliseum
will
work
closely
with
me,”
Herb
says.
“He
will
stand
over
me
and
tell
me
exactly
what
he
wants.
That
is
cool,
because
there
are
fewer
margins
for
error.
His
work
brings
him
in
contact
with
a
lot
of
creative
people.
But
creative
types
aren’t
always
his
favorite
folks
to
work
with.
“Sometimes
it
does
get
more
aggravating
to
work
with
creative
people,”
Herb
admits.
“The
more
creative
they
are,
the
more
choosy
they
can
be.
Sometimes
I
like
working
with
people
who
are
not
creative
at
all.
They
like
anything
I
do,
which
is
great,”
he
laughs.
Initially
Herb
wanted
to
be
a
fine
artist.
His
artistic
interests
brought
him
to
the
Ringling
School
of
Art
in
Sarasota
and
also
the
Fashion
Institute
of
Technology
in
Manhattan.
After
finishing
his
studies
he
went
into
the
lucrative
field
of
web
design.
But
he
soon
tired
of
the
Internet
and
constantly
having
to
learn
new
software.
“Really,
all
I
wanted
to
do
was
draw
pictures,”
Herb
smiles.
The
work
he
does
now
satisfies
his
creative
side.
For
him
part
of
the
reward
is
seeing
his
work
published
every
week.
He
also
likes
the
pace
of
weekly
deadlines.
And
Herb
does
his
own
art
with
his
freetime.
Herb
has
created
a
series
of
portraits
based
on
local
female
impersonators.
Daisy
Deadpetals,
Erika
Norell,
T.P.
Lords,
and
Glitz
Glamour
are
just
a
few
of
his
subjects.
Herb
created
the
drawings
on
computer
using
a
tablet
in
PhotoShop,
and
then
prints
his
finished
work
on
photo
paper.
The
work
is
very
time
consuming,
with
each
image
taking
from
50
to
150
hours
to
create.
“I
draw
every
individual
strand
of
hair,”
Herb
comments.
“A
lot
of
people
think
they
are
photographs
but
they
are
not.”
Herb
is
planning
an
exhibit
of
his
labor-intensive
creations.
“I
am
actually
talking
to
Circuit
about
having
a
show
there,”
he
says.
“They
have
an
excellent
space
for
it.
It’s
just
a
matter
of
getting
all
the
prints
together.”
Though
born
in
Milwaukee,
Herb
is
a
long-time
resident
of
Florida.
He
attended
Spanish
River
High
School
in
Boca.
His
parents
live
in
Boca
and
his
grandfather
in
Delray
Beach.
“I
would
like
to
live
in
New
York
again
someday,”
Herb
comments.
“But
this
time
around
with
money.
The
college
thing
is
okay,
but
I’d
like
it
to
be
more
glamorous
the
second
time
around.”
Andy
Zeffer
can
be
reached
at
azeffer@expressgaynews.com
 |
 |
| The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by floridablade.com. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed. |
|
| 
