ROCKETBUSTER BOOTS N-COWBOY-PEDIA

Back in 1992, photographer and boot-maker Marty Snortum handed me several photographs of boots showcased on tombstones of the dead at El Paso’s Concordia Cemetery.  He asked me to come up with a color catalogue that would help him build an identity that was playful and original like his boot designs.  

I conceived of the N-cowboy-pedia which would make the catalogue not only something that would showcase his boots and photography, but would make a fascinating way to introduce people to cowboy slang and it's origins.  I've always been a fan of slang, in fact I used to obsessively pore over dictionaries for slang and colloquial words to COLLECT.  Yes, I collected slang in notebooks.  I'd go to the library and spend hours collecting slang words before the Urban Dictionary was ever thought of.  Language as creativity.

The 50s were what the doctor ordered when it came to devising a visual language for the catalogue and the Rocketbuster “look”.  I created 3 western vignettes to repeat across the page spreads.  I also made these 50s graphics for the covers and inside covers by copying, coloring and collaging...then scanning them professionally.

This was all done on a Mac SE, a B+W computer with an 8-inch screen and pathetic resolution.  Times were hard in the early 90s...

See the Jud Burges design for Rocketbuster Boots Trading Cards

 Cover.  Having fun with typography and the creation of all sorts of icons for the background.

 

Cover.  Having fun with typography and the creation of all sorts of icons for the background.

 Inside cover and first page.

 

Inside cover and first page.

 Sample spread with original art spanning the bottom acting as a “visual container” for the N-cowboy-pedia entries.  

 

Sample spread with original art spanning the bottom acting as a “visual container” for the N-cowboy-pedia entries.  

 The cowboy word entries are just plain fun to read.  This makes a person want to keep their catalogue.  It also becomes a cult design piece.   See my design for Rocketbuster Boots Trading Cards

 

The cowboy word entries are just plain fun to read.  This makes a person want to keep their catalogue.  It also becomes a cult design piece.   See my design for Rocketbuster Boots Trading Cards

Jud Burgess, the true designer of the Rocketbuster Boots Trading Cards Catalog. Credit where credit is due.

 

 

 Different spread art and entries.

 

Different spread art and entries.

 Another spread with original art and boots!

 

Another spread with original art and boots!

 Inside back cover collage.    Dig the initial cap with the sultry cowgirl.

 

Inside back cover collage.    Dig the initial cap with the sultry cowgirl.

 Back cover Call to Action page.  I came up with all the copy on this page.  Rodeo Rhonda is awaitin’ ya!  I swiped her pic from a bra ad in an old issue of LIFE magazine.

 

Back cover Call to Action page.  I came up with all the copy on this page.  Rodeo Rhonda is awaitin’ ya!  I swiped her pic from a bra ad in an old issue of LIFE magazine.