Here’s to… Our annual compilation of pop culture
Every December Beutler Ink recaps the past year’s news and entertainment with a single Where's Waldo-style illustration. Each edition features a different artist and theme—from Wes Anderson-style diorama to Blade Runner-esque dystopia to Garden of Earthly Delights—but they all reflect hours and hours of obsessive pop culture sleuthing.
Since launching in 2013, the series has generated impressive media coverage (including HuffPost , Fast Company, Gizmodo, Los Angeles Times and Laughing Squid), website traffic (especially via Reddit), and social shares. Commenters love to identify the depictions and reminisce about shows, sports, and memes.
Here’s to 2022
For 2022 we had the privilege of working with Jillian Goeler, a wildly talented illustrator, who used her expertise with minimalistic shapes and retro lettering to bring this project to vivid life. Whether 2022 was the first good year since 2015 or just an absolute dumpster fire like every other year, one thing we can all agree on is that a lot of things happened and it can be fun to look back and remember just one more time before banishing it all to the dustbin of history.
Here’s to 2021
For 2021, we’re fortunate to partner with the wildly talented illustrator Quincy Ray. Quincy brought our vision to stunning life, drawing over 100 intricately detailed caricatures of the people and events that shaped 2021. Read more about this year’s installment.
Here’s to 2019
We partnered once again with TheSkimm to recap 2019’s most memorable political and pop culture moments in a single illustration. Illustration by Brooklyn-based illustrator Michele Rosenthal. Her playful style really brings these recognizable characters to life. Read more about 2019’s installment.
Here’s to 2018
We combined forces with TheSkimm to compile 2018’s most memorable political and pop culture moments into a single, sprawling illustration, and we were lucky enough to recruit Michele Rosenthal, a Brooklyn-based illustrator specializing in colorful vectors and creative caricatures (we love her Criterion Affection film blog). Read more about 2018’s installment.
Here’s to 2017
This year we collaborated with Sanda Anderlon, a digital collage artist based in Croatia whose work has been showcased by Boing Boing, Orlebar Brown, and Vice's Creators Project. Sanda's visually dense style is perfect for this type of panorama, and she completely nailed all of the 100+ depictions our strategists selected. Read more about 2017’s installment.
Here’s to 2016
From Donald Trump to Dat Boi to Stranger Things to... well... back to Donald Trump—and handed them over to talented illustrator Niv Bavarsky to bring to life. The Garden of Earthly Delights-inspired graphic was featured in dozens of media outlets including HuffPo, Gizmodo, Design Taxi, El Pais (Spain), The Bergerie (France), Vinegret (Russia), and A Day Magazine (Hong Kong). Read more about 2016’s installment.
Here’s to 2015
For this installment, we recruited Luke McGarry, a Los Angeles-by-way-of-London-based designer who excels at celebrity caricatures. The graphic blew up on Reddit with 11,000+ up-votes, and was featured in numerous media outlets, including Laughing Squid, UFunk, Adafruit, Langweiledich (Germany), Brain (France), and Untitled (France). Read more about 2015’s installment.
Here’s to 2014
From hotels that are Grand, to divas that are Grande, from the siblings Smith to award-winning Swift, from new Google Glass to Kim Kardashian’s… wedding, 2014 was filled with news and pop culture events that almost broke the internet. This year, we enlisted the talents of Noah Smith, a longtime collaborator and friend, to bring our ideas to life. Read more about 2014’s installment.
Here’s to 2013
To commemorate 2013, we created a Where’s Waldo?-inspired illustration chock full of the highs and lows of the year. We created a huge list of memorable pop culture events from the year and then sought out Mario Zucca to bring the idea to life through his unique illustrative style. Read more about 2013’s installment.
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