The Traveler Painting

Dave Conrey is a former graphic designer and art director who finally got tired of following brand guidelines and decided to start breaking his own. His work blends design principles with the scrappy attitude of punk flyers, street ephemera, and old-school cut-and-paste zines. Dip some Helvetica in a puddle of partially dried spray paint, and this is what you get. Everything Dave makes carries a little friction—between clean and chaotic, polished and personal, message and mess. His compositions pull from decades of design discipline but are driven by instinct, humor, and a fondness for the imperfect. Based in Long Beach, California, Dave is building a body of work one layer at a time, always chasing that moment where clarity and contradiction collide.