If you were to get a vague sense of who I am just from random nuggets of information online, you’d be able to figure out pretty quickly I’m an illustrator who loves the Muppets. Guilty! It would not be unfair to say that any notoriety I have is initially thanks to ToughPigs—the ultimate Muppet Fan Site that has been at the forefront of this particular fandom for over 20 years. So it’s no real surprise when they come callin’, I answer! Case in point, while ToughPigs has featured so much of my work just because they love to do so, I’ve also created a lot of the art for their increasing library of podcasts as well.
Of the ten they have currently featured, I have done the art for half of them, making me the most prolific podcast illustrator in Muppet fandom. That’s right, I’m claiming the title, so suck it, Durkin!
So for today (and next week’s) post, I thought I’d take a look at some of that art and share some secrets about how they came to be. And to start that list off, I’m talking about an older podcast that just happened to be the first podcast art I ever did, Frog Kissin’! Way back in September of 2013, hosts Julia Gaskill and Lara Frazier reached out to me asking if I would create art for their new podcast. The name “Frog Kissin’” was taken from an episode of The Muppet Show where Kermit’s nephew Robin sings a song originally popularized by Chet Atkins. The visual however was specifically inspired from a different episode of The Muppet Show where Bernadette Peters sings Just One Person before kissing Robin directly on the lips. I felt that visual looked more sensual than sweet, so I turned Robin’s head so he’s getting a kiss on his forehead.
Bernadette Peters and Robin share a moment from season 2 on The Muppet Show and my initial concept sketch
The finalized design, although there was a version I incorrectly titled Kissin’ Frogs (Notice my signature hidden in her hair)
It wasn’t until 2019 when ToughPigs Editor–in–Chief and all around wonderful human being Joe Hennes started setting the precedent for me designing podcast art for the site. 15 Seconds to Curtain was a podcast for famous people like Lisa Loeb and James Monroe Iglehart (to name a few) to talk about their love of Muppets. This was the first podcast Joe oversaw, and it had a pretty steep learning curve for him. For starters, he had to make sure any art was not infringing on Disney owned IP and imagery. He also learned he had to be more specific with what he asked for.
Unused concepts
However, it wasn’t until very recently that I learned the concept Joe selected was also used in conjunction with some absolutely wonderful art by Jay Fosgitt! But I’ll let Joe explain it from here:
I asked Jay for some art, and he delivered the gorgeous image of an interviewer being eaten by a Muppet-esque monster. But as pretty as it is, it isn't an icon. Once shrunken down and seen on a podcast app, it doesn't work so well.
So I used the Scooter-ish one that [Dave] designed for the logo, and I used Jay's for the social media, because it was too nice to just pass on.
Both images are so great in their own regards, and it's interesting to see them mashed up together.
But the big thing here is the lesson I learned about logo design and commissioning work from my friends. Giving artists carte blanche to create what they want without any guidance from me (as the client) doesn't always work!
I was asked again to create podcast art for To Introduce Our Guest Star, with hosts Joe Hennes and my someday–soon–to–be–adopted son Jarrod Fairclough. But before I get into that, I need to give you a very brief history of MuppetFans.com
In 2010, Joe Hennes and Ryan Roe from ToughPigs, Ryan Dosier from The Muppet Mindset, and Steve Swanson host of The MuppetCast podcast asked yours truly to help create art and assets for a website that would funnel everything to fans in one nifty space on the internet the following year.
From left to right: Me, Ryan Dosier, Steve Swanson, Joe Hennes, and Ryan Roe
Joe Hennes with Joe Hennes by Richard Gomez
It didn’t work. BUT! It set a precedent for how we would look as Whatnot Muppets if we were on The Muppet Show (or Anything Muppets as they’re known on Sesame Street). This may not seem super important, but even after MuppetFans.com shut down, our Muppet likenesses maintained a presence online. In fact, Joe’s in particular is so well established that the incredibly multi–talented Richard Gomez built the puppet based on my illustrations!
Fast forward to 2021 when Joe and Jarrod wanted to start this new podcast where the premise was that they would each take turns surprising each other with guests like Kirk Thatcher and Bob McGrath (again, to name a few). As the former owner and editor of The Muppet Mindset now transferred as a head writer on ToughPigs, Jarrod needed a Muppet version of himself to fit the pre–existing cast. Did any of you realize that us Muppet fans have our own lore too?!
So when all was said and done, the magic that once was MuppetFans.com continued to maintain its hold over all of us.
Top right: THE Jarrod Fairclough. Bottom left: Rough concept sketch that had Joe rocking a beard at the time. Right: The final illustration.
A year later, Joe asked me to create art for a podcast that would coincide with the new Apple TV series Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. Initially, Joe was clear we needed to be respectful of The Jim Henson Company’s IP as this was an unofficial podcast. I only got one concept deep before Joe excitedly informed me that not only was The Jim Henson Company allowing ToughPigs to use audio from the series, but that I could use the Fraggle Rock logo as a design element!
This was right up my alley as I had just recreated the Sam and Friends title for Craig Shemin’s book (which you should totally read and check out all three posts I wrote about working on the cover and promotional materials for!). And so, Fraggle Talk The Unofficial Fraggle Rock Podcast came together pretty fast after that.
Left: Initial concept (Ew) Right: The final design
But there are still two more ToughPigs Podcasts that I did art for! So check back next week for The Muppets Mayhem: Backstage Pass and The Fantastic Miss Piggy Podcast. Please follow me on Instagram TikTok and Substack as well!