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The mirrored symmetry and the long, elfin faces of the ladies central to the image are intriguing. The flowers (and the clever way the Pinchers logo is standing in for the flower on the left side) are a deft touch. We even like the patterned Pinchers logo covering the entire left side of the picture. All good work.

We're not totally in love with the text usage, but we have to admit it works. We can't help but wish it wasn't quite so intrusive, but at least it does cascade nicely down the curve created by the flowers. The bottom text box is pretty meh, too, but the girls, and the other aforementioned design elements, outweigh the issues easily.

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We assume the unknown designer of this Hideous Men benefit flier used the old ways, but in any case, the overall aesthetic that emerges is quite old-school and that's what really counts. Sure, it's a little messy and a bit cluttered. It's probably not going to earn you an A in your design class, but the end result is a flier you'd stop and notice -- or at least one we would, beacause we did.

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This angular, brain-bending piece of design is pimping out Real is a Feeling, "Denver's new progressive danse night" at the Meadowlark. Danse? Okay. We're barely sure we know how to dance, much less danse. I guess we're not nearly progressive enough...

Odd spellings aside, we're really digging the abstract minimalism here. Lots of lines and shapes, a few splashes of color, some chunky text and ta-da! Flier of the week. Less can be more, and here, less is plenty awesome.

Flier by Brian Hoffman

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Using what appears to be a paunchy Stacy Keach as a model, our designer has cleverly forgone the typical evil-twin indicating goatee (let's face it, that might have been menacing in the '60s, but goatees are pretty passe these days) for some whited-out eyes and horns.

Our good, old-timey circus wrestler representing Glass Hits (featuring Greg Daniels formerly of Vaux) and his evil twin representing Il Cattivo (the new local supergroup featuring Brian Hagman of Black Lamb, Neil Keener of Planes Mistaken for Stars/Git Some, Matt Bellinger of PMFS and his former Ghost Buffalo bandmate Jed Kopp and Holland Rock-Garden of Machine Gun Blues and Red, Orange, Yellow) stand shoulder to shoulder, as if to face off together against some other, all-consuming threat.

It's kind of like when the X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants team up to face the Sentinels or something. Or maybe they're just teaming up to rock the fuck out to some post-punk at the Lost Lake Lounge. Hard to say, really.

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The translucent owl sitting among the fairy-dust kissed branches of a dream tree is simply a fantastic image. The subtle patterning behind it helps lend the image an illusion of depth and the bright, abstract flowers below the tree add a touch of contrast via the use of a more electric color palate than is present on the rest of the pic.

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As you can see, there are a lot of bands on this bill. And advertising that many acts is inherently text-heavy, making for some difficult and unwieldy design. That's why it is all the more impressive that this flier comes out looking so good.

The first key to its success is the use of an iconic image. In that simple line-drawing of hands lighting off fireworks, it manages to summon a boatload of summer memories, setting the tone perfectly. Apart from the Uncle Sam image, nothing says "Fourth of July weekend" like fireworks, and fireworks don't carry the same political baggage that Uncle Sam might.

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Start with a regal griffin, suitable for a medieval coat of arms or to feature in your Saturday night marathon Dungeons & Dragons session. Framing our griffin is a strangely hypnotic series of interlocking and overlapping circles, looking like the most complex Venn diagram of all time. Top it off with a well-placed and neat use of typography and seal the deal with an unusual but appealing color scheme. The end result is a sleek, classic design that's far more appealing than the typical club night flier.

They've been sporting this excellent flier for almost a whole month now. Lucky we caught it in time to feature it before it expired.

Flier by Josh Bergstrand

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This marriage of flier and venue theme is part of the reason we had to choose this flier as our top pick of the week. The other part is, well, look at the poster. It's just beautifully designed. Really nice use of minimal color, excellent type choice and placement, well balanced and it has a whompin' big alien-ass looking fish on it. That's made of 100 percent win in our book.

As it turns out, this is one of a series of four for Lion Sized's month-long residency at the Lost Lake Lounge. And designer/Lion Sized-er Josh Bergstrand has designed a poster in this vein for each of the four weeks! We dug them all (this here as our favorite) and though they should all be seen, so hit the jump for a look at the other three.

Flier by Alert

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And we love this flier. Not just for its groovy, abstract take on the disco ball, but for its overall aesthetic. Its minimalist approach, bold lines and striking color scheme is a delight. The use of a font that evokes art deco is a nice touch, as well. Not that disco and art deco ever had much in common, but it's a bold, post-modern touch that works quite well in context, so we dig it.

Never let anyone tell you a less is more approach can't work -- obviously, it's working its ass off here. Oh, and all hail the all-seeing eye of the disco ball!

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And it totally works.

It all starts with the wise, if unusual, decision to go gray. This flier doesn't need color, but it takes a confident (or very poor) designer to realize that. The graf-style stencil (reminiscent of Banksy's work -- or is it a lift?) works really well as a black on concrete-textured gray, as it would in real life. And the touch of reverse type for the band name really makes it pop.

Elsewhere, the use of different fonts for each band works surprisingly well. That many mixed fonts is usually a bad sign, but in conjunction with the sleek, minimalist design aesthetic in use, it just provides a bit of individuality for each act without drawing undue focus from the main act/design.