Trevor Wayne’s Bold, Brilliant Palm Springs Pride Poster

There are certain signposts in life that guide us to our community and to our destiny. There was the first indication that you were gay (Magnum P.I. in shorty-shorts, anyone?) and that come hither glance from your inaugural hookup, not to mention the actual signs that directed you to venture from your birthplace to the safe haven where you currently live openly and fabulously.

We may miss some helpful signals, and others might be torn down, but no matter how many rainbow flags get defaced or destroyed, we must continue to prop them back up. Communicating our love and acceptance to other LGBTQ individuals could help them find their way to a happier, healthier existence.

Trevor Wayne intimately understands the need to look beyond the facade and craft meaningful iconography. He applied his whimsically warped design aesthetic to the 2023 Palm Springs Pride poster design and the results are a real trip.

“Pride generally, I think for a lot of people, it’s just a big party,” Wayne assesses. “That’s how people see it. But what I love about what Palm Springs is doing, is they’re picking topics with real purpose, which I think to me is a purpose of Pride… to be visible. It needs to make a statement. And of course, it’s all of us coming together to celebrate and have fun because in a town like Palm Springs, we’re used to that, but the people that don’t live in Palm Springs, get to experience that kind of community on a bigger level. Last year was so insane. It was unbelievable. And this year’s going to be, I’m sure, twice as big.”

So, we’ll need a banner to match!

“I was asked to do the Pride poster before they knew the theme, and of course I said yes, but I sat on edge waiting for a while, and last year’s Pride was Say Gay, kind of a protest at everything happening in Florida. So, same thing this year, they announced that the theme is Drag Now Drag Forever, which I couldn’t even think of a more perfect theme that I wanted to work on.”

Wayne’s vibrant imagination ignited, but before he strutted too far down the creative runway, he galvanized a few guardrails to pave his progress.

“For the poster originally, I didn’t want to depict any actual drag queens,” he explains. “Drag is so broad. It just felt like it needed more of a symbol of drag. I tried to stay away from using any skin tones, but I couldn’t get away from it so I tried to pick something that could represent a broader community, something a little surreal. And when I think of drag, I think of lipstick, high heels and wigs. And so, I just came up with this bizarre high heel with an arm sticking out of it, holding a lipstick.”

But as any self-respecting kween will tell you, balm is the bomb! Makeup conveys a myriad of emotions, and Wayne explored them all before sculpting his signature ‘stick.

“Originally, the lipstick was supposed to be the protest fist that you see, but I realized that that might’ve been too much. While we need to protest, and I believe in that, I wanted something that was a little more hopeful than we’re being backed into a corner and we’re protesting. So instead, I changed it to the hand of Lady Liberty figuring we don’t need a protest, we just need freedom and justice for all. I wanted it to be a more positive message, which I think the Lady Liberty hand actually worked better.”

The key to any useful sign is its placement. So, where does a roadside spectacle like Wayne’s belong? In the heart of our hometown, naturally.

“And then I was picking the background,” Wayne continues, so he went with “the mountain and some windmills that we all love. And I put a wig on the sign for Palm Springs, and I’m happy with it. I love that the high heel and the lipstick as a standalone, can come out of the background image. That’s how that all came about.”

The final product evokes the fierce finale of the classic film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. As our heroines drive off into the sunset, a two-dimensional stiletto appears against a cautionary yellow backdrop. They have effectively painted their reality queer, and Trevor Wayne has brought a similar sense of passion and liberation to his Pride poster.

Photo ©GED Magazine

Photo ©GED Magazine

Photo ©GED Magazine

Photo ©GED Magazine

Photo ©GED Magazine

Photo ©GED Magazine

Photo ©GED Magazine

His perspective is a playful mix of Roy Lichtenstein’s comic book allure and Edvard Munch’s goth intensity. Influenced by cartoons and kitsch, Wayne mashes together unlikely visual elements like bananas and horror flicks. You might also recognize his reimagined Golden-Girls-as-superheroes renderings. And don’t forget Uni-Cow: the bold bovine mascot who produces rainbow-hued milk and sports a phallic horn on her fuzzy forehead.

Wayne elevates each of his concepts with a discipline for detail. It’s Warhol meets Walt Disney and it will melt even the most cynical critic.

“I would describe my art in one word,” Wayne beams. “FUN. I do a very pop art style, a lot of parody, and like to take dark imagery and make fun of it. It’s just stuff that should lighten up a room.”

Now there’s an understatement! Wayne has managed to illuminate the entire Coachella Valley with an unabashed admiration for his surroundings.

“For me, Palm Springs, I fell in love with it.” Wayne pivots to an aw-shucks tone as he explains, “It’s a cheesy answer, but most people seem to say the same thing. It’s just something in the air. There’s a tranquility here, there’s the beauty with the mountains, of course, the architecture helps. And being a resort town is nice because a lot of people come here to be happy specifically, and the artist community is great.”

It’s been a joyous journey for Wayne, who seamlessly blends his humble Midwest upbringing with stints in NYC and LA to create a metaphorical melange of experiential color. Since his arrival in Palm Springs, the maestro has painted the town triumphant. “For three years, I had my own little store and gallery that was all my artwork and all my own merchandise,” Wayne recounts. But his vision was too grand for the cramped confines of his former shop.

“I recently just expanded into a place that’s about four times the size, and it’s allowed me to do what my original vision was: to have my art, have my merchandise, but then also be able to sell other art related merchandise I enjoy… I carry Jonathan Adler, Pantone products, art books, as well as being able to show some other local artists that I really admire.” His new enclave will inspire shoppers and art aficionados alike, but it will also forge a literal link with the adjacent properties in the up-and-coming Uptown Design District. “It’s going to connect everyone down from Interior Illusions all the way up to Seaplane,” narrates Wayne.

Sounds like a reason to celebrate!

“My store right now is open, but I’m actually having the official opening party on the Friday of Pride weekend which is November 3rd from 4:00 to 7:00 PM.”

To make the opening even more grand, Wayne is collaborating with his new neighbors.

“One is another store with a really great home goods type of things, and then on the other side of me is a high-end art gallery opening. So all three of us are going to have a block party opening that Friday night. And we’re doing it early because we know it’s Pride weekend, and there’s a lot going on Friday night.”

You don’t say? Pause for adorability effect.

Pride will certainly bloom brilliantly in our berg, a city so gay that it can swell to four times its normal population without shoving aside civility or inclusion.

“What makes Palm Springs wonderful to me is that it has a very small town feel. But I don’t miss a big city. The restaurants here are phenomenal. The people who are here are phenomenal. So, it’s easy to shut the rest of the world out and focus on art, but at the same time still live in this glorious, magical place,” Wayne concludes.

And it continues to dazzle, courtesy of Trevor Wayne. So, follow his lead and heed the signs to PS Pride. Next stop: amazement!