Design of Punk

DESIGN OF

“Punk was like an exor-

cism which cleared up a lot of the shit that was left over from the Sixties. Punk was about spontaneity and it also carried with it a really vicious sense of humour.

”

- Jamie Reid

In London towards the end of 1976,the time when revolution, punk, and graphic design all came into play. Punk had already become established and was a defined fashion. It was an aesthetic response to the social injustice, political disasters, and economic disparity during the 1970’s. The graphic design style that came out of this was expressed mainly through zines, xeroxed and collaged advertisements and flyers, and record sleeves. This “punk explosion” started with the Sex Pistols. It was short lived, chaotic, and frenetic.

Earlier in the year of 1976, Malcolm McClaren came into contact with Jamie Reid with a request to create some artwork for The Sex Pistols (a new band McClaren had started managing). Together, they designed the Sex Pistols’ tour posters, flyers, record sleeves, record advertisements, concert pamphlets, t-shirts, stickers, and badges. They took pieces of the present and the future and ripped them apart, cut pieces up, and put them together. In their work they focused highly on collage. This period of time was revolutionary not just socially but aesthetically as well.

“mThere have always been

two sides y work - th to e esoteric and the po litica - Jaime Re id

Artist Jamie Reid was b orn in 194 up in Lond on. In the 7 and gre late 1960 w student an ’s, Reid me d soon to t fe b llow e Malcom M manager o cClaren. In f the Sex P istols, the mid 19 became th 70’s, McC e manage r la o re f ed Reid to help provid the Sex Pistols and re n e c for the ban ruitand produ d. Reid’s w c ork that he e the artwork Sex Pistols produced bec for the helped form ame of the biggest inspiration and define s and Reid desig the English ned artwo punk scen rk for the S e. studio albu ex m, Never Mind the B Pistols’ debut the Sex Pis ollocks, He tols. Reid n re’s ot art for the song “Ana only produced the c over rchy in the a torn and U.K.,” wh tattered Un ich was ion Jack fl pins clippe ag with sa d to it, but fety als this popula r song “oth o co-wrote the lyrics to er Reid-ma including de Pistols a picture o art, f the Quee through he n with a sa r lip, beca fety pin me definin punk rock g symbols o era, and th f the e Sex Pisto The saftey ls in partic -pin thus b ular.” ecame a si stuck toge gnificant sy ther but ha mbol; nging apa impaired. rt; repaire d and

l.

”

Sex Pistols: God S

Sex Pistols: God S

Save The Q ueen Sticke r (1977), si ze 5 1/2” x 4” Save The Q ueen (197 7), size 30 ” x 41”

Sex Pistols: Fuck Foreve r (1986), si ze 40” x 2 7”

Margarine the Leaderine

Anthem-Soldier (1979) 34cm x 27cm

Crass, The Feeding of the 5000 LP (1978)

Crass Flyer (1978) Flyer was for a film CO-OP

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She concentrated her highly developed painting skills on photorealism; creating some of the most disturbing and acclaimed images of the time. Her work is generally accepted as having been seminal to the iconography of the Punk generation.

- Richie Unterberger

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ast ss e thing a l no g-c rkin from elf,” . o its f w ing ed ty o ometh art in it end king r e ma pov g s “It’s fter nd reatin être. nth a ius at use a d’ almo gen ing t. C and tion ds ar raison orn a olute ll do, e had sed. a r b r ar sti , sh ey u d bs ar t-w ic tow phy o I was an a eet. I up th s an o o t r s p the s ar – wa ing stuff toys red to st o k l w i e a s e f h o h r w e t r le h o pi p e b DIY a as a o the fathe p off on. G ot of t sorts er ins uchh t Va in st st ch nd ff u al My ng all ing nduri almo relate age. ck stu in Lo ade ake s Vau , Gee was nge g n t I t – i i m I a e a ss r -m ’s pbr her er art y tha ll sho uld p WW hand ould This h 980 Cra or ch st u f a s d d i o 1 ’ r t w s ifi h l e . n r o s e w c d r t o e d a h d f m o s uch infor nsic t coul e wa e, he tely a her w r fathe y han 0’s an unk b s a to ho-pa ring a V i e c u t r “ don intr fa he yo ly b 197 ho-p rk a nar l lett g the ke m dia Lon holly “And ime – ng. Li imme r and while plete the narc artwo n of a tenci turbin e g s i A m is w says. l wart noth born moth thing rd co Durin with d her ressio and en dis s o l r l ) e i e ft e a . p m a l t s c s e h y o e x s s fro r w y h sty nd e. ck r lif tter ys u fix re as tI w ething auche ired b t and eir ba ut he ewsle alwa ee he ollage nk a it’s tim i s n h o V ra som Gee n insp uld kn e in t ough and e had can ced c with f art in s r n u s e r h o ” h e e o e s t y . n u t v u y w b it u k ys ther put co ojects d slee past, ges, ist infl socie nic p a o w pr cor ivil the ico olla eal ini rm He n a m d DIY as re rt’. In and c r surr ls of c most l e eve a lot o (such test a tings sed h the i of the n o g i k u r e r n o a i p d wo n ‘ er p som She pos er’s sed o . In h ws. “ e, ex came u e foc ociety ist vi chang rk be n al o s i m n i fe soci Her w d ) an ncite ” (1 to i ger y. ima

WOLFGANG WEINGART gart Wein ear g n a g f l o-y y, Wo led in a tw in n a m r l y in Ge t enro adem gh u 1941 , Weingar e Merz Ac t r a a e y d o 8 In the rn. In 195 esign at th as grante r at Ruwe w d o tte was b for art and uating, he s a typese t house d a e a me the cours t. After gr enticeship at he h t r r e ent at to r p a d e p g u t h t t t a s u t s S a er ing tor ward rt. It w a form me a men at but re in Stuttga st Hanke, a h c e g u eb eing t ign b ularly in Printin r Karl-Aug ign. Hank s e d to es tic ne desig chool of D duced him many, par ers such r S o e r l t i in es gn fG Base ide o nd other d ere making nt and r s t a u g o n one Wei er a erstner w rnatio eing d re Rud s Inte chool was b land, whe and Karl G erred to a S n Basel ef er Switz in Hofman me to be r nded the he move t o tte m as Ar at would c eingart a ann made rse for ad u W h m t f o , o o c k 4 r r H y p 96 n wo graph tgraduate , . In 1 968 Armi o e p l y y t t s s S 1 the al for po In his clas d gn. In art teach i m s a r e . g D n g nce of ing pro f Desi that influe as e We ic-design o v l a o h o to ch ds ph ew d gra is styl asel S metho vance ls at the B pography ss Punk. Th ng in art na ty Swi peni ing fessio ored new ve or styles hap cs appear a l W p i x t w h e x e p e e e t l N h ra u s, r of the of the othe the punk g have any r h c u m s ll ’t uch a r to a t didn simila ame time s rs. The tex es” to text. s v e at the ves and fly longer “sla e o e l n on s ere ners w desig

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den e e w bet p i h s ue. n q io i t n a l h c e r ting te gular n n i r a i p r t gart d n a n i e s a i , ents ng W aphy r m a e g g l f l o e o p -W phic e, ty For m a, typogra e sign id

”

Kunstkredit (1978), 35” x 50”

Das Schweizer Plakat (1983), 47 1/4” x 33 1/8”

Kunstkredit (1976), Worldformat poster for Kunsthalle Basel 35” x 50”

Schreibkunst (1981), 35.5” x 50.2”

Kunstkredit (1977), 35” x 50”

The 20th Century (1984), 35.5” x 50.2”

UCLA Extension (2000), 35” x 50”

Jewelry 1976 (1975) a special exhibition at the Mustermesse Basel

Typographic Process, Nr 4. Typographic Signs (1971-1972), 34 1/2 x 24 1/4”

WHAT IS DIY?

Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Stains, and Descendents Flyer (1980)

Sniffin’ Glue: Issue 3 (1976), 8.5” x 11”

By definition, it stands for do-it-yourself. This was a huge part of the punk scene that started emerging in the mid to late 1970’s. As more and more punk music was born into the scene, more and more zines were produced. A zine is a noncommercial and often handmade publication that is devoted to a single matter. Zines began to emerge in the years 1976-1979 in Britian. “Punk fanzines attempted to recreate the same buzz visually — an ethos encapsulated by the Sex Pistols who famously remarked in the New Musical Express ‘ We’re not into music … we’re into chaos .’” These zines adopted DIY; an independent approach that these musicians had come to adopt. These zines offered free space to voice out opinions and developing ideas on certain subjects mostly involving social and political frustrations. These zines were a visual space with formal design rules and visual expectations. “One member of the community reflects ‘our fanzines were always clumsy, unprofessional, ungrammatical, where design was due to inadequacy rather than risk .’” One of the first punk fanzines that was produced was Mark Perry’s Sniffin’ Glue. This zine was said to be a true DIY production.

Other well-known zines that followed after were Panache, Ripped & Torn, and Chainsaw. “At the outset punk graphics were also immediate and required, like punk music, little skill to produce in the conventional sense; they were characterized by the emergence of a range of low-tech fanzines such as Sniffin Glue, which began publication in 1976. Crudely designed pages, often with handwritten, graffiti-like insertions and typographic errors, as well as letters torn out from other sources, characterized the style.” A lot of the material used to communicate was branched off of DIY. People made DIY pamphlets, flyers, record sleeves, patches, badges, symblols, etc.

Characteristics used in these productions were hand-rendered and stenciled typefaces, ransom-note typography, photocopied imagery that were often borrowed from newspaper stories of the day. The publications and art produced in this time period showed such resistance that was defined by the graphic language which emerged from punk’s DIY and also from the use of symbols, photographic images, typefaces and the way these characteristics were laid out.

It is the graphic language that differentiated these publications and artwork from the mainstream and helped define and symbolize the punk rock era.

Works Cited Brophy, Philip. “Post Punk Graphics.” Restuff. Philip Brophy, 1990. Web. 08 Apr. 2013.

Burrows, Alex. “Something From Nothing: The Crass Art Of Gee Vaucher.” The Quietus. The Quietus, 2 Dec. 2012. Web. 08 Apr. 2013.

Burton, Philip. “Wolfgang Weingart.” AIGA. AIGA, 2013.

Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

“Crass at the Film CO-OP Live Poster.” Crasshistory.wordpress. com. Wordpress, 7 July 2011. Web. 08 Apr. 2013.

“Jamie Reid Biography.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2013.

Triggs, Teal. “Scissors and Glue: Punk Fanzines and the Creation of a DIY Aesthetic.” Journal of Design History 19.1 (2006): 6983. Web. 8 Apr. 2013.

Designed by Miekala Cangelosi Printed and bound by Miekala Cangelosi Composed in Futura Book, Futura Book Oblique, Futura Light, and Futura Light Oblique, typefaces designed by Paul Renner in 1927