Punk, Post-Punk & the British Design Identity
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Transcript of Punk, Post-Punk & the British Design Identity
P O S T P U N Kthe British design identity
GS/MDES 5102 Design Issues
CHRIS MOOREHEAD
PUNK+
ABSTRACT
Our image of modern British graphic design is directly shaped by the punk + post-punk music movements beginning in 1977
Punk developed as a reaction to the economic, political + social turbulence experienced in the UK during the 1970s as the former British Empire dissolved
Evolved into post-punk, + eventually percolated into mainstream culture
+ O V E R V I E W
RESEARCH
Three areas examined:
1. British graphic design history
2. Devolution of United Kingdom from its status as the British Empire, + the related economic, social, + racial turmoil experi-enced during the process
3. Rise of alternative subcultures in response to an inflexible + authoritarian mainstream
M E T H O D S
KEY TEXTS
Brophy, P. (1990). Post Punk Graphics: The Displaced Present, Perfectly Placed.
Poynor, R. (2003). No More Rules: Graphic Design and Postmodernism.
Poyner, R. (Ed.) (2004). Communicate: Independent British Graphic Design since the Sixties.
Huygen, F. (1989). British Design: Image & Identity.
Triggs, T. (2003). Type Design: Radical Innovations and Experimentation.
D E S I G N
KEY TEXTS
Berman, M. (1982). All That is Solid Melts into Air: the Experience of Modernity.
Gardiner, M. (2004). The Cultural Roots of British Devolution.
Hall, S. (1988). The Hard Road to Renewal: Thatcherism and the Crisis of the Left.
Nairn, T. (1977). The Break-up of Britain: Crisis and Neo-Nationalism.
P O L I T I C A L / E C O N O M I C
KEY TEXTS
Hall, S. & Jefferson, T. (2006). Resistance Through Rit-uals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain.
Haslam, D. (2005). Not Abba: the Real Story of the 1970s.
Hebdige, D. (1977). Subculture: the Meaning of Style.
Marcus, G. (1989). Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth Century.
Reynolds, S. (2006). Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-punk 1978-1984.
Savage, J. (1991). England’s Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond.
C U L T U R A L
E N D O F E M P I R E
N O R T H E R N I R E L A N D
Sectarian conflict —British army was deployed late 1969
Home rule suspended 1972
Provisional IRA commenced armed campaign against British mainland
In most British urban centres, bombings became a regular oc-currence
INSTABILITY
U R B A N U N R E S TINSTABILITY
Rioting in Bristol, Toxteth, Brixton + Moss Side
A particularly violent race riot occurred at the Notting Hill Carnival in 1976
Response to heavy-handed + often brutal police tactics
Suspected Persons Act, 1977
P U N K
S E X P I S T O L SBIRTH OF PUNK
November 5, 1975 Played first show, at St Martins College of Art
Raw energy, outrageous behaviour, + contempt for conventions of established British society
Spawned new era in British music, fashion + design
A R T I S T + A N A R C H I S TJAMIE REID
Affiliated with the Situationist International
Art school colleague of Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren
Designed the sleeve for the first Sex Pistols album, Never Mind the Bollocks (1976)
S E X P I S T O L S , N E V E R M I N D T H E B O L LO C K S ( 1 9 7 6 )
C O L L A G E D T Y P EJAMIE REID
Developed his unique collaged ‘ransom note’ typography while art directing radical political magazine Suburban Press
Influenced by the student uprisings of May 1968, + the accompanying Situationist-themed posters + graffiti
R E L U C T A N T I C O NBARNEY BUBBLES
Alias of Swiss-trained graphic designer Colin Fulcher
Art directed Oz magazine + designed sleeves for progressive-rock band Hawkwind, before becoming designer for independent label Stiff Records
T H E D A M N E D , M U S I C F O R P L E A S U R E ( 1 9 7 7 )
I N F L U E N C EBARNEY BUBBLES
E LV I S C O S T E L L O , T H I S Y E A R ’ S M O D E L ( 1 9 7 8 )
Designed sleeves for Elvis Costello, Ian Dury + the Blockheads, + the Damned
Very publicity-shy, + never signed his work
Suffered from depression, + committed suicide in 1983 at the age of 41
Influenced an entire generation of British graphic designers
N O S O C I E T Y
Y O R K S H I R E R I P P E RINSTABILITY
Murdered 13 women in + around Leeds, Bradford, Manchester, Huddersfield, + Halifax between 1975 + 1980
Apprehended in early 1981—Peter William Sutcliffe, a lorry driver from Bradford
Claimed he was a tool of “God’s will”
M A R G A R E T T H A T C H E RRISE OF THE RIGHT
Became Prime Minister on May 4, 1979
Dismantled UK welfare state, privatizing all nationalized industries + shutting down state-owned coal mines, steel mills, + manufacturing facilities
Social Darwinism— “There is no such thing as society”
C O A L M I N E R S ’ S T R I K ELABOUR UNREST
1984 to 1985
Eventual defeat permanently weakened the trade union movement
An ideological victory for the Thatcher government
M O R E R I O T I N GURBAN UNREST
“From 1980 to 1990, Thatcher’s Britain was the riot capital of the world. Thatcher may have ruled in Parliament but out on the street it was a different matter. From the first eruption of inner-city rioting in St Paul’s Bristol in 1980 through the July rioting across the country in 1981 to Brixton and Broadwater Farm in 1985 someone some-where was lobbing a brick or petrol bomb at Thatcher.”
IAN BONE
P O S T P U N K
P O S T P U N K P I O N E E RMALCOLM GARRETT
Graduate of Manchester Polytechnic University
Influenced by the work of Barney Bubbles
Designed iconic sleeves for the Buzzcocks, Duran Duran, + Peter Gabriel
B U Z Z C O C K S , A D I F F E R E N T K I N D O F T E N S I O N ( 1 9 8 0 )
F A C T O R Y R E C O R D SPETER SAVILLE
F A C 1 T H E FA C T O R Y ( 1 9 7 8 )
J O Y D I V I S I O N , U N K N O W N P L E A S U R E S ( 1 9 7 9 )
F E T I S H R E C O R D SNEVILLE BRODY
Designed sleeves for industrial bands Throbbing Gristle, 23 Skidoo, + Cabaret Voltaire
T Y P E A S I M A G E8VO
Designed sleeves + posters for Factory Records
Pioneered an intensely typographic aesthetic
Pre-computer—all type set + layered by hand
4 A D R E C O R D SVAUGHAN OLIVER
British independent label best known for American bands Throwing Muses + the Pixies
Highly conceptual design which did not always appear to relate to the subject matter
P I X I E S , D O O L I T T L E ( 1 9 8 9 )
N E W D E S I G N
W A R P R E C O R D SDESIGNERS REPUBLIC
Sheffield-based design collective
Subverted corporate logos on album sleeves
B L U R R I N G B O U N D A R I E STOMATO
Mixing music + design—Tomato/Underworld
Renavigating concept of authorship
U N D E R W O R L D , D U B N O B A S S W I T H M Y H E A D M A N ( 1 9 9 3 )
A S S O C I A T E SWHY NOT
At first glance, work appears to be un-controlled
However , highly-disciplined sense of hierarchy maintains readability
Successful transition from music industry to corporate world
CONCLUSIONS
Once-radical graphic design such as that created by Why Not Associates has now become mainstream
Contemporary British corporate design borrows heavily from punk + post-punk eras
Conceptual, experimental, + uniquely British
D E S I G N I D E N T I T Y
February 2009
P O S T P U N Kthe British design identity
PUNK+