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+