Contextual Study

1980's Underground Music Poster Design

I decided to choose the area of poster design for the 1980's American Underground music scene, looking at the techniques many artists would have used to create their work. This topic interests me because I have always been a big fan of this style of music come across this style of artwork very often, mainly from the album artwork I own and the types of posters and online music promotion I see for gigs that I attend in this particular genre. I also decided to focus on American Hardcore Punk subculture rather than British Hardcore Punk subculture because the New York  alternative music scene was much more artistic and poetic in comparison to London's.

During  my research, I found that during the early 1980's America suffered from a huge recession that took its toll on many businesses, as well as the creative industry. Consequently, this meant that if a band or venue wanted to advertise an upcoming show then they would need to use the cheapest methods available, therefore all posters would have been printed in one colour, printed on a single block coloured piece of paper, or would have had to be completely hand made. This, however, reflected the nature of the particular music genre they were advertising, as the Hardcore and Punk bands of the time were supposed to display an anarchistic ideal that having a lot of money doesn't always make the music you make worth listening to. A large number of these bands also didn't  tend to have a lot of money in the first place and would have had to create and record their songs on a very low budget, which is one thing that  gives the genre its distinguishable sound. I think that the fact that these artists had very little money in this time was very important to how the artwork of this era turned out because if the economy had been in a different state, this entire genre of music and artwork might not have came into existence. 

Common designs were usually a combination of the older punk bands' rough and raw fonts/logos and psychedelic patterns with connotations to 60's acid rock. The places in which the posters were more effective at advertising these bands/gigs to their target audience, at no surprise, were at the underground venues that hosted these bands such as Andy Worhol's Factory, where a mix of porn stars, drop out artists, musicians and any one else seen fit to become one of Worhol's superstars would collectively  hang out. This place in particular was a very  popular social spot for any one who was someone, therefore  making it the perfect location for music promtions. As well as the Factory there was CBGB's; another underground music venue for the alternative scene. CBGB'S entire wall surface was covered floor to ceiling in posters of bands coming and going as some sort of time capsule for the whole alternative music scene and its followers. CBGB'S was a more raw, less artistic focused venue and  amore musically focused hang out spot but has a huge nostalgia aesthetic due to the generations of music promotion art still covering the walls of the venue today. CBGB'S is now more of a tourist attraction due to this, kept open for people who  want to see the nature of the alternative movement in its beginings for themselves. Many of the posters seen on its wall are oftern older than those who come to the club, almost making it an art museum of the 1970's and 80's Punk movement. I am really fascinated by places like a Worhol's Factory and CBGB'S because they represent so much history of this particular genre of artwork and the fact that orginal pieces from that era still exist in these locations today shows just how inspirational and important they are to fans of this genre of music and art.

The designs of these posters is often mimicked by designers of today and has become a very popular and noticeable style used for music promtions for new artists trying to gain recognition, with the intention of seeming really 'rebellious' and 'cool', almost losing the meaning to why these posters were made to look as they did in the first place. Due to the 80's recession, the original artists had next to no money and a particular cultural background that influenced the rough and cheap designs, yet the upcoming bands of today are spending vast amounts of money on getting a designer to create different mediums of music promotion in the same style. However, the same goes for any style that was originally a symbol of making the most out of nothing, for example the early punk rockers making their clothing from garbage, this has now become a style that has people forking out hundreds of pounds to buy a pair of Dr. Marten boots, a leather jacket, tartan trousers and a shirt from their local Blue Banana so they can show everybody how completely against capitalism they are. 

As unfortunate as it is, many designs and styles that originated from trying to defy against the norm eventually become mainstream and lose their anarchistic  edge. However, there are still musicians today that are trying to stick to their roots and do everything from scratch due to them not having any funding to do stuff professionally; an example being a band called Gnarwolves who draw all of their posters and album covers themselves using the techniques used by musicians and promoters of the past. I am personally of the opinion that people shouldn't overuse this style of art because of it has an important back story that relates to the financial troubles of original hardcore punk bands trying to get their music heard, and by making it a mainstream style to be used to promote bands of differing genres the legacy of these artists are lost.

The main method used by Andy Worhol was silk screen printing, the process of making a barrier over a sheet of silk in a frame and pushing ink through the unblocked areas of fabric, creating images that could be printed over and over again. This method was used for a large range of things from printing onto canvases, to posters and even clothing, meaning almost anything a designer may have to make for a musician could have continuity, and multiple possibilities. This meant that getting noticed was cheaper and easier. Worhol's silk printed canvases are one of the first things many people think of when they hear 'pop art', due to his Campbell soup cans and Munro faces which are now highly prized pieces of art work, created with with a process that only costs a few pounds and could still be created over and over again. Worhol is a huge inspiration to millions around the world for the use of silk printing and making the process known to everyone as a simple, cost effective, yet refined method that is still used today. I chose to study this artist because his art is one of the most recognised styles throughout all the time he has been creating it and to this day, whether people are educated in art or not. I also admire that he pioneered such a simple form of printing that has amazed and inspired so many people, as well as making him incredibly wealthy and successful for years.

Raymond Petibon of Black Flag also influenced a design style used by many hardcore bands of today; he designed all the posters and clothing for Black Flag during his time in the band, and he only worked in black and white and drew images of ultra violence and blasphemous acts that swiftly became the nomal imagery used by bands in the hardcore scene. His images were oftern very crude which suited their music quite well and gave a shock and awe value that none were expecting after the first wave of punk rock from the 1970's.

Petibon's designs are still to this day the most common images people relate to Black Flag and the 80s hardcore movement. The imagery used by Petibon caused a vast amount of disgust and moral panic during the 80s has somehow become accepted as the norm today with young pre-teens walking around in shirts with the 'Slip It In' album artwork printed on them, but as designs go, anything that is made to shock is soon accepted as the norm. 

Petibon's work interests me because I love how the all black and white aesthetic looks because of its versatility, as well as being  inspired by the fact that he wasnt afraid to dare to create and publish extreme pieces of art, knowing that it would cause uproar because his fans did still enjoy and wear the band merchandise and therefore made it very popular.

Winston Smith is an artist who primarily uses the medium of collage. He is the creater of most of the album artwork used for the Dead Kennedys. Smith is known for his collaboration artwork with Jello Biafra and Alternative Tentacles, for whom he has done numerous covers, inserts, advertisements, flyers, and logos. He is also known  for the famous Alternative Tentacles logo as well as the Dead Kennedys logo and six of their record covers. One of his compositions, God Told Me to Skin You Alive, was used as the cover of Green Day's album Insomniac.

Smith would create his posters with cut outs from newspapers that would be photographed and coppied in large numbers. This created a much more unique feel to his designs, creating bizarre images from everyday photographs such as celebrities and images from current events. I wanted to talk about Smith's work because I am intrigued by how he created his art using as commomplace materials as newpapers, relating back to the theme of creating art from very cheap materials and it becoming a very popular style. I also like how he used photos of current events and people because  looking at his work from this point in time can instantly tell you a lot about the culture he was living in when he made that piece, and maybe even what could have inspired him.

In conclusion, 1980's Underground Music poster and merchandise design was and still is a hugely important part of American music and art subculture. Artists who began with no money or resources have created art styles that inspired future designers up until this day when it comes to music promtion and art. This, to me, is an extremely admirable achievement that I am glad is still appreciated today, whether it is in the form of expensive reproductions or still viewed on the walls of CBGB'S.