Grunge
Grunge
is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged as a fusion of punk,
alternative, and heavy metal during the mid-1980’s in the American state of
Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. A lot of people started to
contribute with grunge, and this group began to expand. A lot of rock bands
like Nirvana were born from this group. With 1987’s seminal Gluey Porch Treatments
album, the Melvins would become one of the founding fathers of what eventually
became known as “grunge”- a new mutant form of punk rock that absorbed heavy
metal as well as hard rock bands such as “kiss” and “Aerosmith”.
The
typography was messy, words were splayed and chaotic, letters blurred. Textures
were thick and heavy. Concert posters looked like splattered paint and
scratched out band names. It looks like unfinished and frenzied aesthetic.
David Carson
David
Carson is known as the “Godfather of Grunge”. His style explore the ‘rule
breaking’ ideas of Punk and Deconstructivist design. His style challenged the
traditional editorial and advertising design of the 80’s and 90’s. His method was
simple, his gospel two fold: you don’t have to know the rules before breaking
them, and never mistake legibility for communication. In 1983 became the
designer of ‘Transworld skateboarding’. In 1992 created the magazine ‘Ray Gun’.
The covers of this magazine were bold and often disorienting.
His techniques were ripping, shredding and
remaking letters and his characteristics were asymmetrical layers, pages with densely
layered images and fragmented typefaces.
The rise of grunge typography coincided with the
burgeoning popularity of the Macintosh, which, introduced in 1984, permanently
altered the landscape of graphic design and typography. Young typographers in
the 90’s, armed with new software and ideas, rejected the rule-based fonts of
their forebears. The typography of grunge wasn’t just the experimental design
of the letters, but the way they were placed on page.
These are some posters of today that were inspired
from grunge.
Art Chantry
Arthur
Samuel Wilbur Chantry is best known as Art Chantry, that is a graphic designer
he is often known for the posters and the album covers he did for bands from
the Pacific Northwest, such as Nirvana, Hole and the Sonics. Chantry also
designed the cover for ‘some people can’t surf’.
The
influences of Art Chantry are many forms of “outsider art”, such as monster
magazines, hot-rod art, and psychedelic culture. The design of Chantry relates
to punk scene in Seattle as he finds himself, with the avant-garde, creating
posters for local rock concerts. Art Chantry was an Art director of the Rocket
newspaper, which documented Seattle’s music scene in the 90’s. The posters that
he produces where inspired from comics, pop art and industrial catalogues. His
design work for Independent record labels, commercial clients and political and
community events, always on a low budget and with a quick turnaround, remains
influential and much imitated today. His posters juxtapose large type, often
fractured or distressed and lifted from vintage sources, with starting pictures
appropriated from clip art, exploitation magazines and hot-rod culture. His
posters mostly where produced from recycled materials which were simultaneously
chaotic and clear.
Influences of Art Chantry today:
References:
History of Grunge. 2015. History of Grunge. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.citelighter.com/music/overall/knowledgecards/history-of-grunge. [Accessed 24 January 2015]
The Rise And Fall Of Grunge Typography - The Awl. 2015. The Rise And Fall Of Grunge Typography - The Awl. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.theawl.com/2012/08/grunge-typography. [Accessed 24 January 2015].
Art Chantry | Biography, Life, Work, Logos and Awards . 2015. Art Chantry | Biography, Life, Work, Logos and Awards . [ONLINE] Available at:http://famouslogos.net/art-chantry/. [Accessed 28 January 2015]
Search Artists / American Art. 2015. Search Artists / American Art. [ONLINE] Available at: http://americanart.si.edu/search/artist_bio.cfm?ID=7244. [Accessed 28 January 2015].
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