The Art of Punk

The definitive illustrated chronicle on the graphic art of punk style, from period concert posters and flyers to fanzines and record sleeves, and much more, with over 900 images

Celebrating a wide range of punk design in vinyl cover art, posters, flyers, fanzines, and other ephemera, The Art of Punk highlights the movement primarily within graphic design and print, while also considering its impact on wider popular culture.

Punk was based on immediacy—an often-inspired amateurism and underground, close-knit communities that burned brightly but were not intended to extend beyond the gig, the event, the scene, the moment. Punk songs by such legendary bands as the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, the Damned, the New York Dolls, the Germs, and the Clash tended to be short, fast, and aggressive, and the oft-repeated credo “If it can’t be said in three minutes, it’s not worth saying” was adopted as standard practice, extending in turn to an entire ethos for the whole subculture.

The Art of Punk is arranged chronologically, and by genre, and features more than 900 visual examples both by uncredited artists and internationally renowned designers and design groups, alongside interviews with, and commentary by, many of the artists concerned.