# Graffiti & Hip-Hop Graphics

> Born on New York's subway cars and Bronx party flyers, graffiti writing turns the writer's name into a monumental letter-sculpture: bubble, block and wildstyle letters with arrows, 3D drop shadows, fades and highlights, painted freehand in aerosol. Hip-hop's flyers, sleeves and logos carried the same lettering, cartoon characters and street swagger into print and then around the world.

- Period: 1972–present
- Where: North America, Global / networked
- Origin: New York City (the Bronx, Brooklyn, Upper Manhattan) and Philadelphia
- Branch: Counterculture
- Also known as: Subway writing, Wildstyle, Aerosol art, Hip-hop flyer art
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/hip-hop-graffiti/

## How it works

- Make the name the image: build letters as interlocking, overlapping forms with arrows and connections growing from the strokes.
- Give every letter a hard 3D drop block and an outline, then add white highlights and sparkles as if the surface shines.
- Fill letters with fades, splits and patterns in saturated colour rather than a single flat hue.
- Paint freehand with aerosol at architectural scale, on walls and trains.
- Add a cartoon character or B-boy figure beside the letters to give the piece a personality.
- Develop a personal handstyle; originality of letter structure matters more than legibility to outsiders.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Diagonal axis](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagonal-axis/) (characteristic)
- [Organic flow](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/organic-flow/) (occasional)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Illusion of depth](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/illusion-of-depth/) (defining)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (characteristic)
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (characteristic)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (defining)
- [Experimental & distorted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/experimental-and-distorted/) (characteristic)
- [Tight setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/tight-setting/) (characteristic)
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (characteristic)

### Colour
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (characteristic)
- [Gradients](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gradients/) (characteristic)
- [Complementary clash](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/complementary-clash/) (characteristic)
- [Fluorescent & neon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/fluorescent-and-neon/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Rounded & pill](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rounded-and-pill/) (characteristic)
- [Angular & zigzag](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/angular-and-zigzag/) (characteristic)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)

### Surface & texture
- [Hard offset shadow](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hard-offset-shadow/) (defining)
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (characteristic)
- [Gloss & highlights](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gloss-and-highlights/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Cosmic & celestial](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/cosmic-and-celestial/) (characteristic)
- [Abundant decoration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/abundant-decoration/) (characteristic)
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (characteristic)
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Straight photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/straight-photography/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Hand-painted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-painted/) (defining)
- [Architecture & signage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/architecture-and-signage/) (characteristic)
- [Photocopy & zine](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photocopy-and-zine/) (occasional)
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (defining)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (characteristic)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (occasional)

Avoids: Modular grid, Classical text block, Flush left, ragged right, Generous white space, Ornament-free, Rational & objective, Calm & contemplative

Palette: #111111, #e4002b, #ffcc00, #00a3e0, #7ac143, #c0c0c0

Typefaces: Wildstyle lettering, Bubble letters (softies, after Phase 2), Blockbuster letters, Tag handstyles

Known for: Phase 2 (bubble letters; Bronx party flyers); Lee Quiñones (whole-car subway pieces); Dondi White; Lady Pink; Buddy Esquire (hip-hop party flyers); Cey Adams & The Drawing Board (Def Jam Recordings); Martha Cooper & Henry Chalfant, Subway Art (1984)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Hand-Painted Signage & Vernacular Lettering](https://stylogeny.com/styles/hand-painted-signage.md) (1800–present)
- Influenced by: [Pop Art Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/pop-art.md) (1955–1975)
- Influenced by: [Psychedelic Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/psychedelic.md) (1965–1973)
- Led to: [Matatu & Nganya Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/matatu-art.md) (1990–present)
- Led to: [Arabic Calligraffiti](https://stylogeny.com/styles/arabic-calligraffiti.md) (2002–present)
- Alike in its design choices: [Picó Sound-System Painting (Colombian Caribbean)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/pico-sound-system-art.md) (1967–present), 62% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Jeepney Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/jeepney-art.md) (1946–present), 61% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Fileteado Porteño](https://stylogeny.com/styles/fileteado-porteno.md) (1890–present), 55% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Itasha (Anime Character Car Graphics)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/itasha.md) (2005–present), 54% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [AfriCOBRA](https://stylogeny.com/styles/africobra.md) (1968–present), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [VTuber Avatar and Stream Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/vtuber-graphics.md) (2016–present), 53% alike

## Real works

- [Son of Kel](https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/objects/160155): Randy Rodriguez, aka Kel 1st, 1984, Brooklyn Museum (1999.57.19)
- [Untitled (NOC 167)](https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/objects/160153): Melvin Samuels Jr., aka NOC 167, undated (c. 1984; NOC's other canvas in the same gift, 1999.57.16, is dated 1984), Brooklyn Museum (1999.57.17)
- [Flier for a rap battle in the Bronx designed by Buddy Esquire](https://www.si.edu/object/flier-rap-battle-bronx-designed-buddy-esquire%3Anmaahc_2014.219.4): Buddy Esquire (Lenoin Thompson III), 1979 (event 11 May 1979), Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (2014.219.4)
- [Subway trains, like this one, have been spray-painted by vandals](https://catalog.archives.gov/id/548266): Anonymous subway writers; photograph by Erik Calonius (DOCUMERICA), May 1973, U.S. National Archives (DOCUMERICA, Environmental Protection Agency; NAID 548266, 412-DA-5779)
- [Fasim wildstyle piece](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barcelona_graffiti_art_-_Fasim_I.jpg): Fasim (photograph uploaded as own work by 'Fasim uno'), 2013, Wikimedia Commons (self-published)

## Sources

- Martha Cooper & Henry Chalfant, Subway Art (1984)
- Roger Gastman & Caleb Neelon, The History of American Graffiti (2010)
- Cey Adams & Bill Adler, DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop (2008)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Graffiti & Hip-Hop Graphics”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/hip-hop-graffiti/