# Punk & DIY Zine

> The graphic voice of punk rock in fanzines, record sleeves and gig flyers: images and words cut from newspapers, typed or scrawled, pasted down and run off on a photocopier. Deliberate crudeness, ransom-note lettering and hijacked mass-media imagery turned cheap reproduction into an anti-professional statement of autonomy and dissent.

- Period: 1976–1986
- Where: Western Europe, North America
- Origin: London and Manchester; New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco
- Branch: Counterculture
- Also known as: Punk graphics, Fanzine aesthetic, Cut-and-paste
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/punk-diy/

## How it works

- Cut letters and words from newspapers and magazines and paste them into ransom-note headlines.
- Hijack official and commercial imagery (the monarch, flags, adverts) and deface it with collage and slogans.
- Reproduce on a photocopier and let toner speckle, dropout and torn paper edges show.
- Mix typewriter text, marker scrawl and stencilled letters on the same page without a grid.
- Default to black and white, adding at most one or two clashing fluorescent spot inks.

## Its design choices

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

### Layout & composition
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (defining)
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Diagonal axis](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagonal-axis/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (characteristic)
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (characteristic)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (defining)
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (characteristic)
- [Monospace](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monospace/) (characteristic)
- [Stencil](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stencil/) (occasional)
- [Experimental & distorted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/experimental-and-distorted/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (defining)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Fluorescent & neon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/fluorescent-and-neon/) (characteristic)
- [Complementary clash](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/complementary-clash/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Angular & zigzag](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/angular-and-zigzag/) (occasional)
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Photocopy & distress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photocopy-and-distress/) (defining)
- [Halftone & Ben-Day dots](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/halftone-and-ben-day-dots/) (characteristic)
- [Grain & noise](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grain-and-noise/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (characteristic)

### Imagery
- [Found & vernacular imagery](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/found-and-vernacular-imagery/) (defining)
- [Photomontage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photomontage/) (characteristic)
- [Treated photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/treated-photography/) (characteristic)
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (occasional)
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Photocopy & zine](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photocopy-and-zine/) (defining)
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (characteristic)
- [Screen printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/screen-printing/) (occasional)
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (defining)
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (characteristic)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (characteristic)
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (characteristic)

Avoids: Modular grid, Generous white space, Gloss & highlights, Chrome & 3D render, Floral & vegetal, Luxurious & glamorous, Calm & contemplative

Palette: #0d0d0d, #f2efe6, #ff2fa0, #f7e400, #d7191c, #8c8c8c

Typefaces: Ransom-note cut-out lettering, Typewriter faces (Courier, IBM Selectric), Marker and stencil hand-lettering, Letraset dry-transfer type

Known for: Jamie Reid (Sex Pistols, God Save the Queen and Never Mind the Bollocks, 1977); Mark Perry (Sniffin' Glue fanzine, 1976–77); Linder Sterling & Malcolm Garrett (Buzzcocks, Orgasm Addict sleeve, 1977); Gee Vaucher (Crass Records); Raymond Pettibon (Black Flag and SST Records); Winston Smith (Dead Kennedys collages)

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

- Grew out of: [Dada](https://stylogeny.com/styles/dada.md) (1916–1924)
- Influenced by: [Pop Art Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/pop-art.md) (1955–1975)
- Led to: [La Movida Madrileña Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/movida-madrilena.md) (1977–1988)
- Led to: [Post-Punk Record Sleeve (Stiff, Factory, 4AD)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/post-punk-sleeve.md) (1977–1990)
- Led to: [Stencil Street Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/stencil-street-art.md) (1978–present)
- Led to: [Black Metal Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/black-metal-graphics.md) (1990–present)
- Led to: [Grunge Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/grunge-typography.md) (1990–2000)
- Led to: [Cartonera Books (Latin American Cardboard Publishing)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/cartonera-books.md) (2003–present)
- Led to: [Risograph & Indie Print Culture](https://stylogeny.com/styles/risograph-indie.md) (2008–present)
- Led to: [Chilean Estallido Social Graphics (Revuelta Popular of 2019–20)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/chilean-estallido-graphics.md) (2019–2022)
- Alike in its design choices: [Mavo](https://stylogeny.com/styles/mavo.md) (1923–1925), 57% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Cranbrook & Deconstructivist Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/deconstructivist-typography.md) (1980–1998), 56% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [South African Vernacular Design (Ijusi)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ijusi-vernacular.md) (1995–present), 54% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Black Panther Party Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/black-panther-graphics.md) (1967–1980), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Angura Theatre Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/angura-poster.md) (1965–1985), 52% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Situationist Détournement Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/situationist-detournement.md) (1956–1972), 48% alike

## Real works

- [Poster advertising the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club, 100 Oxford St., Tuesday Aug 31st (gig flyer)](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O250852/): Jamie Reid, 1976, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- [Flowers in the Dustbin (Sex Pistols fanzine), cover](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1154684/): Unknown (catalogued by the V&A under 'Jamie Reid archive'), 1977, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Jamie Reid archive)
- [Flyer for a concert featuring Teen Idles, 5746 MacArthur Boulevard NW, 15 February [1980]](https://digdc.dclibrary.org/do/4c95e20a-5c3b-40c0-819c-cb1c70fa8a11): Unknown; DC Public Library lists Eddie Janney and Teen Idles as creators (Eddie Janney Collection), 15 February [1980] (year inferred by the library), DC Public Library, The People's Archive, DC Punk Archive (Eddie Janney Collection)
- [Stations of the Crass (12-inch double-LP poster sleeve), collage side](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O198060/): Gee Vaucher, for Crass, 1979, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- [Orgasm Addict, Buzzcocks (7-inch single sleeve)](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1192917/): Linder (collage) and Malcolm Garrett (design), ca. 1977, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

## Sources

- Teal Triggs, Fanzines (Thames & Hudson, 2010)
- Russ Bestley & Alex Ogg, The Art of Punk (2012)
- Philip B. Meggs & Alston W. Purvis, Meggs' History of Graphic Design

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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, “Punk & DIY Zine”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/punk-diy/