The 60’s and 70’s birthed an underground movement of the psychadellic era; its bubble lettering, op art graphics and collage effects expressed a new culture in a form challenging the previous professionalism of what graphic design had become.

Victor Moscossoco

Moscoso, V. (1967). Rites of Spring. [Colour offset lithograph] San Francisco.

“The goal of my posters was, ideally, if somebody was across the street, they’d see the vibrating colors and say, What’s that?” – Victor Monscoso, the PARIS REVIEW [2]

Moscossoco work is acclaimed to be iconic in the psychedelic era;[1] utilising vibrant colour to attract the attention of his audience, Moscossoco’s work opposed mainstream capitalised graphics in a way that made the counterculture stand out. The spirit of his work was to design for the new psychedelic era; the core of this was a newfound output for creative liberation though sexuality, music and art. The meaning of his work was the communication between the physical rules of perception and psychic effect.[3] What is relevant to my work is the deconstruction of rules to stand out to his audience, to communicate sensibility, spirit and meaning with image and text is what I think all illustrators and graphic designers aspire towards.

Hapshash and the Coloured Coat

Poster by Hapshash and the Coloured Coat (Michael English and Nigel Waymouth)
London, 1967

Michael English and Nigel Waymouth formed Hapshash and the Coloured Coat to produce posters for the underground scene in London [4] They utilised gold and silver inks with fluid typography contrasted with the use of vivid colour; very distinctive in comparison to London flyer posters at the time. ‘People who were interested would find out the hidden messages rather than having them shoved in their face.” Nigel Waymouth [5] Hapsash wanted maximum visual impact with minimum text.

Much like Moscosos work the sensibility of these posters was to draw attention to a movement that was under the radar that was colourful and new in comparison to mainstream design. What is also apparent from the work of Hapshash and the Coloured Coat is the experimental freedom that designers expressed through this movement.

Blue Note Records- Francis Wolff and Reid Miles 

Herbie Hancock: My Point of View   Label: Blue Note 4126   12″ LP 1963 Design and photo: Reid Miles

Jazz “Hard Bop” was another underground culture gaining solid footing in the 60’s. Blue Note Records was an alternative music label where Stephan Wolff was a major photographer in documenting performances of musicians capturing the evocative atmosphere of each musician. Designer Reid Miles “Artfully cropped” these images and inventively manipulated colour with punchy typography creating iconic album covers of Blue Note Records.[6]

This particular cover captured my attention because of my interested in how the composition of photographs makes a photo become a structured piece of aesthetically appealing graphic design in simple form. The use of a photograph cropped down with neutral colour and negative space makes something quite ordinary appear abstract.

 

References

[1] Victormoscoso.com. (2017). Victor Moscoso >> Neon Rose Series. [online] Available at: http://www.victormoscoso.com/gallery1.htm [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017].

[2] Rudick, N. (2015). [online] Available at: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/03/30/only-the-dreamer-an-interview-with-victor-moscoso/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017].

[3] transpersonalspirit, V. (2017). Psychedelic Poster Art: Victor Moscoso. [online] Transpersonal Spirit. Available at: https://transpersonalspirit.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/psychedelic-poster-art-victor-moscoso/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017].

[4] Vam.ac.uk. (2017). UFO Club poster by Hapshash and the Coloured Coat – signed screenprint. [online] Available at: https://www.vam.ac.uk/shop/ufo-club-poster-by-hapshash-and-the-coloured-coat-signed-screenprint-147334.html [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017].

[5] Hoggard, L. (2017). The revolutionary artists of the 60s’ colourful counterculture. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/sep/04/revolutionary-artists-60s-counterculture-v-and-a-you-say-you-want-a-revolution#img-1 [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017].

[6] Michael Cuscuna Talks About Francis Wolff. (2011).