The counterculture emerged in early 1960s in USA and in UK, then spilled over into other western countries. The counterculture name suggest this is a culture that is against something but against what? In 1960s the cold war cold reached a climax with the Cuban Missile crisis with the world on verge of nuclear war. The newest generation come of age during this time and began to question the norms and values of their dominate culture. The different groups such as African Americans, woman’s, gays and lesbians began to demand their rights. Civil right and freedom of speech become central to creating a society that was more inclusive revolution and many of the protests began. So in principle the counterculture of the 1960s and early 1970s was thus a mixture of people, ideas, events, circumstances, and technological developments. These developments made exceptionally rapid change.  The new generation become rebellious by welcome sex, drugs and pop music.

OZ magazine was an underground alternative magazine. OZ pushed the boundaries during a time of cultural and political upheaval. As times were changing and new generation were becoming more to new views.

This magazine is simplistic, relying heavily on typography. The most prominent feature is the cartoonish face in the middle, using the hand-rendered “OZ” as the eyes- thought simplistic in design and colour, this illustration works effectively in showing the tongue in cheek spirit of this underground publication. The rest of the poster is composed of typographic work, using only 2 typefaces decreasing in size. This heavy amount of information, conveyed mainly in Helvetica, contrasting with the illustration portrays the ideals and meaning behind Oz magazine – the combination of the crude culture of underground press and its hardline activist journalism.

Reference 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterculture_of_the_1960s

http://counterculturellp.com

https://www.theguardian.com/media/gallery/2017/sep/23/covering-the-counterculture-the-60s-underground-press-in-pictures

https://theconversation.com/oz-magazine-goes-digital-and-the-party-continues-29766