In the art world there are spoofs & rip-offs, and then there are authentic tributes to true artistic expressions of a particular time period or genre. The latter is what you’ll find in Mike Joyce’s book, Swissted – which pays homage to the 80s and 90s poster scene by flipping it entirely on its head.
The poster art of the 80s and 90s reflected the music that was its muse – antiestablishment punk rock and grunge. These pieces, often created by amateur artists, were typically black and white, gritty, using found imagery that were modified to make a deliberate point.
The question you have to ask yourself is, why take a gritty form representing a culture and turn it 180 degrees?
Well, for Mike Joyce it blended two divergent inspirations, as Joyce says, a belief, “that conflict and contrast make for great art.” In the introduction to Swissted, Joyce shares what he enjoyed about the International Typographic Style, “I was drawn to their way of communicating with unembellished clarity through such signature characteristics as grid systems, sans-serif typefaces, asymmetric layouts, and geometric forms.”
If you’re reading this you’re most likely an artist, poster collector, art lover, a music fan, or one of our family members. No matter the case we’re always looking for inspiration. Sometimes we fail to recognize contrasting items when they can be the most inspirational. This was the case for Joyce, he wanted to bring his two passions together and prove that it could be done. It’s a good lesson for us as artists and we hope it’s inspiring for you as well.
If nothing else, the designs rock so check out the book anyway.
