V. Pigulevskiy

Music fanzines and punk-graphic

The article gives the analysis of the graphic language in music magazines, or fanzines produced by fans of rock music and counterculture. The manifestation of protest (against the bourgeois practicality, bureaucracy and the hypocritical morality) which youth subcultures are in themselves, as well as communication with the iconic musicians, musical events, and critical views on rock concerts – all this is done by fanzines, the underground press. Such magazines are published by both fans and professional publishers for fans, being as a phenomenon of underground culture. Embodying the energy of rock and rebellion of the counterculture, such magazines use a new artistic language – psychodely style, punk graphics, cartoon and underground comic. This magazine kitsch becomes the basis for a new graphical language, a new wave – Swiss punk and grunge. The meaning of this visual language is not to transmit information, but to convey the gesture, expression, outcry and protest. In the situation of the information society there is a problem of communication: how necessary is clarity and readability, if the article is banal or overly emotional? It depends on the strategy of newly-founded magazines on music, culture and fashion – with using the Swiss international style or Swiss punk.

Key words

underground press, fanzines, psychodely style, punk rock, punk graphic, grunge style.

• Read full article