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Form and Function: Deconstructing Music Graphics

image of Form and Function: Deconstructing Music Graphics
  • By Russ Bestley
  • Source: The Intellect Handbook of Popular Music Methodologies , pp 131-146
  • Publication Date: June 2025
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/9781835951033_10
  • Language: English
  • Accessibility Summary:  EPUB 3 and pdf file included; compatible with devices and software which can read these formats. Adjustable font size, spacing, contrast, text justification, number of columns (ePUB only). Alternative text for images. Tagged with a logical reading order to assist screen readers. Navigation between in-text citations and reference list, and endnotes and endnote markers.

The design of music graphics – the range of visual material produced for promotion or packaging such as posters, flyers and record covers – has long been associated with popular music genres and styles. Certain iconic examples of album cover artwork have become inseparable from the musical content of the records themselves, though strategies for analysing their visual form are rarely discussed. This chapter sets out to problematise the analysis of music graphics (in particular, record sleeves, posters, flyers, fanzines and other printed media) through design practice and techniques of reproduction and distribution. It also seeks to interrogate graphic music branding and visual identity in relation to the wider history of graphic design as a commercial practice, rather than simply as conveyors for ‘meaning’ residing in the broader, mediatised image of the artist or label. A selection of case studies from punk and post-punk in the United Kingdom between 1978 and 1980 are utilized to illustrate this approach as a working methodology.

Keywords: album ; artwork ; branding ; design ; print reproduction ; record cover ; visual identity

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Form and Function: Deconstructing Music Graphics
Intellect , 131 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1386/9781835951033_10
/content/books/9781835951033.c08
/content/books/9781835951033.c08
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References

  1. … and the Native Hipsters (1980), ‘There Goes Concorde Again’, seven-inch single, UK: Heater Volume.
  2. Barfe, Louis (2005), Where Have All the Good Times Gone? The Rise and Fall of the Record Industry, London: Atlantic Books.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Bestley, Russ (2018), ‘Design it yourself? Punk's division of labour’, Punk & Post-Punk, 7:1, pp. 7–24.
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  4. Bestley, Russ (2022), ‘Kicks in style: A punk design aesthetic’, in G. McKay and G. Arnold (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock, New York: Oxford Handbooks, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfor dhb/9780190859565.013.13.
  5. Bestley, Russ and McNeil, Paul (2022), Visual Research: An Introduction to Research Methods in Graphic Design, 4th ed., London: Bloomsbury.
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  7. Buzzcocks (1977), Spiral Scratch, EP, UK: New Hormones.
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  8. Cherry, David (1976), Preparing Artwork for Reproduction, London: BT Batsford.
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  9. Desperate Bicycles (1977a), ‘The Medium Was Tedium’, seven-inch single, UK: Refill.
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  10. Desperate Bicycles (1977b), ‘Smokescreen’, seven-inch single, UK: Refill.
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  11. Elborough, Travis (2008), The Long-Player Goodbye: The Album from Vinyl to iPod and Back Again, London: Sceptre.
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  12. Latimer, Henry C. (1977), Preparing Art and Camera Copy for Printing: Contemporary Procedures and Techniques for Mechanicals and Related Copy, New York: McGraw-Hill.
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  13. Milner, Greg (2010), Perfecting Sound Forever: The Story of Recorded Music, London: Granta.
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  14. Packard, Vance (1957), The Hidden Persuaders, London: Longmans, Green and Co Ltd.
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  15. Powell, Aubrey (2017), Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art: The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue, London: Thames & Hudson.
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  16. Reid, Jamie and Savage, Jon (1987), Up They Rise: The Incomplete Works of Jamie Reid, London: Faber and Faber.
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  17. Schnitz Das (1979), ‘4AM’, seven-inch single, UK: Ellie Jay.
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  18. Sex Pistols (1977), Never Mind the Bollocks, vinyl album, UK: Virgin.
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  19. The Clash (1977), The Clash, vinyl album, UK: CBS Records.
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References

  1. … and the Native Hipsters (1980), ‘There Goes Concorde Again’, seven-inch single, UK: Heater Volume.
  2. Barfe, Louis (2005), Where Have All the Good Times Gone? The Rise and Fall of the Record Industry, London: Atlantic Books.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Bestley, Russ (2018), ‘Design it yourself? Punk's division of labour’, Punk & Post-Punk, 7:1, pp. 7–24.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Bestley, Russ (2022), ‘Kicks in style: A punk design aesthetic’, in G. McKay and G. Arnold (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock, New York: Oxford Handbooks, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfor dhb/9780190859565.013.13.
  5. Bestley, Russ and McNeil, Paul (2022), Visual Research: An Introduction to Research Methods in Graphic Design, 4th ed., London: Bloomsbury.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Bestley, Russ and Ogg, Alex (2012), The Art of Punk, London: Omnibus Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Buzzcocks (1977), Spiral Scratch, EP, UK: New Hormones.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Cherry, David (1976), Preparing Artwork for Reproduction, London: BT Batsford.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Desperate Bicycles (1977a), ‘The Medium Was Tedium’, seven-inch single, UK: Refill.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Desperate Bicycles (1977b), ‘Smokescreen’, seven-inch single, UK: Refill.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Elborough, Travis (2008), The Long-Player Goodbye: The Album from Vinyl to iPod and Back Again, London: Sceptre.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Latimer, Henry C. (1977), Preparing Art and Camera Copy for Printing: Contemporary Procedures and Techniques for Mechanicals and Related Copy, New York: McGraw-Hill.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Milner, Greg (2010), Perfecting Sound Forever: The Story of Recorded Music, London: Granta.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Packard, Vance (1957), The Hidden Persuaders, London: Longmans, Green and Co Ltd.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Powell, Aubrey (2017), Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art: The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue, London: Thames & Hudson.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Reid, Jamie and Savage, Jon (1987), Up They Rise: The Incomplete Works of Jamie Reid, London: Faber and Faber.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Schnitz Das (1979), ‘4AM’, seven-inch single, UK: Ellie Jay.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Sex Pistols (1977), Never Mind the Bollocks, vinyl album, UK: Virgin.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. The Clash (1977), The Clash, vinyl album, UK: CBS Records.
     [Google Scholar]

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