OUGD401: Studio Brief 2: From Theory into Practice

A Brief History of...  

So from being briefed on the studio task I decided that I'd base my book on the history of the Skinhead movement. It was an area which interested me and I thought it was a culture which is very misunderstood and could be explained further. I'd aim my book at like minded designers interested in British history and culture.

This was my original concept:

For my publication I want to explore the Skinhead culture from 69'. I will look at the position of parliment, the differences in class due to economic circumstances and the progression of society and how it played a huge part in the way the Skinheads acted and lived. I want to explore the orginial Skinheads, before racism and far right parties started using the skinhead look.

 

After defining my idea we then had a crit which involved the class spliting into two groups and sharing your ideas with everybody. I got some brilliant feedback which resulted in me then changing up my idea.

Feedback:

Make it into a timeline?

Aim it at younger students?

Can you find enough information on the content?

What will be the point of it?

 After considering the feedback I decided to Look at Mods and Skins, two revolutionaries that were the beginning of the youth rebelion.    

Second Concept:

For my publication I want to explore the fashion, music and lifestyle of British youth in the 1960's, comparing this with the fashion, music and lifestyle of today's youth. I will pay direct attention to the subcultures of Mods and Skins. I will look at the position of parliament/ politics, the differences in class due to economic circumstances and the progression of society and how it played a huge part in the way the youth dressed, acted and lived during the 1960's, and compare with this to situation of today's society, economy and politics. My publication will be targeted at like minded designers of my age who are interested in British Culture and history. The design will be that of a zine, a free handout given when either purchasing clothes, or music.

Over easter I designed some ideas of how I wanted my book to look and did some research on Mods and Skinheads.

   

This was the original front cover for my book. The idea was that when you open up the book to read it it looks like you've got the parker jacket on.

 Double page spread:

 Heres proof of the original content i'd written [unfinished]. After the crit this content was scrapped.

 After easter we had another crit, in smaller groups, I was with Richard and four other students. The feedback i got was brilliant, although it gave me another direction in which I was going to take my publication

Feeback:

-Focus on more Subgenres, not just mods and skins.

-Write about how music and lifestyle has changed due to changes in society, talk about how its all ruled by money and developments in technology.

-Compare revolutionaries from the 60's and 70's to ones now. e.g. punks and hipsters.  

This is my final concept and the one I stuck with:

My publication will be a zine exploring the attitude towards music and lifestyle of subcultures in the 1960's - 70's, comparing this with the attitude towards music and lifestyle of today's subcultures. I will look at the position of parliament/ politics, the differences in class due to economic circumstances and the progression of society and how it played a huge part in the way the youth acted and lived during the 1960's and the music scenes which derived from this, and compare with this to situation of today's society, economy and politics and how it has effected music and subcultures. My publication will be targeted at students and young adults attending music gigs and aims to inform and entertain, and if mass produces would be given out at the end of a music event,

 

Research:

London Subcultures 1950-1980

Between 1950 and 1980, groups of young people defined themselves as different through their musical, fashion and lifestyle preferences.

These 'subcultures' usually expressed a deliberate opposition to established ideas of morality and public order. Disenchanted by the staid conventions of the older generation, young people demanded freedom to behave as they wished.

The confidence of youth was partly based on prosperity. Earnings increased by 70% between 1950 and 1970, and young people had disposable incomes to play with.

Teddy Boys and Girls

 

'Teds' were associated with the rise of rock and roll in the 1950s. Teddy dress was a version of Edwardian-era dress. Teddy boys wore knee-length drape coats with half-length velvet collars, suede shoes and elaborate bouffant hairstyles, a pastiche of the wealthy patrons of Saville Row.

Teddy Girls wore full dirndl or circular skirts decorated with large appliques, white fitted shirts, and scarves tied around their necks. Along with zoot-suited Hipsters and Greasers, Teds were associated with American-style rock and roll, and the British stars Tommy Steele, Adam Faith and Cliff Richard.

Mods

 

'Mods' or Moderns were fashion-conscious sharp dressers of the 1960s. Emerging in part from the jazz modernists of the 1950s, and partly from working-class traditions of competitive dressing, Mods aped the look of middle-class businessmen. They wore Italian-cut, custom-made suits from Cecil Gee and teamed them withpolo shirts and neat Vidal Sassoon haircuts. They rode Vespa motor scooters.

Young Mod women turned towards style icons such as the androgynous model Twiggy for inspiration. Frivolous or ladylike accessories were abandoned in favour of figure-hugging sweaters, mini-skirts and shift dresses.

Mods liked Black music and those who had grown up with newly settled West Indian neighbours adopted elements of Black styling and a taste for Jamaican Ska. London Mod bands of the 1960s included the Small Faces, The Who and The Kinks.

Reference: http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/london-subcultures-1950-1980

Youth Culture & Fashion

London's role as the nation's capital of fashion was already centuries-old when the 20th century began. Fashionable dress, music and la mode behavior traditionally took their cue from London's royal court and its aristocratic salons. During the 20th century London's position as the place where fashions were set remained the same but the pacemakers changed. Fashions were now led by the young. From the bright young things of the 1920s dancing the Charleston to hot jazz; through to the punks of the 1970s pogo-ing to The Damned, the young assumed a new cultural importance in 20th century London.

London's size and class make-up was, as always, a factor. London had the largest working class in Europe and the combination of 'East End boys and West End girls' was a particularly potent one in the age of democracy and permissiveness. The transport revolution had brought London's West End within reach of all and as the infrastructure of clubs and dancing venues took shape from the 1920s onwards, so too did the democratic mixing of wealthy and workers. In the 1930s a journalist observed the crowds of East End young in Leicester Square's cafes and cinemas. 'I imagined when I first saw them that these people, so magnificently colourful and glossy and self-assured, must be very important and wealthy indeed.... But I found out that they were really very poor; that they invaded the West End in their tens of thousands only twice a week or so; that they spent next to nothing.'

Most of London's 20th century youth 'scenes' led a syncopated life between the West End and the suburbs. Although jazz became a craze for the wealthy young of Mayfair, it also thrived in large suburban ballrooms, such as the Hammersmith Palais de Danse, or Streatham Locarno. During the 1960s some of the most famous rhythm and blues venues were not in central London but in the western suburbs. Here, the crumbling ballroom on Eel Pie Island, and the Railway Hotel in Richmond, otherwise known as the Crawdaddy Club, were key places on the music scene.

The venues at London's centre were, however, crucial. The new clubs and dancehalls that had appeared in and around Soho with the lifting of entertainment restrictions after the First World War became the infrastructure of all youth cultures to come. Rectors Club in the Tottenham Court Road was opened as a basement dancing club in the 1920s. In 1966 the space became UFO, London's leading psychedelic club with Pink Floyd as the house band. The Ham Bone club, which opened in 1920s in Ham Yard, in Soho, turned into Cy Laurie's skiffle club in the 1950s.

As the young began to assume a new confidence and cultural authority, so fashions in dress reflected the change. The 20th century saw London fashion become more closely entangled with the young than ever before, a change embodied by three of London's most creative fashion designers of the 20th century: Norman Hartnell, Mary Quant and Vivienne Westwood.

Norman Hartnell emerged in the 1920s from the spirit of the jazz age rather than haute couture traditions. He had come to fashion through theatrical costume design and his playful, colourful dresses perfectly suited the hedonistic mood of London's young aristocrats. In the 1960s Mary Quant encapsulated swinging London through her bright colours and simple 'dolly bird' shapes. Most famously through the mini-skirt, Quant's clothes visibly expressed the new mood and optimism of the baby boom generation. Fifteen years later Vivienne Westwood also marked a new mood but drew her inspiration from a darker set of references. Her clothes resonated with echoes from London's more anti-establishment and disaffected youth cults, from teddy boys to punk rockers.

Fashion's alliance with youth also proved a powerful force in remaking the cultural topography of London. Areas that had once been dowdy turned into trendy. In the 1960s Carnaby Street, a narrow backwater in West Soho turned into the hottest shopping street in London. Biba set up shop in Kensington where the indoor market turned into another magnet for the young. Camden began to acquire an 'alternative' character as the UFO club moved its operations into the disused Victorian engine house, the Round house, in 1967. Most dramatic was the change in Notting Hill Gate which went from being run-down poor area to exceedingly hip within 15 years. Here, youth played a part in the transformation but the key factor was the presence of the West Indian community which gave the area a vibrancy and edge unmatched anywhere else in London.'

Reference: http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/theme/youth-culture-fashion

Two documents of information briefly exploring the history of Britain's youth culture and fashion, and the subcultures derived from this. I'm analysing and reviewing British history from 1945 onwards. It will help me gain a better understanding of the political issues and problems and the situation of society that have effected the way in which the youth of the 1960's broke out of the norm and became independent within a growing society. One factor for the outbreak of youth being financially independent and breaking out of the once strict moral code is the increase in wages, a first after the damaging effects of the first world war.

Skinhead culture:

History of Skinheads. giving a brief overview, very interesting:

http://www.immortaltechnique.co.uk/Thread-Skinhead-Culture-1960-Today

Skinheads emerged when there was a split in culture between middle-class mods and lower-class mods. Before coining the name Skinheads, they were originally named Hard Mods.

More interesting information on whether the Hard Mod supposedly existed and if it was just a name given after the Skinhead culture had become popular.:

http://www.themodgeneration.co.uk/2011/09/hard-mods.html#.UWU8GlceNHA

'Peter Wilmott’s Adolescent Boys of East London (Pelican 1966)' 

A film mentioned in the text, may be worth a watch if I can get hold of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc4otseKl_c

3 minute documentary on a brief history of the skinheads. Very interesting, gives you more information about the herritage and what the roots of the culture specifically were. I like how it focus' more on the music, helps back up my quote of how they were influenced by the love of their music.

'BBC Website:

Skinheads

With the decline of the Mods in the late 60s, the look evolved into the Hard Mod, which soon transformed into the first Skinheads. Hard Mods often lived in the same economically depressed areas of South London as West Indian immigrants and began to emulate the "rude boy" look of pork pie hats and short Levi jeans.
The movement was non-political and gave off the impression of an aspiring white working class, but the fissures of the inter-cultural mixing soon began to show. In late 1970s the Skinhead look became associated with inner-city racism.
The escapism from the Skinheads’ gritty industrial reality then took a darker turn to the football terraces where their aggressive football hooliganism against rival teams became their new entertainment.
With its roots in the Hard Mod look, early Skinhead fashions were visibly similar but soon grew into a distinctive style:

• The famous 'skinhead' itself is typically a grade two or three closely-shaved head for men and a Mod-style short feather cut for girls.
• The Ben Sherman trend prevailed from mod fashion with button-down, gingham shirts. The size of the check denoted your place in the gang - the larger the check the more authority you had in the group.
• Sta-Prest slacks and jeans were the choice of trousers and many skinheads would sit in a bath of water with their shrink-to-fit Levi 501 jeans to get the extreme skinny-legged look.
• Jeans were inevitably tucked into a pair of Dr Martens boots
• The look was completed with a pair of braces and a trilby or pork pie hat.

Our featured original Skinhead

Alan Mortlock is an original Skinhead from 1968. Alan remains a great fan of the style and the Trojan Jamaican music associated with it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/britishstylegenius/content/21862.shtml'

Wikipedias description of the Skinhead culture, I'm trying to get a broad range of opinions and thoughts on the skinhead culture back in the late 60's. I want my findings to be correct, writing about something which isn't necessarily true will effect the truth and the meaning of my book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinhead

The Original Skinheads and History of Skinhead Reggae:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6y8SZSsQbQ

Notes from the video which could help:

Dave and Ansell Colins... introducing black reggae music into British Culture.

Late 60's early 70's reggae inspired the west indie community and the wide working class fans

First Mods then Skinheads

Swede Head, post skinhead

The lyrics were to do with a rebel stance which they associated with.

Lyrics creating an upstir, great oppurtunity for peopel to jump on the bandwaggon and fent their anger

The records would help transform teenage Britain.

Trojan Skinheads

BoneHeads

Another persons view on the history of the skinheads, I like how this text focus' more upon how the skinheads weren't originally coined as racists.

http://www.angelfire.com/sc/lizpunk/Skinheads.html

Great blog post by a 'hard mod' from the late 1960's:

http://gm4uls.webs.com/hardmods6869.htm

Below an article written by a suedehead from the 1960s.

http://www.filmnoirbuff.com/article/suedeheads

Hippies:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266600/hippie

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/the-hippie-movement/12588.html

http://intranet.cramlingtonlv.co.uk/historyweb/Content/gcse2005/gcse_hist/Britain1960s/coursework/hippies.htm  

I took notes on the history of Britain from 1945, to get a deeper understanding of the political issues and the situation of society and its progression. I also took notes on the fashion of the mods and the skinheads. Highlighted items are notes which i think will come usefull when writing my book.

History:

 Mod and Skinhead Fashion, and further notes:

Bibliography of articles used to define history during the 1960's:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/overview_1945_present_01.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/timeline/present_timeline_noflash.shtml

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/5130733677/

http://www.modculture.co.uk/tag/music/

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_type_of_music_did_the_mods_listen_to

http://www.fragrancex.com/Fragrance-Information/fashion-make-up-and-culture-of-the-60s.html

Brilliant article explaining in full detail the history of the mods:

http://www.gbacg.org/costume-resources/original/articles/mods.pdf

Original Images for my publication about mods and skins:





















Reference: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/the80sareback/files/2010/05/modgirl.jpg




Reference: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/the80sareback/files/2010/05/00227373.jpg



Reference: http://api.ning.com/files/Kzpx8Sll2g8*chUfezwPkuwUmv-xlz65rwR1kV5ej2298pWOoikU7*roOEhpW1bTyab1Tqu4E70WxCDDdu0gY3DbaAMas36t/modculturebw.jpg



Reference: http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=mCpdD4IIMHh2VM&tbnid=fzaPt3lwR3jPiM:&ved=0CAgQjRwwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F54250980%40N08%2F7146171827%2F&ei=yc5rUeepNsHDPKD7gdgK&psig=AFQjCNHe-RGTDE6p-yjmF7970CDYZ2qorg&ust=1366106185959060




Reference: http://www.itsamodthing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/small_faces.jpg



Reference: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/panorama/Mods_Wild_Ones.jpg



 Reference: http://lagondwanaland.com/SoulPublications/Book/Manchester_Wheelers/images/Manchester-Wheelers_Cover_Lables.png


Book designs:

'Recently, we found out about a cookbook that you can actually eat after you’re done reading the recipes inside, which to us sounds pretty much like the best idea ever.'

'A special edition edible cookbook from German design firm Korefe and Gerstenberg Publishing, the recipes are printed on fresh pasta pages that can be baked into a delicious lasagna. '








'The Mirror Book, by John Christie and Ron King, and published by Circle Press in 1985, is exactly what it sounds like. It comes complete with a pair of white gloves for smudge-free handling, and it’s meant to be a book about self-discovery'




'While it might not look all that out of the ordinary, the first edition cover of We’re Getting On by James Kaelan is made out of birch seed paper — so when you’re finished reading it, you can plant it and make a tree.'





'A glow-in-the-dark book by Croatian designers Bruketa&Žinić that can only be identified at night — in the light, it looks like a plain white journal.'








'Even though these books were only distributed as a direct marketing idea to promote the movie The Jungle Book 2 in Spain, we think they’re pretty phenomenal. We wonder what’s inside.'



 'The Mechanical Word is a five volume series of mechanical books designed by Karen Bleitz with poetry by Richard Price. Readers turn the cranks to interact with the poems and “reveal the forces hidden within the constructs of communication.”'



'This edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Imp of the Perverse,” designed by Helen Friel, must be destroyed to be properly read.'



'Each edition of Richard Long’s Nile (Papers of River Muds) is made from the mud of the Mississippi, the Amazon, the Rhine, the Guatiquia, the Huang He, the Hudson, the Nairobi, and other rivers, each page a little different depending on where it was collected.'



Collected book designs and packaging designs:

So I've gathered a few items which have helped me consider my stock for the publication. A lot of it was free handouts given to me after music gigs. I've included some paper bags as i've decided my publication may come in one, I really like the texture and i think printing onto the material looks really clean and crisp. I've also got some old comics that my dad has given me from when he was at school. The style in which it has been made is really interesting. A lot of it is handrawn but there are sections which have been made up by layering images on a photocopier.:

 Some interesting designs printed onto paper bags. I like the texture of the prints on the brown bags, quite grungy but very clean and crisp. The bread bag has an amazing rather intricate design which I really like, I think it improves the quality of the bag just being seen as a paper bag, which could be seen as scruffy.

Zines given free from shops an after music events:

 The first book has a great use of colour, the royal blue which runs through out the short booklet. The design style looks as if it's just been thrown together, a little rough around the edges, but works.

The second booklet has a very nice structured design. Its very clean cut, the images are very sharp and the gloss paper gives the book some quality.

 Comics given to me by my dad which he collected from school. I've added these because the design quality is brilliant for a book of its time. The photocopied effect and the handrawn images work great with the stock and the no colour theme work really well, and is also cost effective, as this comic is a photocopy.

This booklet was from Download festival, the book contained information on the sporting events which were happening through the day, and also had interviews with the professional skateboarders who were skating that day. The hand drawn styles very effective and adds to the grungey theme. The book was made on thick card, an apprporiate stock for this type of booklet but not what I'm looking for.

Fanzines:

A fanzine (portmanteau of fan and magazine or -zine) is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and first popularized within science fiction fandom, from whom it was adopted by others.

Fanzines are traditionally circulated free of charge, or for a nominal cost to defray postage or production expenses.



 These publications were produced first on small tabletop printing presses, often by students.

As professional printing technology progressed, so did the technology of fanzines. Early fanzines were hand-drafted or typed on a manual typewriter and printed using primitive reproduction techniques (e.g., the spirit duplicator or even the hectograph). Only a very small number of copies could be made at a time, so circulation was extremely limited. The use of mimeograph machines enabled greater press runs, and the photocopier increased the speed and ease of publishing once more. Today, thanks to the advent of desktop publishing and self-publication, there is often little difference between the appearance of a fanzine and a professional magazine.

Rock & roll music fanzines:

By the mid-1960s, several fans active in science fiction and comics fandom recognized a shared interest in rock music, and the rock fanzine was born.

In the late 1990s, notorious fanzines and e-zines flourished about electronic and post-rock music. Crème Brûlée fanzine was one of those that documented post-rock genre and experimental music.

Crème Brûlée zine

 Punk zines:

A punk zine (or punkzine) is a zine devoted to punk culture, most often punk rock music, bands, or the DIY punk ethic. Punk zines are the most likely place to find punk literature.

The term punkzine was possibly coined amongst anarcho-punk circles, specifically by writers who objected to the connotations of the word fanzine, believing the first part of the word to imply the slavish following of pop groups, and unquestioning acceptance of celebrity culture.

The punk subculture in the United Kingdom spearheaded a surge of interest in fanzines as a countercultural alternative to established print media. The first and perhaps still best known UK 'punk zine' was Sniffin' Glue, produced by Deptford punk fan Mark Perry. Sniffin' Glue ran for 12 photocopied issues; the first issue was produced by Perry immediately following (and in response to) the London debut of The Ramones on July 4, 1976. Other UK fanzines included Blam!, Bombsite, Wool City Rocker, Burnt Offering, Chainsaw, New Crimes, Vague, Jamming, Love and Molotov Cocktails, To Hell With Poverty, New Youth, Peroxide, ENZK, Juniper beri-beri, No Cure,Communication Blur, Rox, Grim Humour, Spuno and Cool Notes.

• hand written
• includes issue no. and the copy
• stapled
• Includes the price
• newspaper cutouts

Mod fanzines

In the United Kingdom, the 1979 Mod revival brought with it a burst of fresh creativity from fanzines, and for the next decade, the youth subculture inspired the production of dozens of independent publications. The most successful of the first wave was Maximum Speed, which successfully captured the frenetic world of a mod revival scene that was propelling bands like Secret Affair, Purple Hearts and The Chords into the UK charts.

Local music fanzines

In the UK, there were also fanzines that covered the local music scene in a particular town or city. Mainly prevalent in the 70s and 80s, all music styles were covered, whether the bands were playing rock, punk, metal, futurist, ska or dance. Featured were local gig reviews and articles that were below the radar of the mainstream music press. They were produced using the technology of the time, i.e. typewriter and Letraset.





Production of Zines and Zines today:

Zines are written in a variety of formats, from computer-printed text to comics to handwritten text (an example being Cometbus). Print remains the most popular zine format, usually photo-copied with a small circulation. Topics covered are broad, including fanfiction, politics, art and design, ephemera, personal journals, social theory, single topic obsession, or sexual content far enough outside of the mainstream to be prohibitive of inclusion in more traditional media.

Zines distributed for free are either traded directly between zinesters, given away at the outlets mentioned or are available to download and print online.

Cheap photocopying had made it easier than ever for anyone who could make a band flyer to make a zine.

NoZine:















Everything is f*cked ok:



















Through thorough research of zines I've decided that I'm going to produce my Zine in the style of an old Punk-zine. I'm going to incorporate the old techniques used which is very cut and paste. I plan on cutting out each page using layers of images and text and im going to scan each page in to really put across the hand made element. As zines were only ever stapled I'm going to stick to this method as any other binding would not work. The font I'm going to use is 'American Typewriter', as this was a common font used in the process of designing Zines. I've taken stock into consideration, I'm going to print onto slightly glossy a4.

The process in which I made the Zine was important as I wanted to show through the design that it had been made in a very cut and paste manor. As old zines were usually made without any preparation I followed this same process. I designed as I went along, sticking my writing and images around the page without any preparation.

I designed the back of each page by layering up images and scanning them in.

For the design of the title, quotes and headers I cut out letters from a newspaper similar to work by Jamie Reid. I spelt out what i wanted to say backwards into the scanner, these are some of the results before cutting them and editing them:

I printed out the body copy and started by cutting each line out, I then measured how big each line was going to be and cut individual words out to make the correct size for each line:

I placed a piece of black card over the back so I could then easily cut the background out in photoshop:

I then added the writing to the collage of images to make each page and on the pages which didn't have text i added cut out images which corresponded with the text opposite:

Here are the final images of my publication: