Swissted – Punk is renewed

Swissted
Swissted

The real sense of punk is to think for yourself, without limits, without rules.

Swissted is the project of an artist and designer: Mike Joyce. Growing up in Albany, New York, in the early 1980s, Joyce was drawn to the magnetic energy of the hardcore shows playing in local seedy bars, eventually managing to cultivate a passion for both graphic art and design. After studying with the Swiss modernist Fred Troller at Alfred University, Joyce found himself increasingly drawn to minimalism without embellishment of the international or Swiss typography style.
CBGB
CBGB: one of the most famous clubs in the New York hardcore punk scene

The Swissted project

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Inspired by the 70s, 80s and 90s, Swissted is a bold and captivating poster collection that reflects the maniacal energy of music and time. From Iggy Pop to David Bowie, Minor Threat to Nirvana and many more … Swissted’s posters are contrasting, complementary, occasionally offensive and generally fantastic. Mike Joyce is a lover of punk rock and Swiss modernism, two movements that have almost nothing to do with each other, due to the fact that the Swiss modernists have eliminated all decorations. He learned that you can do something bold and structured and still vivid and full of emotions, inspired by the 1950s jazz posters of Josef Müller-Brockmann . A true abstract art.
Josef Müller-Brockmann
Josef Müller-Brockmann. Frühjahrskonzert der Tonhalle-Gesellschaft - 1953

Where did Swissted's idea come from?

Fascinated by the Swiss graphic design, especially the international typography style, Mike found it interesting that these two movements seemed at odds with each other as punk has an anti-establishment ethic and Swiss modernism is very structured, and as at the at the same time they had a common thread: Swiss modernists eliminated extraneous decorations to create clear communication, while punk rock took self-indulgent rock and roll and stripped it all the way down. So what did he do? He combined them together to see what happened. Thus was born Swissted: a minimal but effective graphic project, which manages to achieve perfect communication through abstraction . A little bit the opposite of how things are done today.
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Conclusions
What do you think of this project? Let me know below in the comments;) If like me you are passionate about music and design you can find the book / a> containing 200 posters, possible to detach (if there is someone you are most interested in) and ready to frame! Each poster is dedicated to several legendary bands. If you are just curious and want to see the projects you can find them on the official website: www.swissted.com. I hope this article has brought you some inspiration. Until next time!

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