Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics

Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die explores the unique visual language of the punk movement from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s through hundreds of its most memorable graphics–flyers, posters, albums, promotions, and zines.

Examining punk through the lens of graphic design created by both professional and amateur designers, the exhibition will also be punctuated with moments of fashion, contemporary visual art, archival images, videos, and a participatory “concert hall” where visitors can DJ their own vinyl playlist.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.   

Whether o r not you go, the accompanying catalog Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die: Punk And Post Punk Graphics is a definitive visual record of punk and post-punk graphic design; its seven hundred-odd pages are packed with more than 1,500 compelling images of the era. Readers will see much more than Xeroxed proclamations and ransom-style layouts: designers embraced diverse influences, dynamic images, and typographies with gusto and humor, and elements of Futurism, German Expressionism, Soviet-era posters, Pop Art and the Bauhaus movement are reflected in these pieces. The images in this book, sourced exclusively from the editor’s collection, are introduced by renowned graphic design author and editor Steven Heller, and contextualized by an essay by British rock journalist Peter Silverton (Filthy English, I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol). Full-color illustrations throughout.

To add this book to your library, click here: Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die: Punk And Post Punk Graphics