Author: johnnyvitale

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Devo was a popular new wave band in the 1980’s known for many things, but I thought their interesting costumes would be a fine example for our upcoming wearables project. Though Devo’s wearables are less textured then the designs we might be creating ourselves, the shapes of their masks and hats are inspiring nonetheless.

Peter Saville was tasked by Joy Division for designing the artwork to their cult-classic debut, Unknown Pleasures. Saville was inspired by a collection of images the band gave to him, in which he found the data visualization of a pulsar wave which would become the cover.

 

The design is intentionally antithetical towards major pop records at the time through the absence of any text on the cover, which Saville feels is “patronizing” towards the audience.

Additionally, the image first proved indexical for emerging post-punks and goths. However, as the post-punk revival of the early 2000’s took place, the image would become ubiquitous; something that most people have seen without actually knowing a thing about Joy Division.

The omnipresence of Saville’s pulsar design in sub-popular culture allowed for the image to be reimagined and parodied. Take, for instance, this design by Adam J. Kurtz.