My SP Designs

A friend of mine from Novi Sad, Serbia sent me a present. It is a single vinyl record (SP) that I designed for a Novi Sad band Labaratorija, "Virgin 69" in 1982. From my hundreds of record designs I think I had the most fun with SPs. Starting with my first SP for Prljavo kazaliste, "My Father Was in the War" in 1979, to my last SP for Rage Against the Machine, "Bulls on Parade" in 1996. The reason for this is probably because at that time everybody paid less attention to SPs than to LPs. That gave me a chance to have a little bit more fun.

And probably for the same reason, some of these SPs are in the MOMA’s collection in New York and were displayed in the Making Music Modern: Design for Ear and Eye show.

 

 

One Thing Leads to Another

Recently, when browsing on Boo-Hooray, an online underground movement archive, to my surprise, I noticed that they featured my art created in 1979 in their "Record Dreams" catalogue.

I created that art on my kitchen table as the LP cover for the then-unknown Croatian punk band Dirty Theater (Prljavo kazaliste). I came up with the idea for this cover partly because the band was very young and didn't know exactly how to play. They wanted to sound like The Rolling Stones, but they sounded punk because of their lack of skills. Also, referencing The Rolling Stone's song "Some Girls", Dirty Theater had a song named "Some Boys". Because of all these elements, I created this image. The record became an instant hit in Yugoslavia. 

After that, I did many other things. I moved to the US and almost forgot about that project. 

Suddenly, in 2012, the Hayward Gallery in London created "Someday All the Adults Will Die": Punk Graphics 1971—1984 show. Among others, they exhibited my cover.

In the review of their show, The Huffington Post featured my art with the caption "One of the revolutionary graphics on show". 

Soon after that, Rizzoli published the book "Punk: An Aesthetic", in which they featured Dirty Theater's LP. I was extremely pleased because Dirty Theater's LP was featured on a spread with one of my favourite records, "No Exist" by The Clash.

In 2018, Jens Muller and Julius Wiedemann featured the cover art in a spread about my work in their monumental 2-volume book "The History of Graphic Design" published by Taschen.

Then, the cherry on the cake, in 2023, MoMA (Museum of Modern Art in New York) included that cover in their collection. 

Not bad for a 2-day work on a kitchen table.

 

My recent acquisition, "Lotus" by Santana

Lotus is a 1974 live LP album by the band Santana, recorded in Osaka, Japan in July 1973. The Welcome album recording sessions were completed shortly before this concert, and that album was later released in November. Lotus was originally released in 1974 as a triple vinyl LP in Japan only. This version of the album was later released internationally. 

This amazingly complex and beautiful LP is designed by the leading Japanese designer Tadanori Yokoo. 

Here, here, and here, you can read my past posts about Tadanori.

 

Blast from the past.

By pure chance, I came across this article from Huffington Post from 2012 announcing an exhibition that explores the influence of the punk movement on art and Graphic design.

The article is illustrated by one of the items in the exhibition, the record cover design I made for the Croatian band Prljavo kazaliste in 1979 with the caption "One of the revolutionary graphics on show".

 

 

Artwork for "Rage Against the Machine"

My recent acquisition: single Bulls On Parade by Rage Against the Machine.  

I never had this single with my artwork in my hands despite it being released in 1996. 

 

"Zabranjeno pusenje" in MoMA collection

My design of the cover for the band Zabranjeno pusenje (No Smoking) 45 vinyl record in permanent collection of MoMA museum in New York.
More posts about my works in MoMA collection here and here.

Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb

For their 140th anniversary, MUO - Muzej za umjetnost i obrt / Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb, Croatia, decided to refresh their permanent collection. That refreshment included a section called "Design in Croatia".

I'm very honored that they managed to fit three of my designs in that relatively small space. On top of that, I'm very honored that I'm sharing walls with some of my design idols as Boris Bucan, Ivan Picelj and Mihajl Arsovski.

"Handmade" 1997, theater poster

 

"Who Sings Over There" 1980, movie poster

"Hero of the Street" 1981, record cover, illiustration by Igor Kordej