Paul Rand “Good Design Is Good Will” 1987 from  Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field page 64-69 and Steven Heller “Underground Mainstream” in Design Observer 2008.
- Is the concept of mainstream vs. underground relevant in advertising of 1950’s / 1960’s and is it relevant today?
- What is “culture jamming”?
- Provide a visual example and description of early avant-garde culture jamming.
- Provide a visual example and description of culture jamming today.
The concept of the mainstream vs. underground in design advertising was relevant in the 1950s and 1960s and is still relevant today. In Steven Heller’s “Underground Mainstream”, there is an analysis of points in time in which marketing advertisers took advantage of both mainstream and underground designs in order to reflect back what the current society wanted to see. During the psychedelic movement of the 1960s, the psychedelics in question began as a form of underground, aimed at smaller communities that soon became a source of inspiration for visual artists, designers, and musicians, who defined the vivid scene of psychedelic works of art. As the movement grew and more and more of the emerging youth became involved in the ideals, advertisers sought out an opportunity to utilize the distinct characteristics of vivid, eye-catching imagery and build their brands by alluring the youth of the movement. As Heller explains, “Many album covers of the period are today ‘classic’ examples of true psychedelic design” which shows the impact in which the concepts of the time evolved. In today’s time, it is evident across the country that companies utilize advertising surrounding what is considered mainstream, which of course delves from what was once underground. Thoughts that are shared amongst users of platforms such as Tiktok or Instagram suddenly find themselves plastered across advertising. I passed by a restaurant that had a sign advertised for their lunch special, an alteration of the acronym “YOLO – You Only Live Once”, where the L for Live was changed to L for Lunch – “You Only Lunch Once”. The term YOLO dates back to 1996, where the band Grateful Dead related it to their drummer Mickey Hart’s Californian Ranch. Years later from 2012 to modern day 2022, the term continues to be used across youth culture, inspiring people that life is too short, you only live once, so take advantage of what you can. For this restaurant in question, in order to encourage this idea, they push their promotional lunch special – you only live once, might as well have your lunch of the day with us!
Based on the readings, culture jamming is considered to be a result of how the underground “satirically appropriated from the mainstream…” before the mainstream leeched off of alternative cultures. As a result of how the underground borrowed elements from the mainstream, it results in the “jamming” combination of ideals and trends that can date over the decades. Movements such as Constructivist, Futurist and Dada are examples of culture jamming which advertised for new ideas, and in turn expanded advertising that got adopted by the mainstream.
Today, there are many forms of culture jamming especially with the expansion of social media and internet technologies. Memes, which are considered a form of jokes often paired with images, are used as one of many ways to collect mainstream cultures and transform it into something new. Political memes are an example of such, where the election over the past few years have resulted in comedic memes that derive off of or twist political quotes, images and more. One positive effect could be an image of Bernie Sanders, seated, wearing mittens. The evidently comfortable pose from the politician brought about thousands of jokes, all of which altered the original image in some form. The image has had Bernie cropped into new backgrounds such as the NYC Subway or alongside famous movie characters, completely changing the idea of him as a politician, and the mass media’s perception.
Hypothesis Annotations:
Explanation: Designer and Client Relationship
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