‘Barney Bubbles’ oeuvre reads like a full-circle scale-model of UK pop culture in general: a circular journey, from the sharpness of mod (A1 Good Guyz) to the fuzziness of psych (the lysergic space travels of Hawkwind), and back again to the angularity of punk (Stiff, The Damned).

‘As much as Bubbles was a product of those times, he also was a producer of those times – irreversibly shaping the subcultures that shaped him. He created a graphic language of objects and signs (signs as objects, objects as signs) that truly defined an era – a language that still bewitches us, decades later.’

Experimental Jetset

Experimental Jetset 2018: Erwin Brinkers, Danny van den Dungen, Marieke Stolk. Photo: Kotoko Koya

Mixing post-punk sensibilities with graphic design innovation and avant-garde polemic, Amsterdam collective Experimental Jetset puts the ‘provo’ into provocation.

Founded in the mid-90s, the trio of Erwin Brinkers, Danny van den Dungen and Marieke Stolk consistently challenge the bloodlessness of much contemporary graphic design by incorporating clashing collages, signs,  symbols and signifiers with declamatory typography and tonal audacity into their cross-media approaches.

One of the studio’s first designs was the perforated A2 bi-weekly programme poster originally produced for the hallowed Amsterdam venue the Paradiso in 1996. The template is still in use at the Paradiso, latterly featuring the  2010 version which was the result of what EJ describes as a ‘slight redesign‘.

Triptych of posters for group exhibition Graphic Design: Now in Production at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2011.

Installation view (detail) of the retrospective Word-Things in Time-Space at Riot, Ghent, May–September 2016.

EJ’s profile was raised way back in 2001 when the John & Paul & Ringo & George shirt was released through Japanese t-shirt label 2K/Gingham. This of course soon became a band t-shirt design staple.

Offset-printed A2 poster for  the EJ-curated exhibition about Amsterdam’s radical Provo movement at the city’s W139 art space in 2011.

From the graphic language created for New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art in 2012-13.

Installation view of EJ’s 2023 exhibition at MACRO, Rome’s Museum of Contemporary Art.

Statement and Counter-Statement  is the title of EJ’s 2015 monograph published by Amesterdam’s Roma Publications.

Spread from Statement and Counter-Statement.

Spread from Statement and Counter-Statement.

In 2022 Experimental Jetset collaborated with Amsterdam-based streetwear label Patta on what they describe as ‘a slightly pop-situationist/mod-revivalist’ capsule collection Patta Psychogeographic Practice.

Patta Psychogeographic Practice Converse All Stars.

Patta Psychogeographic Practice manifesto.

Record sleeve for Escape-ism’s 2024 album Charge of the Love Brigade, released by Radical Elite Records.

Visit EJ online archive here and read It’s Nice That’s wide-ranging interview with Experimental Jetset where they mention Barney Bubbles here.

Tags: 2k/Gingham, Experimental JetSet, Ghent, It's Nice That, Macro, Minneapolis, Paradiso, Patta, Riot, Roma Publications, W139, Walker Art Center, Whitney Museum of American Art

Photo courtesy Raissa Pardini

Barney Bubbles wasn’t just a designer – he was a visionary. His work brought colour, dynamism and a sense of bold expression to every project. He taught me that design isn’t just about aesthetics – it’s about emotion, energy and creating something that speaks to the heart.
Raissa Pardini

This is the first in an occasional series of contemporary practitioners providing their thoughts on the continuing relevance of the work of Barney Bubbles.

Concert poster

From Tuscany and based in London after sojourns in Berlin and Glasgow, Pardini’s work expresses vibrancy and wit, showcasing her considerable talents as a multi-disclipinary designer who is also a radical typographer and joyous creative director.

Concert poster

‘Coming from a tiny town where nothing much ever happened, I took my first solo trip to London at 14,’ said Pardini recently. ‘I quickly learned the art of sneaking into Trash and the indie clubs, full of makeup and nerves, hoping no one would clock my age. Back in Italy, all I could think about was being involved in music. I hustled my way into a local radio station, then hit the national ones, eventually landing my own show.

Record sleeves

‘I played bass with local pals in their garages, spinning records just to secure a couch to crash on after gigs—most of which I seemed to be attending alone. Getting my driver’s license was a game-changer, as it meant I no longer depended on others for rides to gigs. By then, I had built my own communities around different cities, and being part of the music scene became my lifeblood.

Concert poster

Magazine design

‘I was printing zines in my mom’s office, and that’s when I discovered my love for design too.’

Book designs

As her portfolio shows, Pardini’s designs are collected by the V&A and she has worked with major brands and bands from MTV and Nike to Blur and The Rolling Stones but retains a street-level engagement having DJed live and on radio stations, played in such groups as Loaded and collaborated with the amazing likes of Yassassin and Cumgirl8 (who she manages – see below for a great promo directed by Leah Hennessey featuring a Susan Sontag AI hologram – you have to sign in to watch it but it’s worth it).

Billboard

Glastonbury Festival billboards

Pardini’s social conscience has also led her to work with such organisations as Brian Eno’s Earth Percent, Endometriosis UK and Rape Crisis.

Hear Pardini’s talk about designing for music.

Listen to Pardini’s recent playlist for International Women’s Day here and visit her site here.

Tags: Bikini Kill, Blur, Brian Eno, Cumgirl8, Daryl Bullock, Denim, Earth Percent, Endometriosis UK, Glastonbury Festival, Leah Hennessey, Loaded, MTV, Nike, Rape Crisis, Rolling Stones, The Orielles, V&A, Yassassin

The Barney Bubbles Estate’s Instagram feed has now gathered more than 5,000 followers and is collecting more every day.

Presenting a regularly updated and rich mix of design history and ephemera, @barney_bubbles_estate has great engagement. Followers keenly contributing comments and views on the examples of the late graphic artist’s exemplary body of work, from art student sketches to promo videos to rare posters to record sleeve extravaganzas.

The account also provides news on developments in the wild world of Barney Bubbles; soon there will be trails for a series of major forthcoming collaborations with contemporary artists and designers.

If you haven’t already join the fun by adding @barney_bubbles_estate today.

TAGS: None

RIP to the great British cinematographer Dick Pope, who has died aged 77.

Pope is best known for his work with the director Mike Leigh, and his impressive CV includes a raft of music videos including Queen’s I Want To Break Free and, of course, the Barney Bubbles-directed Ghost Town for The Specials.

As recounted by Bubbles’ video producer Genevieve Terry in The Wild World of Barney Bubbles, Pope was horrified when Bubbles played fast-and-loose with the expensive camera affixed to the car the members of the Specials were travelling in, though appreciated the outcome.

Here’s the tremendous outcome of their efforts:

TAGS: None

++ The front panel of the Space Ritual tour programme/poster ++

Just as he did for Ian Dury & The Blockheads and Elvis Costello and the Attractions half-a-decade later, Barney Bubbles produced a fold-out programme/poster for Hawkwind’s 1972 Space Ritual tour.

++ Opened out to reveal this portrait of saxophonist Nik Turner and the start of Robert Calvert’s essay ++

As well as Bubbles’ striking illustrations and graphics, the exercise included photography of the group’s main members and an entertaining if rambling sci-fi/semi-fictional account of the group’s activities by poet, lyricist and performer Robert Calvert.

++ Unfolded the poster measures 56 x 39 cm ++

Calvert, Bubbles and other contributors such as writer Michael Moorcock received tips of the hat in the credits.

TAGS: None

++ Front panel of Barney Bubbles sleeve for Hawkwind’s 1973 live album Space Ritual.  Artwork © Barney Bubbles Estate ++

Barney Bubbles’ representation of dancer/performance artist Stacia Blake adorned the front panel of his hugely ambitious trifold sleeve for Hawkwind’s live album Space Ritual, released 50 years ago last month.

++ Space Ritual’s exterior six-panel trifold. Design concept and artworks © Barney Bubbles Estate. Photography: Gabi Nasemann and Laurie Lewis ++

Those familiar with the sleeve will know that once unfolded the front six panels show that the Stacia figure was emitting shockwaves across the artwork, which incorporated photography of the group in performance by Laurie Lewis and Gabi Nasemann.

++ L’Emeraude, Alphonse Mucha, 1902. Colour lithograph from the Precious Stones series. 67 x 30cm ++

The arresting front panel channels the Art Nouveau work of Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist Alphonse Mucha, who was very much in vogue in post-hippie circles in the early 1970s. British artist John Coulthart has identified elements in the Space Ritual design directly derived from Mucha’s 1900 lithograph L’Emeraude (The Emerald).

++ The Precious Stones series, 1902 ++

The slavering beast’s head appeared in many of Mucha’s drawings and was based on armrests on one of his chairs, whileL’Emeraude was in Mucha’s series Les pierres précieuses (Precious Stones) along with representations of topaz, ruby and amethyst.

Tags: Alphonse Mucha, Art Nouveau, Gabi Nasemann, John Coulthart, L'Emeraude, Laurie Lewis, Stacia Blake

++ From notes and instructions prepared by Bubbles for Hawkwind’s Space Ritual dates in 1972 ++

Here is Barney Bubbles’ first draft of the logo which appeared on the front of Hawkwind’s 1972 album Doremi Fasol Latido.

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TAGS: None

This is Barney Bubbles’ copy of one of the books which not only advanced graphic design practice in the 1960s but was also to leave a major mark on him and his future output.

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Tags: Alan Fletcher, Bob Gill, Colin Forbes, Graphic Design: Visual Comparisons, John Lewis, Royal College Of Art, Studio Books

Hundreds of record sleeves and pieces of ephemera designed by Barney Bubbles are currently on display in Sweden’s oldest record store, Burmans Musik in Umeå.

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Tags: Burmans Musik, Stefan Nilsson, Sweden

++ Armed Forces front cover from the 2020 box set reissue ++

Sad to note the death last month at the age of 69 of the intriguing artist Tim (sometimes Tom) Pogson, whose work notably included the incredible pastiche of the popular wildlife painter David Shepherd for the front cover of Elvis Costello & The Attractions’ 1979 album Armed Forces.

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Tags: David Shepherd