Searching for the Perfect Beat: Flyer Designs of the American Rave Scene

by The Earth Program, Neil Strauss (Introduction)

An underground movement founded on electronic dance music and a utopian vision, the global phenomenon known as rave culture has proven a well-spring of some wildly innovative graphic design. This valuable sourcebook, featuring the very best examples of club flyers created to promote raves, is unrivaled in documenting the distinctive visual style of the American techno scene. The book provides a brief overview of the history of the American rave scene, explores how graphic sensibilities vary regionally, and chronicles the progression of styles, forms, and means of production in flyer design, from crude photocopy to extravagant five-color foldout. Artistically inspiring, this book is also a record of the parties themselves, as the flyers include dates, locations, and names of DJs, bands, promoters, and sponsors. The Earth Program is a New York-based multimedia firm that owns two record labels, produces rave events, and specializes in high-tech graphic design.

Genres: Design

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Sheehan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really more of a coffee table book or a gallery catalog-type book, very heavy on the pics of an era of fliers and distribution methods for the Raver community.

It was never really my scene but I remember always being a bit interested in the artwork concepts on the promo postcards I saw all over the Bay Area in the 90's for raves I wasn't going to be attending. There was a real sleekness and thematic understanding of the community mores played out in the designs. Don't get me wrong hip-hop had fliers they were just a wee bit more budget and infrequently the superglossy uptown design style you'd see with rave cards.

So this book was really just a run through the decade that saw the rise and fall (nay, eventual absorption) of the rave culture in the 1990's as electronic music became the inculcated into all other genres of digital era music (e.g. pop, adverts, hip-hop, etc.)

Like the only raves I ever went to (two of 'em) tasted great at the time, but really no great life-changing revelations...