Scissors and Glue: Punk Fanzines and the Creation of a DIY Aesthetic

This essay was written for a special issue of the leading specialist academic journal, the Journal of Design History titled ‘ Do it Yourself” Democracy and Design’, guest edited by Paul Atkinson, School of Art and Design, University of Huddersfield. Triggs’ essay was one of five published in this Editorial-reviewed journal by established and respected design historians across the UK and USA.

‘Scissors and Glue’ is the first in-depth academic study of three influential British 1970s punk fanzines: Panache 1976-1992, Chainsaw 1977-1985 and Ripped & Torn 1976-1979. These fanzines are measured against a discussion of the seminal punk fanzine Sniffin’ Glue (1976-1977), acknowledge by the punk community as the first punk DIY fanzine in Britain. The study is based upon a series of original interviews with fanzine producers and rare archive materials and holds significance in its attempt to recover from history an area of graphic design history that has largely been ignored. The study also critically examines the development of a graphic language of resistance and the way in which the very use of its DIY production methods reflected the promotion of politics and music of 1970s punk and DIY underground activity.

The journal accompanied an exhibition of works relating to the special issue curated by Atkinson that opened at the Design Centre, Barnsley and MoDA in London (2006) with plans to travel to New York (2008). The sponsored exhibition visually exemplified through artefacts each author’s essay. Triggs’ contribution was in the writing of the contextualising panel and the collection of the archive materials for the section on fanzines. The special issue was reviewed in the Saturday Guardian (15.04.06, p. 18) with the exhibition reviewed in a range of publications including the Yorkshire Post (6 May, 2006) and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (May/June 2006).