Cut, paste, repeat

The photocopier democratised publishing long before the internet did. Ten cents a page, a pair of scissors and a gig to announce — that was the whole stack. The results were raw, high-contrast and gloriously illegible.

Punk flyers, rave maps, political pamphlets, lost-cat notices: the lamppost was the first social network, moderated only by rain and the next layer of paper.

The best layouts were made at 2 a.m. by people who had never heard the word “layout”.

The aesthetic of urgency

What made these posters work was speed. There was no time to be tasteful. Type was enlarged until it broke. Images were copied until they became texture.

We asked twelve designers to make a flyer in twenty minutes with nothing but a copier and a glue stick. The results are scattered throughout this issue. Drag them around; they like it.