Issue 01 Bric-à-brac experiments / photocopied in a browser

Anti Design (Grunge)

A wall of cut-up colour, borrowed from 1990s experimental print, with a lab at the bottom where you can wreck your own sentence on purpose. The mess is aimed. Everything still reads.

Go to the lab

Notes on the idea

Where it comes from

Punk and alternative print culture, early desktop publishing, and designers who treated the page as something to fight with. Two names worth knowing: David Carson, art director of Ray Gun, and Zuzana Licko and Rudy VanderLans, who made Emigre.

Old thing, new label

“Anti-design” as a web trend is much newer than the print it borrows from. This page is a loose homage, not a copy: no spreads, type or images are taken from anyone.

House rules

  • Break alignment on purpose, not at random.
  • Flat colour, hard edges, one readable line in the middle of the noise.
  • The words stay real text, and the lab has a plain, clean setting for comparison.

The lab

Type a short phrase. Set it properly, then break it. The words stay the same, only the setting changes. Same seed, same mess.

“BREAK THE GRID”, broken, seed 31ERGRIDKDTHEBKTHEIGRIDGRIDthethethebreakbreak the gridbreak the gridoverprint ink break the grid gutter bigger proof second pass louder draft cut crop it break the grid cut paste break the gridreads fine break the grid break the grid misread bleed cut break the grid fold here ink break the grid second pass reads finebreak the grid gutter break the grid ink smaller break the grid overprint again break the grid break the grid misread biggerbreak the grid smaller draft break the grid crop it break the grid stapled overprint bleed bleed gutter crop it turn it overoverprint gutter break the grid gutter bigger break the grid crop it break the grid again draft overprint break the gridbleed break the grid bigger too close copy trim break the grid fold here bigger break the grid misread break the grid break the griddraft gutter cut turn it over turn it over break the grid break the grid gutter overprint draft bleed bleed fold here stapledbleed bleed louder break the grid gutter break the grid cut louder trim smaller overprint break the grid reads fine biggeragain too close break the grid stapled misread crop it paste break the grid break the grid ink turn it over fold here crop itbleed bigger bleed fold here crop it break the grid cut break the grid draft bigger draft break the grid again break the gridoverprint draft too close break the grid reads fine misread overprint gutter break the grid proof stapled overprint break the gridbreak the grid break the grid paste overprint copy paste proof stapled break the grid second pass too close too close againbreak the grid break the grid break the grid ink stapled cut bleed crop it louder smaller reads fine smaller stapled guttersecond pass draft stapled turn it over gutter ink trim gutter overprint reads fine fold here draft break the grid turn it overgutter second pass draft break the grid bigger misread break the grid bigger overprint fold here reads fine break the gridbreak the grid break the grid break the grid crop it draft break the grid break the grid draft crop it bigger bleed break the gridproof gutter draft misread copy draft copy break the grid break the grid proof turn it over crop it ink break the grid too closelouder reads fine break the grid break the grid overprint too close smaller break the grid break the grid ink break the gridproof break the grid fold here louder reads fine paste stapled paste draft proof misread break the grid reads fine break the gridpaste break the grid louder reads fine misread again crop it louder second pass misread misread break the grid bleed proofcut paste second pass too close break the grid stapled reads fine overprint cut cut louder draft gutter bigger paste misreadmisread copy fold here crop it cut paste misread stapled crop it turn it over turn it over turn it over again break the gridcut bigger too close crop it smaller proof break the grid draft break the grid break the grid fold here fold here overprintsecond pass break the grid bigger fold here misread crop it gutter reads fine again paste too close fold here trim againagain draft stapled bigger cut break the grid break the grid cut break the grid paste fold here break the grid crop it louderink break the grid stapled stapled stapled stapled break the grid break the grid second pass smaller overprint bleed turn it overdraft smaller smaller again turn it over turn it over break the grid fold here proof louder gutter trim break the grid smallergutter trim again bigger reads fine stapled overprint misread ink trim break the grid break the grid trim cut break the gridgutter break the grid draft break the grid louder fold here bleed misread paste break the grid bigger smaller again fold heresmaller trim break the grid stapled break the grid break the grid copy reads fine turn it over ink bigger paste smallerBREAK THEBREAK THEGRIDGRID
Sample composition: “BREAK THE GRID”, broken, seed 31.

Exports are made in your browser and never leave this page. The SVG names system fonts (Impact, Georgia, Courier New), so another machine may swap them.