The death of graphic designer and activist Jamie Reid earlier this month was a huge loss for both the design community and the political left. Right until his death, Reid made incendiary works that incessantly attacked the political status quo.
Announcing his passing, his family and gallerist James Marchant released a joint statement describing him as an “artist, iconoclast, anarchist, punk, hippie, rebel and romantic”. This eulogy doubles as a shorthand for the anarcho-punk design language he weaponised throughout his career.
For most people, Reid’s legacy will probably be the posters and LP covers he designed for the Sex Pistols. This work is now synonymous with punk and has been imitated to the point of cliche.
