Dr Russ Bestley
Title
Reader in Graphic Design & Subcultures
College
London College of Communication
Email address
Tags
Researcher Research
Biography
Dr Russ Bestley is Reader in Graphic Design & Subcultures at the London College of Communication. His areas of specialist interest include graphic design research methods, popular culture, alternative music scenes and subcultures, English cultural identity, comedy and humour.Dr Bestley has co-authored a number of publications, including Action Time Vision: Punk & Post Punk 7” Record Sleeves (Unit Editions 2016), Visual Research (AVA Academia 2004, 2011, Bloomsbury 2015, with co-editions published in Germany 2006, Korea 2007, France 2013, Italy 2013 and Brazil 2013), Up Against the Wall (RotoVision 2002, Spanish edition 2003) and Experimental Layout (RotoVision 2001, Spanish edition 2002). He has contributed articles to journals including Punk & Post-Punk, Cadernos de Arte e Antropologia (South America), The National Grid (New Zealand) and Design 360° (China), and acted as design consultant for the Design Museum, Channel Four television and Radio France. He has also written for a range of graphic design and music publications, including Eye, Zed, Emigré, Street Sounds, Vive Le Rock and the Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Modern World. His book The Art of Punk, was published by Omnibus Press (UK), Voyageur (North America), Hannibal Verlag Gmbh (Germany) and Hugo et Compagnie (France) in 2012.
Dr Bestley’s PhD thesis, Hitsville UK: Punk Rock and Graphic Design in the Faraway Towns, 1976-84 (UAL 2008) led to several publications, a website, and a range of post-doctoral research including exhibitions on punk and punk graphic design in London, Southampton, Blackpool, Leeds, Oxford, Birmingham and North Shields.
He has also designed books, posters, pamphlets, programmes and other material for the Punk Scholars Network, Active Distribution, PM Press, Itchy Monkey Press, Viral Age Records and other DIY and independent labels, publishers and producers. Dr Bestley is editor for the journal Punk & Post-Punk and a key member of the international Punk Scholars Network. In 2013 he established the Graphic Subcultures Research Hub at the London College of Communication.
Research Outputs
Art/Design item
- Bestley R. South Specific 2020 (2020)
- Bestley R, McGuirk N, Murphy M. Great Gig Memories: From Punks and Friends (2020)
- Bestley R, Dines M, Spencer-Fleet S. I Want Out (2020)
- Bestley R. Bona Rays, Poser Record Cover (2020)
- Bestley R, Dines M, Paviour T. Gagging Order (2019)
- Bestley R, Dines M. Factories Run by Robots (2018)
- Bestley R. The Punk Reader: Research Transmissions from the Local and the Global (2018)
- Bestley R, Worley M. Matthew Worley: Young Offenders: Punk in Norwich, 1976-84 (2016)
- Bestley R, Gordon A. Alastair Gordon: Crass Reflections (2016)
- Bestley R. Tales From The Punkside (2015)
- Ogg A, Bestley R. Independence Days: The Story Of UK Independent Record Labels (2009)
Article
- Bestley R. Art On My Sleeve: An interview with Steve Averill, graphic designer (2020)
- Bestley R. The Top of the Poppers sing and play punk (2019)
- Bestley R. We Are The League (How Deep Do You Want It?) film review (2019)
- Bestley R. More Than a Pony Show: An interview with Matt Stokes (2018)
- Bestley R, Burgess P. Fan artefacts and doing it themselves: The home-made graphics of punk devotees (2018)
- Bestley R. Still Fighting the Cuts: An interview with Mekons 77 (2018)
- Bestley R. Design it Yourself? Punk’s Division of Labour (2018)
- Bestley R. ‘I wonder who chose the colour scheme, it’s very nice…’: Mike Coles, Malicious Damage and Forty Years in the Wilderness (2016)
- Bestley R. Design it Yourself? Punk’s Division of Labour (2016)
- Ryde R, Bestley R. Thinking Punk (2016)
- Bestley R. (I Want Some) Demystification: Deconstructing Punk (2015)
- Bestley R. Art Attacks & Killing Jokes: The Graphic Language of Punk Humour (2014)
- Bestley R. “I Tried to Make Him Laugh, He Didn't Get the Joke…” – Taking Punk Humour Seriously (2013)
- Bestley R. From 'London’s Burning' to 'Sten Guns in Sunderland' (2011)
- Bestley R. We’re So Bored With London, Wayne Daly in conversation with Russell Bestley, Parts 1 & 2 (2009)
- Bestley R. Spin/3 Magazine: Action Time Vision (2008)
- Bestley R, Raposo A. Designing fascism: The evolution of a neo-Nazi punk aesthetic
Book
- Bestley R, Dines M, Gordon A, Guerra P. The Punk Reader: Research Transmissions from the Local and the Global (2019)
- Brook T, Bestley R. Action Time Vision: Punk & Post Punk 7" Record Sleeves #002 (2016)
- Noble I, Bestley R. Visual Research: An Introduction to Research Methods in Graphic Design, 3rd Edition (2016)
- Bestley R, Ogg A. The Art of Punk (2012)
- Bestley R, Ogg A. The Art of Punk (2012)
- Noble I, Bestley R. Visual Research: An Introduction to Research Methodologies in Graphic Design, 2nd Edition (2011)
- Noble I, Bestley R. Visual Research: An Introduction to Research Methodologies in Graphic Design (2005)
- Bestley R, Noble I, Pritchard T. Up against the Wall: International Poster Design (2002)
- Noble I, Bestley R, Pritchard T. Experimental Layout (2002)
- Bestley R, Noble I. Up Against the Wall: International Poster Design (2002)
- Noble I, Bestley R. Document: we interrupt the programme (2001)
Book Section
- Bestley R. Kicks in Style: A Punk Design Aesthetic (2020)
- Bestley R. Too Fast to Live Too Young to Die: Punk & Post Punk Graphics 1976-1986 (2020)
- Bestley R. Grande A, Piccola a (2020)
- Bestley R. Punk Rock!! So What? – Negotiating an Exhibition of Punk Art and Design (2020)
- Bestley R. Anarchy in Woolworths – Punk Comedy and Humour (2019)
- Bestley R, Binns R. Ripped, Torn and Cut: Pop, Politics and Punk Fanzines from 1976 (2018)
- Bestley R, Credland T. Fanzines and Self-Publishing in the 1970s (2018)
- Bestley R. ‘Holiday in Cambodia’ – Punk’s Acerbic Comedy (2018)
- Bestley R. Art Attacks: Punk Methods and Design Education (2017)
- Bestley R. (I Want Some) Demystification: Deconstructing Punk (2017)
- Bestley R. How Much Longer? Punk Styles, Punk Aesthetics, Punk Conventions (2017)
- Bestley R. Big A Little A: the graphic language of anarchy (2016)
- Bestley R. Am I an Anarchist? A Tale of Anarcho Curiosity (2015)
- Bestley R, Ogg A. Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables (2014)
- Bestley R. Punk and New Wave (2012)
Conference, Symposium or Workshop item
Show/Exhibition
- Bestley R. Radio On (2019)
- Bestley R. Punk in the Provinces: It Was Easy, It Was Cheap, Go and Do It! (2017)
- Bestley R. Weekend Punk at the Design Museum (2016)
- Bestley R. PUNK ROCK!! SO WHAT? (2015)
- Bestley R. Entertainment! Post Punk, New Wave and Authenticity Symposium (2014)
- Bestley R. Where Have All the Bootboys Gone? Skinhead Style and Graphic Subcultures (2013)
- Bestley R. Hitsville UK: punk in the faraway towns
Thesis
- Bestley R. Hitsville UK: Punk rock and graphic design in the faraway towns, 1976-84 (2007)
Teaching
Current research students
- Caroline Angel, Revering the Crone: Ageing & Identity in Gothic Subculture (Lead supervisor)
- Nadav Barkan, Designing Israel: An Analysis of Israeli National Iconography within Visual Communication, Graphic Design and Corporate Identity (Lead supervisor)
- Jessie Bond, Conflict, Photojournalism and the Photobook (Joint supervisor)
- Jessie Bond, Conflict, Photojournalism and the Photobook: Designing a space to better communicate the realities of war (Joint supervisor)
- Tim Gibney, Smiley’s People – ageing, legacy and meaning in Britain’s acid house subculture (Joint supervisor)
- Christopher James May, Brand Design Style Guidelines: Their Communication to and Implementation by Designer and Non-designer Users. (Lead supervisor)
- Danah Nassief, An Investigation into Dissent and Design Activism in the MENA from World War I to the Arab Spring (Lead supervisor)
Past research students
- Rebecca Binns, There is no Authority but Yourself: Political Autonomy, Collective Art Practice, Crass and Anarcho-Punk Visual Conventions in the work of Gee Vaucher (Lead supervisor)
- Gillian Brown, Visual Elements and Visual Paradigms: an investigation into scientific conceptual figures (Lead supervisor)
- Wong Sandra Kwok Kei, Cultural Translation: An Analysis of Chinese Tropes in Emerging Luxury Chinese Lifestyle-Fashion Brands (Joint supervisor)
- Artur Matamoro Vidal, After Silence: Improvised Music, Listening and Environmental Sound (Lead supervisor)
- Ana Raposo, 30 Years of Agitprop: The Representation of ‘Extreme’ Politics in Punk and Post-Punk Music Graphics in the United Kingdom from 1978 to 2008. (Joint supervisor)