In the mid-1990s a fresh, Do-It-Yourself approach to producing album art began to percolate through the post-punk, emo and hardcore music scenes in the US and Europe. The visual material that is gathered together in DIY Album Art: Paper Bags & Office Supplies showcases a unique aesthetic and usage of materials borne out of financial necessity and creative imperatives. While a great number of the bands have not endured, their hand-made, screen-printed, glued, photocopied, drawn on, sewn together packaging paved the way for the potential of innovative, non-traditional music packaging.
J. Namdev Hardisty is a designer, author, educator and occasional artist. With his wife Kimberlee Whaley he co-directs the creative studio The MVA. The MVA specializes in print design producing books, magazines, t-shirts and posters for Mark Batty Publisher, Analog Clothing, Minneapolis College of Art & Design and others. Their work has been published in the best-selling design books Hand Job: A Catalog of Type and Over and Over: A Catalog of Hand-Drawn Patterns (both by Mike Perry for Princeton Architectural Press). To see a portfolio of work visit http://the-mva.com
Namdev is the author of two books, New Skateboard Graphics a collection of contemporary (you guessed it!) skateboard graphics and DIY Album Art: Paper Bags & Office Supplies which documents the hand-made record covers of the 90's hardcore/punk scene (both Mark Batty Publisher, 2009). He is currently writing a book on typography for 2010 publication.
Since 2008, he's been teaching typography and graphic design classes at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design.
Namdev and Kimberlee live and work in Minneapolis, Minnesota with their daughter Patience and loyal, but mischievous mini-dachshund Zoey.
