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Flyer Art Tells the Story of NYC Nightlife

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A visual time capsule of the club flyer’s golden age

All photos from No Sleep: NYC Nightlife Flyers 1988-1999 by DJ Stretch Armstrong and Evan Auerbach, published by powerHouse Books.

This coffee table collection speaks straight to our hearts. Crammed with glimpses of club life before the internet age, the pages of the book feel as nostalgic as a densely postered downtown construction fence. No Sleep: NYC Nightlife Flyers 1988-1999 is a time capsule curated by Gotham legend DJ Stretch Armstrong and rap historian Evan Auerbach, containing the best art from the club flyer’s golden age.

Flyers that were intended to be throwaway at the time they were created were sourced from the private collections of club owners, NYC DJs, promoters, nightlife impresarios, and artists, now treated as preserved collectors item. Flipping through the book takes you on a trajectory of some of the most important DJs and venues in NYC, a story told through the radical designs of people with little or no formal training in graphic design.

Flyer Art That’s Disposable and Indispensible

With almost all event promotion happening online through social media these days, a time when promoters printed and handed out thousands of flyers every week may seem wasteful and inefficient. However the shift to a digital medium has resulted in the loss of the tactile. Technology has made the sharing of information more convenient, but we have given up the personal. Club flyers are disposable by their very nature, but the move to digital has resulted in a loss of value.

The way we used to have to go record shopping for music was less convenient, but the process imbued the experience of collecting music with more meaning. The same can be said about club flyers and how they were used to pass on information in a personal way. Also, these invites were physical reminders of amazing times—artifacts before cameras were ubiquitous and instantaneous sharing was possible.

-Armstrong

Back then, if you were on a flyer as a DJ or promoter, you’d achieved some kind of real success. Little did anyone know that that was just the beginning, and many people whose names graced the flyers in this book would go on to be hugely influential and celebrated cultural pillars.

-Armstrong

A dope club flyer makes provocative use of limits – limited time, space and limited attention. A well done flyer brings simplicity and beauty in the economy of its design.

A killer flyer didn’t guarantee a good party but you look at any flyer in this book and you can picture the great time being had.

 

Check out our design portfolio!

Sources: Vice; Salon

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