Vintage I-D Magazines (1981, 1983, 1984, 1985)

Rediscovered some old issues of I-D Magazine. They range from issue 5 (1981) to issue 28 (1985) and cover the mag's early progression from fanzine to fashion mag. First up is issue 5 aka the Lady Di issue. A spectacularly good typographic pun for the cover by 'Malcom "hot rod" Garr-art' (Malcolm Garrett), although I've also seen Linder Sterling credited.  

I-D Magazine Issue No.5 Do-it-yourself Manual of Style (aka the Lady Di issue)

I-D Magazine Issue No.5 Do-it-yourself Manual of Style (aka the Lady Di issue)

Here's the back cover with the 'cut out and keep' Lady Di parts.

Here's the back cover with the 'cut out and keep' Lady Di parts.

By 1983 the magazine had been going for 3 years and issue 13 in March was the '3rd Anniversary Issue' or the Wet 'n' Wild issue. By then the magazine was beginning to change, it's still under the editorship of Terry Jones but you can see now the have a little more cash - they get bigger ads and colour!

By the time we get to issue 18 in September 1984, it's a fashion mag. No longer using the landscape format or the fanzine style production and cut-up design, it's the real deal. That's not to say it doesn't retain it's edginess or integrity, it's still challenging and has plenty of the punk attitude it started with.

And here are some of the ads. At the time I-D demanded that your ad 'worked' for their magazine. So even fairly straight brands did some pretty cool work.

 

And finally for those top-knot wearing hipsters who think they are so cool and so original, here's a little reminder that your dad beat you to it.

20 years ago this month - I-D Magazine (issue 136)

I held on to this issue of I-D magazine from January 1995 mainly because it featured people I knew back then, but also because my vanity got the better of me (you can see a poster I designed in the background of one of the photographs). I hadn't seen it for years and was struck by the fact it's 20 years old this month, so thought it deserved seeing the light of day once more.

What's interesting is that it's the 'future' issue and all about 'cyberspace' and tech. I've have a sneaky feeling that even when this was fresh off the presses, 'cyberspace' was already a clichéd term. However there are a couple of good pieces as the angle is nice and dark, featuring Scanner (@robinrimbaud) and the Underground crew (Matt and Graham). 

Fairly prescient stuff: "The threat exists that our communication will be exploited in ways we cannot yet imagine"

The tech gadgets and ads are funny as so of the time, pagers are a big thing and that Bicardi ad is a stereogram!