Nirvana’s 1993 album In Utero occupies a unique and potentially contradictory position in design history. Although it was released by a major record label and made available to the masses, the visuals and messaging of the album draw heavily from underground punk and grunge culture, deliberately rejecting mainstream influences. The raw, provocative, and unsettling imagery was a conscious pushback against the polished and commercially friendly image the band had cultivated following the success of their first album, Nevermind. Instead of embracing the visuals that typically accompanied major mainstream album releases, In Utero’s design leaned into cut-and-paste collages and handwritten typography that defined the punk zines and flyers of the 1980s and early 1990s.
