So far, we've focused on corporate logos on this list. But the 1980s was also the decade in which the stuffed shifts no longer had a monopoly on culture, as urban subcultures based on the streets began to take over the world. And Stüssy, a fashion label founded in the early 1980s by Shawn Stussy, offers a great example of how this trend began to influence logo design.
Stüssy grew out of the surfwear trend originating in Orange County, California. Its logo originated in the early 1980s, when the eponymoyus founder scrawled his surname on handcrafted boards with a simple broad-tipped marker.
The signature itself was actually copied from that of his uncle, Jan. Stussy used the logo on T-shirts, shorts and caps that he sold out of his car around Laguna Beach, California. The brand later exploded after being adopted by the skateboard and hip-hop scenes, as well as punk and other subcultures.
"The Stüssy logo’s graffiti-style typography deeply resonates with me because it draws from the surf and skate roots," says Scott Hancock, CEO of BLVR. "I’ve always been drawn to the logo’s bold expression of individuality and counterculture. To me, it stands as a powerful testament to Stüssy’s belief that creativity and style audaciously challenge the status quo."
That said, this new movement wouldn't stay underground for long, eventually going from kicking against the mainstream to becoming the new mainstream.
"The 80s for me represents the rise of subculture: skateboarding, surfing, hip hop, and so on, each with its own visual language," remembers Clugston. "Vision, Psycho Sticks, the Mark Gonzales stuff: it’s all still burnt into my retina, and it's still really cool. Skateboarding imagery was all that we drew on; it was about going into a skateboarding shop and just drooling at the wall.
"The look of the 80s, with the neons and everything else, we were able to laugh at ourselves a little bit. In the 90s we rebelled against all of that neon, and visually we took ourselves so seriously, really grungy. Everything was cocky. And plaid."
