Grunge typography is an often overlooked blip in the timeline of visual communication, yet it's one of the most important categories of type. The Awl dives in to the '80s and '90s typography revolution that thrived on messy, heavy type to express every emotion that the wayward generation of the time was feeling. David Carson, the "Godfather of Grunge," was the Kurt Cobain of the visual world, forgoing guitars and drums for gutters and Dingbats, encouraging young designers to put as much personality into their work as possible. Expression at the time was a backlash, a revolt against the consuming hyper-cleanliness of current design.

Major players like Carson, the 1984-introduced Macintosh, and the classic grunge typeface Morire, fueled the rebellion — until the rebellion was no longer rebellious. Grunge style began to disappear when eyes got tired of chaotic experimentation and began to favor clean lines and simplicity again. The Ray Gun Effect was left behind for the Vignelli mindset, but it left its mark and poetically so: grunge defined a generation by breaking the rules and favoring constant change, and design, rather than being timeless, is always changing.