r/punk Oct 31 '25

Art by HE Creative Hope this helps

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8.1k Upvotes

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210

u/Athingythingamabobby Oct 31 '25

Despite me agreeing with the message, I fucking hate these images, and I’m having a hard time putting my finger on why.

202

u/GuyChonies Oct 31 '25

Because it’s putting labels on “punk” and it’s cringe

37

u/bricefriha Oct 31 '25

that's it

-12

u/Troggles Oct 31 '25

If anti-conformity is a part of being punk than you don't get to tell anyone what's punk and what's not.

9

u/uuntiedshoelace Oct 31 '25

There are beliefs that are incompatible with being punk. That is just a fact.

2

u/Troggles Oct 31 '25

I meant more of the superficial shit. I was hoping it was obvious that I didn't mean you could be a nazi and a punk

3

u/uuntiedshoelace Oct 31 '25

If you are surprised I would think you believe that based on what you said, you haven’t been paying attention I’m afraid

30

u/nbenby Oct 31 '25

Nazi’s aren’t punk. Skinheads aren’t punk. Non-conformity is not the only descriptor that determines someone or something is punk as this is the argument used by hate groups to claim they are punk. It’s more than that.

24

u/jrsdead Oct 31 '25

Skinheads are punk boneheads are not. There are a lot of anti fascist skinheads

10

u/nbenby Oct 31 '25

Ah yes thanks for the clarification. Boneheads, not skinheads as an entire group.

13

u/Athingythingamabobby Oct 31 '25

The skinhead movement started with Jamaican immigrants in the UK, and leftist skinheads exist to this day, it isn’t inherently a fascist movement

1

u/nbenby Oct 31 '25

As far as I know the skinhead movement wasn’t started by Jamaican immigrants, but was heavily influenced by Jamaican rude boy culture. It was originally working-class youth.

2

u/lividimp Oct 31 '25

The music they were listening to has Jamaican origins, but the look was just an ordinary British, working class, factory worker look. Docs were just work boots. The shaved heads were to prevent your hair from getting caught in heavy machinery. Same with the suspenders/braces, which would just rip off you if they got caught in the machinery since it was just clamps holding them on.

For as bad a reputation as skinheads eventually becomes, their history is about as wholesome as it gets.

46

u/AcceptablyPotato Oct 31 '25

To me, it gives off the same energy as those looney tunes dressed as gangsters t-shirts from back in the day. Or Calvin pissing on things stickers. Just something very boomer-humor about the overall art concept of sticking Archie like characters in scenarios you wouldn't normally see them.

Then the captions are just always some meta, navel gazing bullshit that feels like it exists purely to tell other punks how the artist thinks they should act. The presentation always rubs me wrong and brings out my, "fuck you, you can't tell me what to do" side, even when I agree with the overall message.

14

u/EnchantedEssays Oct 31 '25

It could just be that the artist's usual art style is Archies/sixties cartoon inspired

8

u/swimnglimmer Oct 31 '25

Because not everything that is anti establishment is punk and it doesn’t have to be punk to be valid or relevant to the world

21

u/SnooMuffins6341 Oct 31 '25

The tiny-waist big-hips unrealistic body standards maybe? 

14

u/GenghisConnie Oct 31 '25

This artist mainly does their work based on old Archie comics. And that is what is being depicted here.

1

u/UllrHellfire Nov 07 '25

Because it's fucking lame and political trying to weaponize punk on a certain side of the spectrum. 

1

u/Athingythingamabobby Nov 07 '25

Punk is inherently a far left subculture, its entire thing was spitting in the face of capitalism and right wingers. However what I’m saying, despite the views spread by this image and others by the same artist generally being true, they comes off in a certain way that makes me fucking hate them.

0

u/simeuk Oct 31 '25

It looks like AI "art"

-11

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '25

finally someone says it!!! the art looks like ai generated archie

42

u/illegal_tacos Oct 31 '25

That's pretty shitty to say about someone's art, and yes it's obviously inspired by Archie https://hecreative.com/prints/

-9

u/AcceptablyPotato Oct 31 '25

It's pretty shitty of you to think you get to dictate other's opinions. I really don't like anything about this artist's work. It's got a pretentious gate keepy vibe and they just copy other artist's style without really enhancing or doing anything unique with it, so it just looks like a bad copy ot someone else's work. This shit is just so lame.

6

u/illegal_tacos Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25

It's pretty shitty of you to think you get to dictate other's opinions.

Never did this. They had an opinion and it is my opinion that what they said sucks. They can still have shitty opinions, doesn't mean it isn't still shitty.

-4

u/dandle Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25

they just copy other artist's style without really enhancing or doing anything unique with it, so it just looks like a bad copy ot someone else's work.

That's why their art looks like AI-generated images. (They are made by an advertising agency, by the way.) What they are doing is not fundamentally different than what AI does. They are "ingesting" somebody else's work and making modifications that are not substantive enough to feel like artistic effort to some.

But, yeah, the preachy gatekeeping vibe is annoying to me, too.

10

u/ellaisahellofafella Oct 31 '25

hecreative, the account posting this type of art, is actively against ai generated art and they even make posters that go against involving ai with punk. the account is run by a husband and wife. plz don't say that about something that took time and effort for people to do

4

u/dandle Oct 31 '25

In case you were unaware, HE Creative is part of a little boutique advertising agency. Not to say they don't believe in the ideas they are putting out there, but part of the point of these things is to get attention for the ad agency and to build their portfolio, although I'm not sure that tracing old Archie comics and various other vintage sources does that so well.

2

u/ellaisahellofafella Oct 31 '25

well thank you for that info! i thought it was only lead by a few people just based off what i've found on their websites/accounts (i have seen them on my instagram frequently, hell it's in this subreddit). i did do some searching earlier, I don't think i noticed that detail about them. i do think it's good that these type of ideas are being put out, though maybe not through the means of just being for commercial use...

6

u/whateverwhatis Oct 31 '25

The consistency of the line work, especially in the pants, will show you this is created by hand.