Rob Gretton’s first job as manager of fledgling band Joy Division was to commission Steve McGarry – the artist who had previously created sleeve designs for a host of Manchester punk and new wave luminaries, including Slaughter & The Dogs, Ed Banger and The Nosebleeds, John Cooper Clarke and Jilted John – to design a record sleeve for An Ideal For Living, the group’s debut 12” release.

To promote the record, McGarry also designed a set of 12 badges. Produced by punk badge publisher Better Badges, black on white versions were released to the public, while a small number of white on black versions were reserved exclusively for the band.  

Now, for the first time since 1978, Steve McGarry’s Joy Division designs have been reproduced once more.