Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Into The Future”?
Artist Statement
18 x 24 inch screen print. Signed by Bad Brains and Shepard. Edition of 450. Purchase limit: 1 per person/household. $65. Shepard designed this image for the new Bad Brains CD “Into the Future”.
Summary
Into The Future is a 2012 screen print by Shepard Fairey, released December 11, 2012 through Obey Giant. Measuring 18 by 24 inches in an edition of 450, it was signed by both Shepard Fairey and the band Bad Brains and sold for $65 with a purchase limit of one per household. Fairey designed the image as cover art for the Bad Brains album "Into the Future." The print represents a direct collaboration between Fairey and a foundational hardcore punk band, translating album artwork into a signed, limited-edition graphic work for collectors.
Why It Matters
Into The Future stands out as a documented collaboration between Shepard Fairey and Bad Brains, one of the most influential bands in hardcore punk history, for whom Fairey designed the actual album cover. The dual signatures from both Fairey and the band give the print added significance, anchoring it firmly in the intersection of music and visual art that runs through Fairey's career. With an edition of 450 and a one-per-household limit, it was positioned as an accessible release at $65, yet its band signatures and album-art origin lend it a collectible weight beyond price. For collectors, the music connection is the differentiator: this is not a standalone illustration but a real piece of punk-rock packaging history, tied to a specific record. The print also carries a secondary environmental or forward-looking dimension in its theme. For a database, the load-bearing facts are the Bad Brains collaboration, the dual signatures, the album-cover purpose, the edition of 450, and the modest original price. Together these make Into The Future a meaningful entry for collectors who follow Fairey's music-world collaborations and the broader story of his work with punk and counterculture artists.
Collector Perspective
This print is a natural fit for collectors who pursue Fairey's music collaborations, especially fans of Bad Brains and hardcore punk who value art tied to records they love. The dual signatures from Fairey and the band make it more desirable than a standard single-signature release and give it crossover appeal between art collectors and music memorabilia buyers. At 18 by 24 inches it is an approachable, frame-friendly size, and the original $65 price point and edition of 450 made it relatively accessible at release. It fits well in a collection themed around Fairey's collaborations, album art, and counterculture work, sitting comfortably alongside his other band-related prints.
Historical Context
Into The Future belongs to Fairey's prolific 2012 run of music-world collaborations, a period when he produced album art and prints with numerous bands. Designed as the cover for the Bad Brains album of the same name and released December 11, 2012, it reflects Fairey's long-standing ties to punk and hardcore culture, scenes that shaped his early aesthetic and DIY ethos. The collaboration with Bad Brains, a band central to American hardcore, situates the print within Fairey's broader practice of bridging fine-art printmaking and music packaging. Within his career arc, it exemplifies how he leveraged Obey Giant to turn commissioned album artwork into signed, collectible editions for his audience.
FAQ
Who designed and signed Into The Future?
Shepard Fairey designed the image as cover art for the Bad Brains album "Into the Future." The print is signed by both Shepard Fairey and Bad Brains, making it a dual-signature collaborative piece.
How large is the print and how many exist?
Into The Future is an 18 by 24 inch screen print released in an edition of 450. It sold for $65 with a purchase limit of one per person or household at the time of release.
What is the connection to Bad Brains?
Fairey created the image specifically as the cover artwork for the Bad Brains CD "Into the Future," tying the print directly to a real album by the influential hardcore punk band, which also signed the edition.
What medium is it?
It is a screen print published by Obey Giant and released on December 11, 2012. Its modest size, accessible original price, and band signatures made it a popular release among music and art collectors alike.
Related Works
About the Artist
Shepard Fairey (b. 1970, Charleston, South Carolina) is an American street artist, graphic designer, and activist, and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. His 1989 “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker grew into the global OBEY GIANT campaign — an ongoing experiment in propaganda, obedience, and visual culture. He reached worldwide recognition with the 2008 “Hope” portrait of Barack Obama, now held by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Across screen prints, stencils, murals, and collage, Fairey channels propaganda aesthetics toward themes of peace, justice, environmentalism, and civil rights. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and LACMA.