I was in architecture school in the early 80s, part of the last generation trained to produce only hand-drawn work. Memphis, plus Michael Graves on the buttoned-down side (what do you mean you can’t find a caryatid supplier?) and Frank Gehry on the wild side (the chain link fence goes where?), were hugely disruptive, creating imagery that was “so wrong it had to be right” for us noob designers.

That said, two of the most archetypal 80s things I can think of are that weird percussion break in the middle of “Owner of a Lonely Heart”, by Yes, and David Byrne’s huge suit. Although these are music-related, they were every bit as influential to my cohort.

That's because graphic designers in the late 80s and 90s slavishly copied this design language from the early 80s.

The originals were prestige high-ticket items. It's interesting how the style trickled down to mass culture.