It would be churlish of me not to start this post by acknowledging that the Ministry Of Sound nightclub getting to their 30th birthday is an incredible achievement. For them to survive in London – a city which is frankly quite a hostile environment to run a club in – for that length of time is almost unheard of, and I wish the Ministry well going forward.

These days, Ministry of Sound’s promotional material is all very professional. Let’s be honest – it has to be. In this social media driven age, there’s simply no choice about it. Everything has to be eye-catching for the right reasons. But back in the very early days of Ministry, it was a different world.

Nights out weren’t advertised with shiny graphics on the likes of Instagram back in the early 1990s. Advertising appeared in newspapers and magazines, but many of those contained restrictions on what exactly could be included. Posters for events had fewer constraints – such as this poster for a night, believed to be held on Saturday 16th September 1995…

Let’s ignore the fact the wretched Derrick May is listed here. And let’s even ignore the naked lady. That bright pink text against the background makes the poster a crime against design. I can’t see Ministry using that design in their posters today…