Véronique Vienne|Case Studies
November 24, 2014
Dispatch from the Pastiche Police
Am I disingenuous when I proclaim that the more you know about design history, the richer will be your appreciation of things? As it turns out, it sometimes spoils the fun.
Most recently, in the iPad version of The New York Times, I was nagged by a Louis Vuitton advertisement for a $2,790 bag by Rei Kawakubo. What got me riled was not the frivolous item, but the fact that the photograph was a “reference” to the famous Surrealist self-portrait of Herbert Bayer.
Comparing the Bayer montage with the Vuitton ad (photographed by Jennifer Livingston) only increased my frustration: all the intensity of the original had been drained out of the sanitized image.
I only wish the photo credits read “Homage to H.B.”
Observed
View all
Observed
By Véronique Vienne
Recent Posts
S11E9: What’s Love Got to do with Business with Jorge Fontanez She the People with Aimee Allison, a new podcast from Design Observer S11E8: Poetry is Anti Capitalist with Tracy K. Smith S11E7: Using Design to Show the World Your Truth with Dionna Dorsey and Production Designer Olivia Peebles