The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Walter Benjamin TASK AND SEMINAR

NOTES

Task 2

Before this lecture i had never heard of Milton Glaser but without realising i was fully aware of his work, the 'I Love New York' Text Design, this infamous piece of design is one of the most famous pieces of text and is recognised by the public world wide. 

It has become New York's trademark promotion logo and is used for the the citys souvenirs and brochures throughout the state. Glasers design is ripped of, sold and distributed to small shops , markets, retail stores, designer brands and printed onto a wide range products in not only America but all over the world. "Mechanical reproduction simply means copies, copies that extend beyond the aural setting or ritual within which the art/image was originally displayed"

Since designing the logo in the mid 1970's, Milton Glaser has been helping many businesses re-value and improve the three magic letters of their company , USP (unique selling point), although this is benefiting the retail industry  from small boutiques and shops to luxury brands , it is De-valuing the logo which had in tern lost its uniqueness itself. 

In Walter Benjamins essay 'The work of Art in The Age of Mechanical Reporiduction' , Benjamin talks about the universal equality of things and how mechanical reproduction destroys aura , in this case the 'I Love New York' trademark. However this is not a necessarily a bad thing , i found a video of Glasers opinion of the reproduction of his logo and how it has been overly re-used until this day .“I did the bloody thing in 1975 and I thought it would last a couple of months as a promotion and disappear.” Glaser talks about how shocked he was that his simple icon design became so widely recognised and appreciated, he also expresses how it is a 'great thing' to have happened and how he doesn't have a problem with the mechanical reproduction of his design. Glaser also states that he does not know why it has become so used , but of course its the brilliance of its minimalistic style and how well it has been considered in terms of communicating a message in its simplest form using type , American Typewriter. 

The plump red heart and the American inspired black type sit so well together even though they contrasts , which is very rare in terms of design. In my opinion the reason why it is used so much 'mostly for selling products that promote the city' is because its communicating such a warm and positive energy about New York , using a rebus 'the heart' to portray the feeling of love, which in turn encourages people to experience the city themselves and buy 'I Love New York' merchandise during their trip. 

In my opinion , the iconic design has been used too often and has lost its unique appeal, the icon is most famous for being printed onto unisex white t-shirts , and it was always a tourists desire to purchase one during their visit to New York , however the t-shirt can now be purchased in many countries , including England where i purchased mine from. This is just one example of how re-production of art and designs can DE value it dramatically “the authenticity... is jeopardized by reproduction”.