me studio

an article in the arts section of the dutch newspaper ‘het parool’ from journalist jan pieter ekker dated 19th of january bemoans the role of marketing departments in the choice of imagery for cultural posters and specifically as relates to the work of designer ‘lex reitsma’ who has designed the posters for the dutch opera (dno) for more than twenty years now

evidence for this phenomenon is mainly provided by two poster designs for the same production ‘the cunning fox’ both by the same designer and with virtually identitcal typography… one (2006) with a clever image of a smoking gun in the form of a fox’s tail, the latest (2010) with a rather staid ‘on stage’ image instead, based on this evidence and the fact that i had also noted the change for the worse in this case, one finds it hard to disagree with the arguments

although the fact that the journalist and designer are acquainted makes me wonder why neither the designer nor the marketing department in question, were asked to react to this article, it does seem to be a change for the worse but do they agree and if not, why?…