Sunday 18 April 2010

You thought we wouldn't notice?

Mashallah Design Linda Kostowski T-SHIRT ISSUE wolf
THE T-SHIRT ISSUE is a project by Mashallah Design and Linda Kostowski. A series of three digital portraits in the form of clothing. Their about reads:
Three people are portrayed digitally by scanning their bodies. The output of this scan is a 3d file, which resolution is defined by the amount of polygons, similar to pixels in a bitmap graphic. Linked with their biographical memories a digital twin of the body is thus created, which expands and personifies the garment in a formal-poetic way. The 3d data is turned into 2d sewing patterns by the use of the unfolding function which is a common tool in industrial design process to make paper models with, the single fabric pieces and the inner interface which defines the edges are cut out by the help of a laser cutter.
wolf_1
Making a clothes pattern in this way changes the aesthetics of the garment fundamentally , because in contrary to ordinary pattern construction methods unfolding does not matter about orientations like center front or the shape of a armhole, which frees the designers imagination in a way that feels fresh and liberate. As fabric we used sweatshirt jersey as a reference to the common cliche that Berlin is the city which fashionable output lies in making and painting on t-shirts.
s5
This undoubtedly impressive project has been circling both digital and real world since 2008, has been featured in numerous design blogs - including Yatzer, Dezeen, byAMT and their creator's Mashalla Design own - and has been exhibited in many countries.

So you'd think someone would think twice before they use that quite distinct image of the wolf tee for their advertising campaign, right?

Think again.
PANSIC AD  FAIL Mashallah Design Linda Kostowski T-SHIRT ISSUE
What you see above is a print ad for greek fashion college PANSIK Scuola di Moda.

I feel very strongly about cases like that. However before I got really mad, I tried to cross off all potential explanations that would justify such a choice. Maybe PANSIK actually paid to use that image? Could be the case, but I personally doubt it. It could be poor judgment and lack of professionalism from the graphic designer's side. The quick and easy solution. However, in this particular case, this explanation still doesn't take away the blame from the client.

You see, I believe it is still wrong for a fashion school to promote themselves by using projects of designers irrelevant to that school, even if the images used were actually paid for. Why not use the creations of your own students? Anyone would think you would be eager to show the work they do as part of your classes. Not to mention, it's free! Using a cool image found online is insulting to all your previous and current students, as it's implying they haven't produced anything worthwhile.

Not to mention it's totally misleading to all potential students, who will probably assume this project was made in that particular school.

I've already sent an email to the original artists, informing them of the existence of this ad. Maybe they can clarify things for us. In the meanwhile, whenever you see a case like that, don't let it go unnoticed. It's unfair for both the artist and the public. And you could find yourselves in the place of both.

(the title of this post is inspired by the same-name blog youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com where similar cases of get outed royally by anyone who notices them)

UPDATE: The original artists of THE T-SHIRT ISSUE project answered my e-mail, saying they are totally shocked as they didn´t know anything about this.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for letting us know! It is really annoying both ways it may has happened! Inform us as soon as you get a response.

Anonymous said...

It is not uncommon for a school to hire cheap independent advertising companies that dont really care (cause the client aint paying much anyway) so they just rip an image from some online catalog (other times legally others illegally) and get done with it.

In this particular case It's just a "we dont really care" sign.

Lopi said...

@Katerina
Thanks, I will!

@elasticrash
I could justify this explanation if the client was any random non-artsy company. But in this case, they happen to be in the creative field too and not caring what their advertising campaign looks like makes it even worse.

christalenergy said...

well if i'm correct in case of photo copyright if you alter by 80% the photo then you r covered and you can use it...but just these pink dots i think r not even close to 5% alteration
it's an interesting ad btw...i guess they gave it a shot, just think that they might have even worked long night shifts at the advertising agency to get it done on time :P

Anonymous said...

Έκανες πολύ καλά που ενημέρωσες τους καλλιτέχνες!Είναι ανεπίτρεπτο για μια σχολή μόδας να χρησιμοποιεί εικόνες άλλων. Ακόμη, κι αν έχει πληρώσει, συμφωνώ ότι είναι λάθος,περνάει λάθος μηνύματα..

ShoppingTherapy said...

did you also contact the school in questioning? i'm really curious what they will have to say...

Lopi said...

@stella
I haven't contacted them yet as I am first waiting to see what the original artists have to say on the matter

Thalia said...

i ve seen this and i am so glad u wrote about it! i feel quite strong about case like that. It is unfair to the artists and frankly it is irrelevant to the school and totally misleading to the potential students that would probably assume that this is a feasible project in that school.
i have nothing to add cause u said it pretty well. please update when u have new information.

kiss

Hari K said...

I've done a post about that tee back in November

http://thesohosymposium.blogspot.com/2009/11/talk-about-avant-garde.html

well...maybe Lady Gaga did not read that post, but I give more chances PanSik read it!!! :PPPP

fashionist__ahead said...

uperoxoo..
m aresei para polu auto to post..
:)

www.miss-athenes.net said...

a thousand congrats about coming forward about this. Its absolutely shocking and vile and you are 100% right pointing this out to the people in question. Pansik should be ashamed of themselves and i feel for the kids that have graduated from there and have to put up with that crap.

Alecca Rox said...

glad you brought this up, i had noticed it too. i think you should also contact PANSIK because you need a high resolution image to proceed to print and I really do wonder if this is a case of a client being totally played by some clueless (?) agency.

Intellectual rights are important and I am sure this is part of what every school teaches to their students.

At least, it should be.

renatsan said...

Bravo Lopi....Original reportage...The Greeks have to get over it......Stop copying everything please!!!!Something has to be done...where is all this ingenuity we have as a nation....

Hippypoptimus said...

clothes looks like Bauhaus buildings!amazing

chloe said...

oh man, this happens ALL the time in cyprus! i used to work for a big publishing house where i was basically told to translate articles from international mags to print in our magazines. our magazine covers were just scanned pages from international mag photoshoots and our 'fashion' editorials just copied themes from international mags. when i got fed up and wrote an article by myself, one of the other writers asked me where i copied it from because she hadn't seen it before!!
ok, this was around 5 years ago but i don't think much has changed, it was a big part of why i wanted to leave that job.
good for you pointing this out, let us know what happens!

Raquel said...

things like this are stupid and terribly unfair for the artists.
thanks for sharing lopi.
x