Words About Words
A few weeks ago, I was seeing some chatter concerning a certain Absolut Vodka spot and its similarity to Stefan Sagmeister’s type experiments. There were definitely some loaded words thrown around, like “copy” and “rip-off” and such.
Now, creativity and credit are no small things to me, but I think this may be a case of people wanting to be outraged about something – not unlike the people complaining about the use of the music in such an awfully commercial way. Perhaps it is a case of “pure art” vs. commercialism – perhaps some object to Sagmeister’s “pure” concept being the inspiration for an ad peddling vodka – but in general I find this to be a waste of time, discussions of art vs. commercialism, “selling out,” etc.
We all find inspiration in great work, and Sagmeister’s original type experiments were great. Something I’ve seen before – and have certainly been guilty of myself – is trying to emulate your inspiration but falling short. This isn’t that, though. They took the same idea – making a statement – literally – through creating type from surroundings. However, where Sagmeister executed his vision with still photography, the Absolut spot is video throughout, which gives it a distinctly different feel. I also think the shots of artists crafting the words are particularly powerful. Overall, I feel like the Absolut spot has a bit more ‘polish.’
I mean no disrespect to Stefan Sagmeister – in fact, I think his work is amazing. By way of illustration, it’s like the difference between the initial groundbreaking work of developers on multitouch display tables and the later, more polished versions, like the Microsoft Surface. I don’t believe that the creators of the Absolut spot were stealing from Sagmeister. It is merely my opinion, but I feel that by executing well and bringing new touches to the table, they have seen further by standing on the shoulders of a giant.
I thought I had read somewhere that whoever created the ad actually worked with Sagmeister, but I don’t know if that was true or if I’m confusing it with something else