Almost half of today’s brand design seems to be associated with retro or vintage. Why do we like it so much? Alexey Fadeev tries to explain it showcasing a number of European and Asian works and referring to Japanese sense of beauty – «mono no aware». One of the most interesting hypotheses of the lecture is the one that we all are Japanese deep in mind.

1. THE WAILFUL CHARM OF MODERN DESIGN

8. Kalle Gustafsson

14. 物の哀れ
The Japanese sense of
beauty is based on some
feeling called “mono no
aware”.
Wikipedia says that mono
no aware is "the pathos of
things".

15. 物の哀れ
In classical tradition mono no aware means an
empathy toward obvious and hidden beauty of things
with an obligatory trace of sadness, which may be
caused by Buddhist awareness of impermanence or
the transience of things.
There is no exact definition of mono no aware, as the
very attempt to express deep feelings in word may
only give a hint at what is going on, while
each of us has to feel it for himself

18. 侘び寂び
Wabi-sabi, literally, unpretentious
simplicity. Wabi - forbearance, sabi,
literally withered. Vintage is a big
part of the Japanese aesthetics. Wabi
is associated with modesty,
loneliness, unpretentiousness,
however also with stamina. Sabi, in
its turn, is associated with archaic,
authenticity, genuisness.

19. Thunder night fever

38. A wisp of tea
Carbon baking tea

46. THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
ALEXEY FADEEV
Creative director @ Depot WPF
afadeev@depotwpf.ru
depotwpf.ru
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