Take your shoes off, please

Designers like distressed typography on the side of a building, hardware stores in foreign countries, vintage shopping bags, and Muji products. With few exceptions, I’ve found that many like Mad Men. Of course the plot and characters are interesting, but we can’t help ourselves when we notice the ads framed on the walls, Don Draper’s desk lamp, or the multi-colored doors at Sterling Cooper. The genius of the design is that it is not a pure snapshot of 1963. There are older items mixed in with the new ones. Nobody went out and bought everything brand new in June 1963. We all have favorite pieces. I love that there are New York Art Director’s Club awards from that time, and I really love Bertram Cooper’s Japanese inspired office. I need that. I should have it.