In 2009, graphic designer Mike Joyce created these postcards, “More Jane Jacobs, Less Marc Jacobs,” and proceeded to spread the word about them. He provided them to anyone who requested them and they were placed in coffee shops and other locales around town. The postcards are still visible as seen here last month at West Village spot Soy Cafe.
Jeremiah at Vanishing New York interviewed Joyce in October 2009. His comments are still relevant a year and a half later:
One, it is absolutely not meant to be a personal statement against Marc Jacobs. I actually like some of the store’s window displays and think he and his team are really talented designers. And two, don’t be so literal! It’s a play on words to reflect the Village being taken over by franchises and chains of all kinds–not just the six Marc Jacobs stores. Oh, that would be my third point, there is of course a place for Marc Jacobs in the Village but six stores on two blocks?! Come on, the person that argues for that has no individuality.
You can read the rest of the VNY interview here. At the same time, Joyce also commented: “Probably the biggest question I am asked is ‘Who’s Jane Jacobs?‘”
For the answer to that, see previous WSP Blog posts:
* Last Call, Bohemia. Or, as Jane Jacobs wrote, the benefits of the “strange”
* Jane Jacobs and Washington Square
Photo: Park Slope Lens