Not Teflon: MTV Design
by Jeffrey Keyton
Category: Design

This is the first-ever compilation of the best and most provocative examples of MTV design and promo work. With its instantly identifiable aesthetic sensibility, MTV has become an adjective, a language, style, and system unto itself, mimicked by advertisers, magazines, and others seeking that very desirable twelve-to-twenty-four demographic. From its blockbuster (1999) Video Music Awards campaign to the unforgettable Itchy ads to its on-air promos featuring the likes of Chris Rock, Shawn, Marlon and Keenan Wayans, and Jack Black, among others, MTV is about ideas that stick, unlike the teflon approach of most pop culture today. MTV has consistently been at the vanguard of contemporary visual media, producing work that is unique in its extraordinary global reach and its pervasive influence on high and low culture. Every designer fantasizes about doing work that is both cutting edge yet experienced by the mainstream; MTV's design is both. With an introduction by Moby, anecdotes from the MTV Design staff, and more than 300 four-color images, including the work of photographers David LaChapelle, Mark Seliger, and Dewey Nicks, along with video and print work from Anton Corbijn, Tractor, Hunter Gatherer, and Modernista, Not Teflon: MTV Design is as innovative and provocative as the legendary designs it compiles, and it's a must-have for every graphic designer, art director, advertiser, and design enthusiast.