UK Museum Buys Mick Jagger's Lips (Sorta)

“Face to face with him,” artist John Pasche once said of The Rolling Stones hyperactive frontman Mick Jagger, “the first thing you were aware of was the size of his lips and his mouth.” But nearly 40 years after Pasche committed those lips to graphics, in the process creating one of the most instantly recognizable […]

"Face to face with him," artist John Pasche once said of The Rolling Stones hyperactive frontman Mick Jagger, "the first thing you were aware of was the size of his lips and his mouth."

But nearly 40 years after Pasche committed those lips to graphics, in the process creating one of the most instantly recognizable music brands in history, the first thing you notice is how little London's Victoria and Albert Museum ponied up for the original artwork in a recent auction. While $92,500 may buy a lot of cheese, it seems like a small tab to pay for the design that created what museum representative Victoria Broakes called "the world's most famous rock logo." But that's the branding biz for you.

this audio or video is no longer availablePasche's design kick-started the bands-as-brands phenomenon that has since gone supernova. One can only wonder what fans or museums would pay for Hugh Syme's "Starman" logo for Rush, or Iron Maiden's horror mascot Eddie. Any other brands I'm forgetting? Add them to the comments section below.

Photo: John Pasche/Wikipedia

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