The Art of Classic Design: What classic art can teach us about products that enchant, transform, and endure

This paper explores how classic art objects engage emotional responses, evolve over time, and are thus sustained over long periods. Then, the paper applies this learning to products to examine how classic product designs (CPDs) can likewise enchant, transform, and endure. Through a qualitative empirical analysis, this paper illustrates a framework for classifying classic products: CPDs achieve longevity when they disembed from their original meaning, transcend their organizational context, and become cultural icons as they are appropriated by users over time and across space. The paper concludes with recommendations for product design and management.