For this Wild Design, at the Cowfish restaurant in Raleigh, I found a print that parodies Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory”. I found this poster to be especially appealing due to both its faithful recreation of the original work, and its cleverness in creating a corporate identity that utilizes humor as part of its branding.  The restaurant itself is filled with similar pieces, such as a parody of an old Japanese screen print, or of Whistler’s iconic painting of his mother.  In this piece, there’s particular attention paid to the detail and visuals, but the chaos of the composition transforms what would have been corporate satire into a messy, unenjoyable print.  It’s a marked amount of disrespect for something that we consider precious, and that irreverent style is reflected in the restaurant’s ideology of food.  They’ve branded themselves as a group that “breaks the rules”, that marries traditional Japanese sushi with down-home American burgers, and this and other parodies allow an emphasis on that rule-breaking concept.  They marry their brand with the idea of uniqueness, causing the viewer of the piece to cement Cowfish in their minds as a place that enjoys putting a new spin on things, regardless of the quality of the food.  When you go there, you will see (and taste) something new.  In this way, Cowfish sells their character as a new style of eating, and reinforces images of sushi and burgers together, fish and beef, as something originally considered reprehensible, opening our minds to their idea of a culinary innovation.