Although inspired in part by the German magazine Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung,[2][3] VU featured a constructivist aesthetic and was innovative in its layouts, especially in its double-page spreads,[4] in which the layout artists were assisted by rotogravure from film positives of both type and halftone images which could be easily cut and arranged on a light box, rather than using less flexible and more expensive metal halftone blocks.

[7] Vu encouraged photographers to use the newly available smaller cameras, the medium-format Rolleiflex and 35mm Leica, with faster lenses, high-speed (100 ASA in 1931) roll-film in high-capacity magazines, and rapid operation, facilitated them in producing striking imagery.

[1] The magazine published special issues on the Soviet Union (VU au pays des Soviets, 18 November 1931),[8] which was illustrated by Vogel, himself a keen photographer,[1] on Germany (L'énigme allemande, 1932), the ascent of technology (Fin d'une civilisation, 1933), China (Interrogatoire de la Chine, 1934), and Spain (VU en Espagne, 1936).

[1] In 1931, Vogel founded a companion magazine named Lu (read), a survey of the foreign press translated into French; this merged with Vu in March 1937.

[8] A major retrospective was hosted by the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP) in late 2006/early 2007.