I bought a beanie the other day.
It's blue. It's from the school bookstore.
I'm not opposed to a school logo. Heck, it's one of two pieces of schools swag I own.
I am opposed to form at the cost of function. The logo is stiff and pulls the insulating material (thin as it is) away from the part of the head it is supposed to protect.
No problem. I'll just reverse it. I don't care if noone sees it.
Wait--it has a stylized Z on the back, proudly declaring to the world the brand (Zephyr--the cheapest on the shelf) that I have chosen to support with my money and sport on my head. It looks vaguely like Harry Potter's scar. It's a good thing I derive as much amusement as angst from this fact.
I don't like logo'd clothing. I could care less if someone can tell by my Aeropostale` or Fommy Tilfigger or Aemairican Eegle logo that I'm important, stylish, wealthy, or even just informed. (I can count on one hand the number of people in these pidgeonholes I've had decent conversations with...then again, they were high-caliber conversations...) Even Walmart's cheap brands declare their existence in noisy designs and obnoxious lettering.
Other than the debatable aesthetics served by modern branding, my perception of the social functions thereof leave me nearly ready to retch. I would rather wear Harry Potter's invisibility cloak as a fashion statement.
So I'm an iconoclast. and a misanthrope. and an ignorant sniveling nerd. (Put that on a T-shirt and I might just wear it; then again, marginally offensive/in-your-face tees bug me too. "If my music is too loud, YOU'RE TOO OLD"? What do I care if you don't care that I think your music is too loud? Reach beyond high school. Grow a sense of humor involving actual wit.)
As an alternative, please see Chris Harrison's T-shirt collection. All aesthetic, (almost) no branding, just Ninety-Two Protons of Boom and family. The purpose of the design is not to flag etic or emic, or to flag social class (which, I suppose, it inevitably does anyway...), but to amuse and perhaps even enlighten. I see a old-style Russian construction scene with cyrillic lettering, hammer-and-sickle, and Tetris blocks and I smile.
If you're reading this and you like this sort of stuff, I hope your Wednesday is better than your Tuesday.
Cheers!
It's blue. It's from the school bookstore.
I'm not opposed to a school logo. Heck, it's one of two pieces of schools swag I own.
I am opposed to form at the cost of function. The logo is stiff and pulls the insulating material (thin as it is) away from the part of the head it is supposed to protect.
No problem. I'll just reverse it. I don't care if noone sees it.
Wait--it has a stylized Z on the back, proudly declaring to the world the brand (Zephyr--the cheapest on the shelf) that I have chosen to support with my money and sport on my head. It looks vaguely like Harry Potter's scar. It's a good thing I derive as much amusement as angst from this fact.
I don't like logo'd clothing. I could care less if someone can tell by my Aeropostale` or Fommy Tilfigger or Aemairican Eegle logo that I'm important, stylish, wealthy, or even just informed. (I can count on one hand the number of people in these pidgeonholes I've had decent conversations with...then again, they were high-caliber conversations...) Even Walmart's cheap brands declare their existence in noisy designs and obnoxious lettering.
Other than the debatable aesthetics served by modern branding, my perception of the social functions thereof leave me nearly ready to retch. I would rather wear Harry Potter's invisibility cloak as a fashion statement.
So I'm an iconoclast. and a misanthrope. and an ignorant sniveling nerd. (Put that on a T-shirt and I might just wear it; then again, marginally offensive/in-your-face tees bug me too. "If my music is too loud, YOU'RE TOO OLD"? What do I care if you don't care that I think your music is too loud? Reach beyond high school. Grow a sense of humor involving actual wit.)
As an alternative, please see Chris Harrison's T-shirt collection. All aesthetic, (almost) no branding, just Ninety-Two Protons of Boom and family. The purpose of the design is not to flag etic or emic, or to flag social class (which, I suppose, it inevitably does anyway...), but to amuse and perhaps even enlighten. I see a old-style Russian construction scene with cyrillic lettering, hammer-and-sickle, and Tetris blocks and I smile.
If you're reading this and you like this sort of stuff, I hope your Wednesday is better than your Tuesday.
Cheers!
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