Check out this quote from an interview with Pat Fish (a woman tattoo artist world famous for her Celtic designs). It came out in 2003:
"College students cast about for something with meaning. The great default is something written in Japanese. It's low commitment, and they can feel wicked and tattooed. Frankly, a tiny kanji looks better than a miniscule rose. We call those 'zits on sticks.' The most common tattoo we do, besides kanji, is suns. Especially on girls' lower backs. For the last four or five years, we've done at least one a day. I hung a sign on the front door of my house that says, 'This is the bungalow that suns on butt cracks bought.'" ......
"We work out of files. I have a file of just suns. That way, I don't have to keep drawing the same thing. After the customer looks at 500 different suns, one-third will pick the same sun. It's the logo for this generation—Leo Zulueta's tribal sun. Then they can make it even more meaningful by putting a kanji in the center! My mantra about that is, 'The baker doesn't complain when the muffins sell well.' So, if we bake another dozen kanji, we're happy to do it!"
(source: http://www.luckyfish.com/controversial.html)
Hmmm...What’s the “logo” for THIS generation?
Here is the artist’s cynical viewpoint. Most are probably sick of doing the same “unoriginal” pieces. (Earlier in this article she says “That’s what employees are for!”)
But there is also a value in the standard design; everyone needs to be familiar with it so its “standard” meaning comes across. If every traffic light used different colors to mean “stop” and “go,” it would be really confusing.
Your thoughts?
2007-08-18
07:47:50
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7 answers
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asked by
Anonymous