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DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY - SHIRT TWO

I majored in English Literature in college. Latin and Greek were my foreign-language credits. BulfinchHamilton, and Campbell have been on my nightstand for years.

 

Shirt Two is my love letter to the role of mythology in storytelling.

 

 

Although Cupid is often used in pop culture as a mischievous remedy for unrequited love, many of his myths are darker than you might expect. In "Cupid and Psyche," for example, his mother (Venus, the goddess of Love) tried to use him to punish a mortal whose beauty offended her. Unsurprisingly, her plan backfired. Literary tradition aside, most people are familiar enough with "Valentine's Day" Cupid to know that his lovestruck subjects are unable to focus on anything (or anyone) other than the object of their desire - an exaggerated reaction used to great dramatic or comedic effect (and sometimes both).

 

For the purposes of Shirt Two, however, I chose to interpret Cupid's function more in line with Kill Hubris philosophy. Cupid has long struck me as an ironic expression of the importance of selflessness in romantic relationships, and this design stands for the proposition that it is our responsibility to be self-aware enough to know that the world doesn't revolve around us. Further, with self-awareness comes the opportunity to self-correct (figuratively, a self-inflicted Cupid wound); thus the tagline, "To truly love, you have to think of more than yourself. Cupid can help." 

 

On a historical note, the currently-available version of Shirt Two is a reboot of an earlier release that featured the same classical art (which I love) but also bore the brand name (in a font I grew to hate). Shirts One, Two, Three, and Four were all released at the same time and, because the full brand name didn't appear on any of the others, I felt pressure to include it with Cupid. Unfortunately, I chose the font before I was aware of how commonplace it was (irritatingly, almost always alongside bad design).

  

This is the version that should have been all along.

 

-Sam

 

*Buy Shirt Two here