For my iconographic tracking assignment, I have decided to analyze the Supreme box logo. Supreme is a popular skate/street-wear brand that releases (or drops as it is coined in the industry) clothing, skate decks, and other products which are branded with their logos. These items are initially priced as premium goods, but the resale market for this brand is what has really made it famous. It is not uncommon to see five to ten times mark-ups, making certain t-shirts with the iconic logo sell for hundreds if not thousands of dollars. The most recognizable logo of the brand is its’ red rectangle with white lettering.
This pricing strategy has allowed the brand to gain popularity extremely quickly and has come to portray being in the know in fashion as well as an air of exclusivity. This has led to two primary modes of remixing that I have experienced so far. The first is to use the red box background and replace the text inside with things like organization names or the very popular ‘Harambe’ red box logo. The second is to parody the logo as a sort of protest against the capitalist system that allows these types of mark-ups to take place.
The original intent of the logo was simply to make something recognizable that was also difficult to obtain. It is a similar theory to the principle Van Horn presents about virality. If a logo grows slowly and the quantity to ‘re-share’ this logo is limited, it will gain more attention and maintain that attention for longer. It is a model that has been imitated by now countless numbers of street-wear brands with many finding success, but spending $500 on a Hanes white t-shirt just because it has certain colors in specific places is a somewhat ridiculous idea. The Supreme logo is a polarizing icon with different interpretations person to person and I think this will make it an extremely interesting subject for this project.
Hypermedia and Digital Rhetorics 