Cultural Remixing
Symbols are recombined, inverted and used ironically until they mean something new; a brand's meaning belongs to the culture that uses it, not to the company that owns it.
An everyday example
A workwear brand adopted by a subculture, then by fashion, then by the original workers as irony.
What it can cost you
Misreading a symbol whose meaning has moved; being the last to know what your choice now says.
Warning signs
- My symbol has been taken over.
- Younger people read my choice differently.
One thing to do
Check what a symbol currently means to the audience that matters to you, not what it meant when you adopted it.
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