You’re Seeing it Wrong

Deer and Kokopelli
Deer and Kokopelli

Have you seen the image on the left before? I see them all the time on pickup truck windows here in Texas. It’s a stylized buck. But for the longest time I thought it was a dance studio logo, or a Kokopelli. I couldn’t figure out why Kokopelli’s were getting popular here… until I finally saw the image of the deer. Ah, the driver of the truck must be a hunter! It’s funny that I’m a visual designer but I sometimes have a hard time seeing what logos actually represent. Take the logo below on the left for instance.

Wolfman Logo vs. My Vision
Wolfman Logo vs. My Vision

When discussing the logo with my friend, he told me quite plainly, “It’s a wolf.” But what I saw was the image on the right (enhanced in Photoshop for explanatory effect). I thought it was a pretty messed-up drawing of a wolf on a rampage. It just swallowed a woman whole and her shoe (in red) got flipped in the air, for goodness sake!

Some days later, I saw the true image of the calm wolf and it made sense. I guess I must have looked at it in a different light, so to speak, or a dim light, or a new angle and the true image made itself clear. (For the record, I love Wolfman Luggage! I have one of their tankbags on my bike.)

It’s kind of like when you are listening to a song that you have heard a thousand times before, but you come into it at a different measure, or the volume is just a little too low to make the song out clearly, and you hear a different melody… or actually it’s the same melody, but with different timing so it sounds like a totally different tune. Has that ever happened to you? Or maybe it’s just me?

Gudetama (ぐでたま)

I just discovered the brilliant “Gudetama” (Lazy Egg) and he has become my new favorite character! He’s so lazy and kawaisou… I love it. I know what I am spending my money on when I visit Japan this summer. I thought the Sanrio character “Kirimi-chan” was okay, but there wasn’t anything really special about her. Sure, she’s a salmon filet, but I get the feeling she’s trying too hard. Perhaps it’s the pressure from Sanrio. I’m sure they can be pretty demanding, so I have to give her the benefit of the doubt. She’s probably a good kid. But Gudetama has a genuine personality that I don’t think Sanrio can pretty-up, no matter how much marketing they throw at it. It’s probably his down-to-earth qualities and sincerity that strike a chord with me; his lifestyle is one that I can really identify with. I want live my life like Gudetama!

Gudetama - The Lazy Egg
Gudetama – The Lazy Egg

Follow Gudetama (if you have the energy) on Twitter at @gudetama_sanrio