Dirty Panda / 10 years of FDC
At April 2009, we were asked to create a teeshirt graphic design by our friends at Dirty Panda, whom have been creating a type related culture over in Asia since 1999 — graffiti. Interestingly, it is a sub-culture driven from the hiphop movement originated from New York since the 70s and we think that it is a sector which cannot be dismissed when looking into calligraphy, hand-lettering, sign-writing as well as typography.
Originally, we came up with a handful of concepts that based around the idea on mainly the name of the graffiti crew FDC and graffiti related terms or spray paint’s colour chart. However, we have in the end decided to further develop the most powerful concept that reflects time and perhaps experiences throughout a time period of 10 years.
We will start with explaining some background information here. The name of the graffiti crew — FDC, is the short form of the full term “Fuck Da Cops”. Secondarily, the name also stands for “For Da City”. Driven from this dual meanings fact, the design concept was to incorporate the use of different units of measuring the very 10 years and they can be viewed in the following ways:
10 years = 520 weeks = 3650 days = 87600 hours = 3650 days = 520 weeks = 10 years
Those elements of measuring time link to each other naturally in terms of meanings and they have been designed in a specific way; linking with a selected element back to back but upside down with their shared typographic element - the alphabet “s”. As a result of design development, “10 years” has been matched with “520 weeks” while “87600 hours” has been linked to “3650 days”.
fdc = fuck da cops = for da city = fdc
Further more, the two meanings that stand for FDC, as mentioned previously, have been placed separately into two areas within the graphic composition. Which in this case, the top and the bottom of the design, or vice versa. Simply put, the final design is meant to be read from both sides, the top and the bottom, and at the same time to challenge and question about the relationship between the printed teeshirt and the person who wears it.
As you can see, the design has been pushed further with considerations on how the graphic would interact with not only the teeshirt nor viewers but most importantly, the wearer. When this particular teeshirt being worn by any of the FDC crew members, or any person who are lucky enough to own one, the design presents the message to every viewers about the 10 years anniversary theme and more importantly, the believe embedded within FDC — ”Fuck Da Cops, For Da City.”
Moreover, the design also became a reminder/reflector to the wearer of the teeshirt. It reminds the crew members, in a self-criticising way, of what they have been believing and living for 10 years. It also reminds those non-crew members why FDC has been existing for 10 years and is still contributing to the scene in many different ways.
After all, We did try to propose an ideal set of two teeshirts but it cannot be processed further due to a limited budget for the project. Nonetheless, we are still very happy with the outcome. Special thanks to everyone from Dirty Panda as well as the FDC Crew for approaching us on this project.
The design is now available through Dirty Panda, printed with silver ink on black teeshirt, made in China.