Greater>Than Clothing

This is the first of two prototype designs that I have commissioned (as I explained earlier). I present the idea here as part of my attempt to demonstrate (rather than simply explain) what Greater>Than Clothing is about. I am also a firm believer in the power of creative cross-pollination; I’ll be ecstatic if this idea inspires you in your own creative work (whatever that may be). Greater>Than is also committed to being open to new ideas, so if you have something to say about this design, please get in touch with me by leaving a comment on this post or by visiting the contact page.

Huginn and Muninn were the ravens of the norse god Odin. They would perch on his shoulders and keep him informed by whispering in his ears. Huginn represented thought, news, learning; Muninn represented memory, wisdom. Odin relied on them, and feared that something would happen to them. Without them, he would be cut off from the world, without the knowledge necessary to govern his people. As Odin explained, as much as he feared the loss of Huginn, he feared losing Muninn more. Remembering what you have learned is more important than learning new things.

I think this lesson carries new resonance today, as the blessed Interweb has given us access to so much raw information. In an age of RSS-enabled hyper-throughput, Odin reminds us to be careful what we retain. Not all knowledge grows up to be wisdom (Wisdom>Knowledge). The shirt is about this idea, and the design uses the ravens to deliver the metaphor.

You can see the traditional depiction above (pulled from Wikipedia). My version basically turns the wearer of the shirt into Odin, with the ravens high on the shirt’s shoulders. The greater than symbol (>) shows up as a bent stick at the feet of Muninn. To give the stick the correct orientation (> as opposed to <), Muninn will have to be on the right shoulder of the wearer, the left shoulder to a viewer standing in front of the wearer. Huginn, on the right, will have his mouth open, forming another “>” symbol.

In terms of the design aesthetic, I’m picturing it simple and stark. Sort of a German Expressionist influence (see Nosferatu pic below). Either that, or an homage to those great naturalist’s lithographs from the 19th century (below is a print from John James Audobon’s “Birds of America” that I found at Crows.net - there really is a webpage for everything). It would be difficult to print an image that dense on a shirt, so it would probably be necessary to create a more sparse pen and ink drawing in a similar style.

In my head the shirt is a black (one-color, maybe flocked) print on slate gray, white, or maroon shirts (maroon as a nod to the traditional painting).

Nosferatu:

Audobon: