Grinder symbol

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Comments

  • edited February 2011
    image

    Ida, throw this hand into that gear!
  • what if MRI technology is obsolete in 2 years?  also, it doesn't apply to gene modders.
  • Good point.
  • OakOak
    edited February 2011
    @DirectorX I love this one. Clearly expresses the integration of human and machine technology. My only suggestion would be to ensure that there are no apparent sex organs or other sex-distinguishing features in the final version. I may be wrong, but it seems that sex-neutrality is a desirable message to promote in the grinder community.
  • Agreed.  Someone would have to fix it up too for copyright reasons.  I just pasted two separate images I found on the web.
  • ldalda
    edited February 2011
    @DirectorX I don't see MRI becoming obsolete that soon, but the point with the gene modders is valid. Also, no copyright issues, because the Vitruvian Man is in the public domain. But it needs to be more graphically simple to be easy to print, tattoo etc.

    @Shiprat The hand is the wrong way, it's like it's saying stop. Anyway, I made you one :)

    Vector files at the usual location.

    image

    PS: What about different logos for the different types of grinders? DNA for the gene modders, do not MRI for the implant people, eye for I don't know?
  • image

    Would this work?
  • If you guys don't use that symbol I will ^
  • edited February 2011
    @DirectorX No worries about copyrights. The vitruvian man has no copyright protection and is in the public domain. 


    ::EDIT:: I really like that Splicer. Reminds me of the character, Locutus (look it up if you don't know).
  • Sorry if I am just repeating ideas, I came into this discussion rather late so although I tried to read everything submitted I might have missed something.

    I think that a lot of the symbols suggested by everyone here are great. My only suggestions would be: make sure it doesn't give the un-educated the wrong idea about what we are doing, while some of us may be extremist body modders (I have nothing agains't that by the way) I would like to think that what we are doing here is working towards a better future for EVERY human, by using our bodies as our test subjects to prove new technologies without the legal problems that plague scientific progress.

    the other would be to keep it simple, I believe it should be easily recognisable and reproducible by anyone that wishes to find out more about our "movement". Or alternatively have it like the Caduceus and the medical institution. Which is to say that although they have a relatively complicated symbol, they also have an easily recognisable and global symbol indicating their occupation (the iconic "plus" sign)

    I hope that made sense, lately I have been accidentally writing words with the right letters in the wrong place :P
  • hughligen:  Welcome to biohack.me.  And, as far as I can tell, the only mistake you made was the apostrophe you put in "against."
  • Okay, decision time. This has gone on long enough. Grinder community, cast your votes for the website symbol. Make them count!

    I vote for @Ida and his most recent contribution. 
  • I'd vote for the double helix inside the gear.  Even though we aren't all gene-modders, we all still have DNA.  I think the gear gives a "technological" effect, and combining it with the DNA gives the effect of merging biology with technology (even something as simple as magnets or compasses), but the DNA still will appeal to the gene modders.
  • dna helix in the gear
  • I'd would have rather waited until this was a bit more finished, but he's my take on it. The fingers are far from finished, but I think that this allows the symbol to actually signify an integration, as opposed to just having two juxtaposed symbols that have an ambiguous relationship. As an added bonus, it allows the addition of whatever symbol suits your fancy in the center, so different "factions" can have their own identifier.

    image

    Gear: Seems like this is a pretty accepted symbol for technology, as a timeless and technologically-agnostic symbol for the machine.

    Hand: Raised hand as a symbol of both the human, and as a representation of volunteering that seems to be inherent in the community. Everyone here is volunteering their flesh to me modified and adapted, and I think that should be represented in the icon.

    There is a long way to go with the execution, but I'll submit this work-in-progress as an option and a modification of what seems to be the popular choice.
  • I will be adopting Jack's symbol, albeit with the fingers spread more apart.
  • I really like Jack's symbol. I think it's something that could easily become a symbol for grinding, at the same time that there's room for personalization (like he said). So basically you can have the overarching symbol, which anyone in the grinder community would recognize (if it becomes widely adopted), and then there could be an array of secondary symbols that could be put in the center (the double helix for gene-modders, for example).

    I would love to see it when you've finished fine-tuning it.
  • like.. one for each major field? genetics, electronics, etc? sounds neat
  • Jacks hand says Stop, Halt.. none shall pass just as much as it says hello.
  • Or it says: Stop, Halt, be careful! Here is metal, so don't MRI (for example)
    And it says at least partially hello
  • OakOak
    edited March 2011
    I'm with @splicer - the fingers are in the universal symbol for stop. Spreading the fingers like an open palm would be more inviting and friendly, which I believe should be a goal in the community. If one needs warnings to not MRI, it would be best expressed through words rather than imagery.

    That said, I'm still a fan of the symbol by @DirectorX - it neatly sums up the whole movement. If not that, the @splicer hand wouldn't be a bad route to go. I like @VoodooMoose's idea about adding secondary symbols, but it seems to be limiting as much as it is enabling: there is really only room for one symbol. I can't imagine that the majority of people are going to neatly fall into one category or another. I, for one, am very interested in both gene modding and implanting various things, starting with magnets. For this reason, I think a more universal symbol might prove useful, and adding secondary symbols below/around it would serve to express the individual's "aspects."

    EDIT: Also, I think we should try to avoid words like "factions." There's an inherently divisive meaning, and while this group is fairly small right now, it could serve to sow the seeds of fragmentation in the movement. The last thing the biohacking movement needs is to split into even more separate groups.
  • As I've said before in this thread, it really does depend on the context of how the symbol is presented or what it is associated with that dictates the meaning. If the hand above was attached to a police officer or crossing guard, then the connotation would of course be to stop.

    The other aspect to consider (if we are talking about cultural significance), are things such as this. One one person might find inviting, another will find insulting. But again, it depends on the context into which the symbol is placed in its usage.

    Also as I've said before, it's a bad idea to drop back to language to communicate with a symbol. But the MRI thing can be solved in other ways and doesn't need to be included in this discussion, in my opinion.
  • What about turning it upside down?
    Talking about the gear with fingers now. With the fingers on the downside at least my first interpretion would be a hand reached out for greeting, or for demand. Ok, demanding might give a wrong impression, or might be just fine..
  • OakOak
    edited March 2011
    @Ben
    I just loaded the image into some software and flipped it 180 degrees. It looks more to me like a melting gear than a hand.

    Perhaps a hand should be avoided entirely - there are so many gestures of insult or other meaning that involve the hand that negative associations based on culture are almost entirely unavoidable. What for you is a hand up to represent a human is for me saying "stop." 

    I don't think that the ambiguity of meaning or the wide range of interpretations is nearly so much an issue with other symbols. I very much like the idea of using a hand, but I think that there are too many potential issues to make it the official symbol. 

    Of course, I still count for just one vote. Hopefully some more people will join the discussion; I'm getting the impression that consensus will never be reached, but it would be good to get more votes/opinions.

    EDIT: Oh, right. As far as the MRI thing goes, I totally agree. It should be entirely separate from this discussion as far as I'm concerned. I don't imagine that metal implants are going to be ubiquitous in the movement, so it wouldn't make sense to incorporate something specifically about such implants into the official symbol.

    Additional edit!
    Even saying all of that, I still quite like the symbol. For me, it is between the hand and @DirectorX's image, with the latter being me first choice.
  • BenBen
    edited March 2011
    Ok, how about something like that? (Hope I was allowed to use the hand...)
    Edit: instead of the helix there still could be another symbol for different groups of grinding, this was just a very quick ideaimage
  • OakOak
    edited March 2011
    I just showed @Jack's image to someone who knows almost nothing about biohacking, and his response was that it looks like it could be a symbol for a group of artificers. I mentioned that there's some debate as to whether the hand is saying "stop" or not, and he said the he doesn't get "stop" from it at all. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
  • image
    I've fixed the gene / gear, seeing as a couple people liked it. Can we have a poll or something? This is going to go on forever.
    image
  • ldalda
    edited March 2011
    @Ben: logos should always be 2D.
    @Sixecho: "chicks dig scars", haha, I like it. No poll yet please, just let the ideas accumulate.
    @Jack: Sorry, but that hand-gear looks awful.
    @Oak: I'm with you on the hand part, hands are too ambiguous a symbol.

    Of my creations, I like the eye best (the one I'm using as an avatar atm). Oh, and @splicer's logo is fun, but zoom out and you won't recognize that much anymore.

    Everybody: If you create a logo, take in mind
    • how much effort it would take to make as a pendant/metal piece. Anything fragile should be simpler. (for reference, look at the Mercedes and VW logos)
    • if it could be misunderstood
    • how it looks from far away/zoomed out, under bad light, on skin or walls, or any condition you can imagine.

    Is anybody feeling adventurous? Draw something that looks different dependent on the colour of the light. Like, under red light, you get to see another part than under blue light oder green light.
  • Ida, I guess we disagree on two points: I don't think that logos have to be in two dimensions.
This discussion has been closed.