This has to be one of the oddest assortment of novelties ever. I know this is supposed to be like GMK Rudy, despite being named like it should be a rip off of GMK Denim… But those novelties make no sense.
I guess Route 66 and blue jeans are loosely associated. But the Canadian maple leaf? Did someone in China think that was pot? Smoking some sweet maple, man.
Looks to me like there is a lot of throw-back to the 60’s/70’s rebel / biker culture: peace sign, skull, jeans pocket, etc. But yeah, the Maple leaf is weird, and the barcode one is strange…and the most confusing of them all (to me at least) is the “sale” button – who associates consumerism with 60’s hippies?
I was thinking about that! It is so close… I just don’t dig the brown. I would almost prefer that cream off-white from the PGA instead, but that might clash
Forget the novelties they probably just threw random things they found trendy, here’s their explanation:
Inspiration: Levi Strauss… …Hollywood Pictures and rock and roll music became mainstream in the 60s, and 70s… …The Novelties… …use for reference of the Jean’s pocket, brand and “skull” symbols from rock and roll. Taking the colors that are common in jeans and tweaking the color palette of the color wheel to show what we want to display
That colorway doesn’t feel like jeans or Levies at all to me.
Something about one culture doing its best to interpret another and not quite hitting the mark tickles my fancy. Japanese pop-idols singing the occasional English phrase with a heavy accent, American rednecks with " 刀 " across the top of their Chevy Cavalier windshields, and now Chinese keycap designers rambling about Levi Strauss, Route 66, and Hollywood (while including Canadian national iconography).
BACON!
HOT RODS!
GUNS!
CAPITALISM!
STEAK!
FOOTBALL!
…poutine?
It also reminds me of a film I saw in art school ages ago - the only thing about it I remember is a pair of Japanese 20-somethings, staying in an American hotel, doing their very best to emulate the greaser aesthetic from the 1950’s, right down to the guy dramatically flicking his Zippo to light his lady’s cigarette, as she drags it holding herself with the energy of a runway model.
Going a bit further, it brings to mind the entire umbrella-genre of Vaporwave; signifiers from the past, displayed through distant interpretations and foggy memories, and a striking aesthetic that may or may not carry with it any meaning associated with its inspiring source material.