The atheist "A" symbol

[Robert_S]

I always felt kinda meh about the A. If I were to advertise my atheism, I'd get an FSM symbol.

[maiforpeace]

Mai - you're overstating the design element involved. There is no tweaking AT ALL of the original design that Josh used. It's not "inspired" - it's ripped WHOLESALE from a collection of standard fonts. It's just a standard font in a standard colour. Go open your nearest art application and write yourself a big "A". Now make it scarlet. That's you done pretty much the same as Josh. Really…

I don't deny that there may have been graft involved in subsequent steps in the chain of his work with the symbol - though, again, it might have been mostly others who then did that work, for all you know - plus the basic fact that the symbol got steam mostly as a trickle-down effect from the popularity of RD.net…

Oh, and as for others finding a symbol - well, I personally don't give a toss about wanting a symbol for my nonbelief, which is partly my excuse (along with the fact that I don't use Photoshop). And I'm first a rationalist then an atheist, in any case. If others want a symbol and like that symbol, and think the symbol has wrought good - then carry on… I still think it's naff.

I didn't overstate the design at all...I suggested that it could be a number of things, including an slight improvement over something that already existed. Taking an existing font and making it red is basically that, isn't it?

And, if there were "others" who might have done the bulk of the work with the symbol, how come they haven't been named in the lawsuit, or are counter suing? There were a lot of volunteers but I highly doubt there were a bunch of other people involved. And the symbol has taken off far from any trickle down effect from the popularity of RD.net...RD.net is no longer as popular as it once was, and, as I already mentioned, mainstream atheist organizations use it now all the time, and at least every other atheist group and meetup group under the sun uses it.

EDIT from my prior post: My understanding is that the symbol can be used by anyone for the 'atheist' cause, as long as they aren't making money on it selling products...that's reserved for RDF. That seems pretty generous to me. However, it would be pretty sloppy of Josh's defense not to make an issue of this design work he did do (or didn't do), so it's not ludicrous that it is a part of the lawsuit.

Whether or not you like the way the symbol looks, or whether you think it was ripped off, does not devalue the effect it has in atheist media.

[Trolldor]

If I were to advertise my atheism I'd walk around with a harlot permanently strapped to my cock.

[maiforpeace]

If I were to advertise my atheism I'd walk around with a harlot permanently strapped to my cock.

Yea, people would figure that out right away!

There are times when it's useful to advertise my atheism...when I'm visiting my affiliates as AAI ambassador, or at peace and political rallies I attend, to encourage closet atheists to come out. I wear my ECSSV T shirt when doing volunteer work - people make the connection between who we are and what we do, and it has led to new members.

If you want to promote something, or get support for something, advertising it on a t shirt is a great way to do it.

[lordpasternack]

Mai - I meant that others involved may have been those who TOOK the "design" and got all the products of it made. Josh gave the inspiration, they did the perspiration. The countersuit is about who owns the design, not who did work with that design to make products for
RDF. And a small fact probably is that they're not suing Richard because they're not wankers.

As for making something scarlet being an example of any genuine kind of design work - oh give me a break! The symbol may still be reallyneat and clever. Maybe Josh is a GENIUS font-picker and colourer! But, well, I don't see any kind of actual work involved at all.

I also think it's problematic, to put it mildly, to try to claim copyright for a single letter (presumably in any colour) that is already part of a standard font that is naturally already someone else's copyright, and subject to copyright law corollary to that. If the font is leased for free
commercial use - then I could theoretically use that font's "A" on my products all I fucking want. And RDF can like it. And the courts can laugh at Josh. And if not, the owner of the font might want to have words with RDF…

[maiforpeace]

People who sue are wankers then?

[Atheist-Lite]

The problem with the 'A' is it's technically sophisticated and, unlike the fish symbol, cannot be scrawled easily enough to convey its message. It is inherently elitist and prevents the spread of atheistic memes to the populace at large. A ghetto kid with a spray can could do a fish symbol in a couple of seconds on some wall anywhere in the world. That @A@ would require both technique and time. For this reason I just think the idea isn't helpful although it has been heavily promoted and I can understand why people won't want to undermine a certain investment.

[lordpasternack]

People who sue are wankers then?

You REALLY think that was my message? Come on…

[Rum]

Well he is obviously a C..

..but we knew that..

[maiforpeace]

You stole that font!!! And it's not the right one anyway...

[Thinking Aloud]

It's called "Zapfino" and can be found on most Mac computers as a standard font.

[JimC]

Trying to encapsulate atheism as a symbol is characteristic of the culture of spin, soundbites and visual clues for the intellectually impaired...

Not my cup of tea, really...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I blame Darwin.

[Feck]

Presumably Zapfino is owned by someone ? or at least it was created by someone . If I were that someone I would be unhappy with Josh .

and as for me I would never wear a label that allowed theists to assume that Dawkins in anyway codifies my un- belief . I'm not an Atheist

If I wanted to spend my money on clothes informing others of my opinions on the subject then I would have a Cradle of Filth shirt
.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I wear what I like. PAVN hat to the VA? No problem. Blue kepi to a redneck bar? That's me.

You are free to not like something, to campaign against it, to scold the folks that don't care what you think.