Look around, search high and wide....you'll be hard pressed to find a logo as powerful, as compelling, or as resonant as the iconic Skull Skates Skull logo. You may ask yourself ( and sometimes we even ask ourselves ) how such a crude rendition of a skull could be so appealing to such a diverse crowd, especially since many Skullbearers remain clueless about the company and the product line which the Skull promotes. They like to fly the flag for it's own sake because they dig it and we ain't complaining. In fact, we are so happy with Skull Skate's success, we would like to take this opportunity to reveal the secret of it's power. Call us telltale magicians if you will, we rest assured the Skull's potency is in no way diminished by these revelations.
In a quick glance, the Skull Skates "Skull" is a contemporary Jolly Roger; mysterious, menacing, ethereal. Suspended by invisible wires, hanging on an ocean horizon, a mirage like apparition in shimmering heat waves. In a nanosecond glance it is the moon. Yes it is. Take a nanosecond glance and see what you see. It's one of those big full orange ones, that pop up out of nowhere just to blow your mind. Take another glance and you see a skull mounted like a trophy; an impressive portfolio to any headhunter from Borneo.
Now look close and look long. What do you see? No simple skull, but a complex assemblage of puzzle piece images, an ingenious configuration of discordant elements, all melded perfectly in a harmonious whole. The white outline or "halo" is slightly asymmetrical. On the subconscious level, this asymmetry confounds the optical perception / cognition apparatus. Skulls presupposed to be symmetrical. Real skulls are symmetrical and graphic representations of skulls have always been symmetrical; from the labels of poison bottles, to Grateful Dead t-shirts, to the paintings of Heironymous Bosch. But this skull is asymmetrical. Could there be some deep meaning here, or perhaps some deeper truth?
On close examination the white portion of the Skull is contained within the black portion. The black portion outlines a very bland unextraordinary head, a clear symbol of the superficial, civilized, socialized persona which we all must maintain so that we may assume our respective roles in today's complex society. The white portion, which represents the inner psyche, is the dominant portion of the skull, occupying roughly two thirds of the skull mass (though, it is interesting to note, the black portion forms the entire base). The white portion conveys a sense of mystery and strength. The pronounced curve of the right eye leaves a mildly sinister impression. The white and black portions interact in a fascinating dynamic. The white portion, the inner psyche, the unique individual, the creative self, the spirit, is busting loose. Barely contained, but firmly grounded by the "civilized", "socialized" black portion.
Hence the logo's far reaching appeal. It exalts the raw spirit in all it's mystery and eternal luminosity. Steadfast and undaunted, the Skull defies the constraining mandates of socialization.
Taken piecemeal, isolated portions of the skull are subject to interpretation; however, some segments are opaque in their symbology. The Skull is obviously smoking something; a cigarette, a cannabi, whatever, take your pick. The left nostril is probably a nose in profile; a nose on a head which has been sliced open at the top. The right nostril is the head of an erect penis (note the 45 degree angle) which seems to be pointing past the sharp corner of the left eye to a gently curved something in the upper left corner which looks like a woman's breast. Follow this curve down and the Skull's ear forms a buttock. The black portion of the skull can also be seen as the profile of a head. The base forms the jaw, the corner of the left eye forms the tip of the nose, the curved area at the top is the brow, and the Skull's ear forms the ear. Turn the Skull upside down and observe the white portion. What we have here is a bird looking backwards with its beak touching its back. Turn the Skull on its side so the black portion is down and the SKATES lettering is to the right, and you will see an elephant (or is it a panda bear?) , with the Skull's right eye forming it's ear, and the Skull's right nostril forming its eye. Tip the Skull in the opposite direction, so the SKATES lettering is on the left and the white section is down. From this position, the black portion is a map, a rough approximation of Canada and the west coast of the United States-Skull-Skates' primary markets. Turn the Skull right side up again and observe the lower extreme of the white area, around the mouth. We see the faint hint of fangs... understated, but undeniably ghoulish. The sharp angle formed at the left eye is disconcerting in its relation to the smooth flowing shapes around it, but it serves to integrate the sharp lines of the lettering, which is, as you might have guessed, heavily laced with subliminals.
The Skull sits squarely on the three letters K-A-T, which the subconscious mind translates to C-A-T. Note that the first four letters S-K-A-T are connected, in effect separated as SCAT, a word with many meanings. Scat is slang for scram, beat it, leave, depart, skedaddle. Scat can also be defined as the fecal matter of (specifically) wild animals, an interesting semantic distinction. In this usage, scat is a casual term, it does not carry the formal stigma of "fecal matter" , nor the vulgar stigma of "shit", because it is part of "nature". The fecal matter of domestic animals is disgusting; when you step in it your stepping in shit, because its not supposed to be there, somebody was supposed to clean it up. But if you are hiking in the bush and you step in bear scat, that's OK because it's a part of nature, so you shouldn't be too concerned, unless of course the scat happens to be warm. The word scat also refers to a style of extemporaneous jazz vocal, popular in the Cool Jazz era of the forties and fifties. Your basic "scubba dubba deebee bee bop bop" stuff, still savored by nostalgia types and people who like Starbucks music. People who don't seem to realize that scat is best left buried and forgotten because it is fundamentally annoying. The word scat may for some people invoke the visage of legendary character actor Scatman Crothers. Whose acting career reached its pinnacle in 1976, the year of the Skull Skates logo's inception, when he was featured as a dope smoking orderly in One Flew over the Cuckoo's nest. Scatman was one of the few actors of that era who consistently sported a shaved head, part of his stock and trade. Now it gets really cosmic. An outline of Scatman Crother's head appears to be a near perfect facsimile of you-know-what!
The E in SKATES is three thick solid lines, the bottom one connecting to the extended tail of the S. The three solid lines form the I Ching trigram Ch'ien, the Creative....and creative is our middle name. The three bar E is a Skull Skates innovation, though in the past quarter century, some rather large corporations have incorporated it in their own high falutin' logos and we don't really care. Nor do we care about whathappened to our S. The infamous stylized Skull Skates "S", born with the logo in 1976, is better known in another context, and lets see if you can guess. Where else have you seen it? Give up? The Star Wars logo. Star Wars was released in 1977. Its OK with us. We have prospered from the subliminal publicity. In fact, at one point we were so grateful for the subliminal publicity, we considered sending a bunch of free shit to George Lucas. But we never followed through because we had to ask ourselves, "Does George Lucas really need a lot of free shit?"
You might think we've covered a lot of subliminal ground here, but no, we've merely scratched the surface. Have a boo at the old Skull and you're sure to find a scatload more. See if you can find the goldfish, the genie, and the horse's hoof. Just remember, you've got to be on your toes when you're searching for subliminal imagery.