“What’s your logo mean? Why the rose? Wth is this? Triangles are dumb bro. Roses suck dude.” We’ve been getting these questions/comments a lot lately. Well, maybe not all of them. I figured I’d set the record straight once and for all on a super relevant platform like Tumblr.

So, in 2013 when Shane & I started messing around and thinking of ideas for a brand the first thing we started working on was a logo...Even before we had a name, which is a whole other Tumblr post. Anyway, I had the idea of using three intersecting lines which to me were representative of the three original members of the idea behind the brand (Shane, Barry & I). We went through a few versions/variations of that idea and ended up sticking to the three bold lines in a upside down triangle formation that you still see today.

In 2014, when we officially established the brand we started working with our friend, Illustrator & Designer, Donny Phillips on a few designs (http://www.kihl.org/). During this time I wasn’t completely settled on the logo. I felt like it needed something. Plus, everyone kept asking, “Is this like the illuminati or something?” Which obviously we are a part of, duh. Regardless, Donny ended up designing three t-shirts for us at the time. One of the tees had our logo on the front with an outlined rose in the middle which complemented the rose wreath design on the back. This ended up being a staple for almost all of our tees today. As soon as I saw it...I knew. The rose just made sense. It fit so well with the bars. My fascination with roses has been with me forever. My mother’s name is Rose for fuck sake (S/O my mom. Love you!). It all just worked. Donny ended up completing our logo without even knowing it. The Swarm Rose was born.

For us, the rose held some deeper ideas. Roses are naturally beautiful and bold but are also soft and delicate. That dynamic contrast was something we felt was worth exploring in our goods/designs. For us, it also came to symbolize both life and death. Dark and light. It is something we continue to explore with everything we put out. So there you have it. Our logo explained. 

Three Bars & a Rose.