This design brings up some interesting issues. It depicts a bunch of white kids (and a bear) labeled as “all my friends”. Some find the exclusion of other races a bit short sighted. I wouldn’t go so far to consider it racist, because obviously that was not the intention of the artist.

This creates a new problem, however. The number of people this design will appeal to is much narrower by only showing one race. Now, simply adding different people from various ethnic backgrounds doesn’t wave a magic wand of anti-racism. It also doesn’t make a design instantly more appealing to more people just because it represents them. Even so, it never hurts to present a little diversity whenever possible. If there’s a chance at making a design more wearable to even a few more people, I think it’s worth the effort.

I also feel that a great opportunity was overlooked. As it is, the design has a one-dimensional kind of concept. It’s a bunch of generic “friends” with common names… that’s cute, but not very thought provoking. The design could have conveyed a very powerful message in addition to the cuteness if it had shown many types of people from various races to imply that all kinds of people can be friends.

My vote will remain conservative on this design. Not only for missing what I believe to be a potentially powerful message, but also because of the wearablity issue. I may be white, but I still don’t have any friends who resemble any the characters in the design (except for the bear, maybe) so I can’t see myself ever desiring to wear it.

Verdict: 3 (View Submission)