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Lingyun Gao (Ling)
English 131 Z
T. J. Walker
September 30th, 2012
Short Assignment # 1
Chinese company HongXing Erke Group is a sportswear company which founded in
2000 and becomes one of the most famous sports brand in China. It develops very fast in recent
years with their branding for the market of young people. As one of their customers, I bought
lots of their sportswear for my own wears. The image I will discuss is a foam hand with some
context in the center of red shirt from this brand. Although some people argue that the foam hand
is just a way to express self-obsession, I think the foam hand image is used of advertising and
brand to express college students’ love for sports.
The content of the image is trying to express love for sports. Obviously, the gesture is a
right hand with the forefinger as one and others are clenched fists. The thumb is in front of the
others. That’s what we called a foam hand which is a sports paraphernalia item worn on the hand
to show support for a particular team. The extended index finger usually means “We Are #1” as
it shows there is a Number One. Most people will understand what it is and what it represents
immediately if they know anything about the brand. They will assume that it is about the sport
even though they do not know exactly for which team. The English letter E, R, K was on the
other three fingers one by one. The central of the palm is the word “Erke Sports, CAMPUS est.
2000” and a red badge on the right corner as decoration. The background color of image black
and the shining silver outline forms a clear contrast with the red background which makes it very
attractive and recognizable. Computer-generated is easily identified as the production method.
Sports fans love to be unified and show their team supports and love together. So the computer
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design can make so many identical logos that people can identify them easily in all kinds of
sportswear easily and express their love for this brand.
The branding information implies that college students and sports fans will be the
intended audience. Looking closely, the gesture contains a sportswear logo called ERKE which
is a famous sports brand named Chinese company HongXing Erke Group just like Nike and
Adidas in America. The company specializes in sports apparel and has sponsored major sports
icons within the Chinese Olympic team. Sportswear, sports goods, and even fashion accessories
are their main production. The major customers for the company are teenagers and sports lovers
who are active and energetic. The slogan of the company is “to be Number One” which also
correspond to the gesture itself. What’s more, the central of the palm is the word “Erke Sports,
CAMPUS est. 2000”. The Campus indicated it is for the college students. And “est. 200” implied
that it is a very young company. Usually, young people love sports and fashion especially
concerned about the new brand. They care about what’s coming especially about the clothes.
And that’s why they are interested in the brand and want to wear while doing the sports. They
are trying to express the ability and confidence of themselves as they are good at sports and they
are the best athletics in their heart. This logo Number One expresses their attitude toward
themselves and sports that they are the best which is very cool. And we will feel good about
what we like particularly “wearing” this opinion outside.
Although people may have some negative feeling to the image, I still think this logo is
attracting college sports fans. Some people might feel that is too narcissistic and self-obsessed
when they see someone wear this T-shirt because it may appear that the T-shirt wearer is
complimenting him or herself. If we always talk about something we are good at all the time, it
might be very annoying and overconfident just like having a gesture like this image. Others
might argue the image of gesture is too complicated and distracted comparing with Nike’s
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Swoosh or Pumas’s leaping Puma. Or they might concern about the little word Erke sports and
CAMPUS est. 2000 since they have no idea what that means and they are not well designed
enough. Maybe they just feel indifferent to this brand and prefer others. With different culture
background, the image probably has different meaning to people. It is possible that in some
culture we don’t know, this gesture can mean something rude or offensive or even prohibited in
their religion. Generally, the image is not attractive and useful for everyone and it just only
works for groups of consumers under the same age and interests as the company designers. The
company is targeting at the college crowd who like sports and sports clothes that truly fond of
this idea of design.
As a college student, this T-shirt really attracts me by its image and design. I wear the Tshirt when I am running and I want to look professional and passionate about what I am doing.
The color red as a whole shows the energy and youth of myself. And the simple but meaningful
foam hand implies I am trendy and fashion. This logo makes me feel very confident and excited
to perform well on jogging with the bright red color. And I really appreciate other people’s
attention when they recognized the brand ERKE by the big logo in the middle of the shirt. I can
still wear them for casual times although the round collar looks not quite official or professional
at some occasions. It matches my identity of being a college student, but also implies that I love
sports and exercising.
In a word, by showing certain qualities on the T-shirt, the foam hand gesture certainly
expresses the love of sports from college students. It grasps the characteristic of this specific
group by the well know foam hand and the fashion color and materials design to satisfy our
demand. But the image is not perfect enough to make every college students to buy it. And I
believe by knowing the genre and content of the shirt, the designer will also have an
understanding to their goal and their change and direction for this production in the future.
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