Obama shirt.

What does an Obama shirt mean? What does an Obama shirt mean right now? What will it mean Wednesday? If he wins? If he loses? What does a McCain shirt mean?

Meaning in products is completely relative. There is no way to design a meaning into a product without working within a certain set of parameters, those parameters being experience. Experience shapes perception. Everyone’s own personal experience and the story of their life determine their own personal worldview. How you see the world translates to people, places, products, etc. It is an interesting thought that a person may not be able to act or react in any way that is different than any that he or she has seen before… We are shaped as we grow.

As for designers, they can get a certain reaction to a product if they play certain cards. Based on their own experiences or perhaps the experiences of others, a designer can manipulate a consumer into believing and perceiving a specific quality “inherent” in a product. Consumer culture is about manipulation, and marketing.

So what does an Obama shirt mean?

The most simple and immediate response would be that whoever is wearing it wants Obama to be the next President of the United States. Simple. Or this person could be latching onto a trend. Being socially accepted in any given setting because of an incredible icon he or she is wearing on his or her chest. Nike. Abercrombie. Billabong. Obama.

McCain shirt, probably the same simple answer. And that’s probably all that’s the same. McCain is probably less likely to be considered iconic in the branding sense, so we’ll stick mostly to Obama…

At this point, wearing an Obama t-shirt is just as much a fashion statement as it is a political one. What then, will happen on Tuesday? What generally happens on St. Patrick’s Day? Everyone will probably be wearing their specific candidate’s shirts if they own any. But what does that mean? Are they saying, “Remember to vote!—for ______!!!” or, “This is who I’m voting for, and I thought you should know that.” or, “When ­­­­­­­­­­­­________ wins, you’ll remember that I was right.”

So what happens Wednesday? If Obama wins, will people wear their shirts that day as well? Perhaps, in celebration. Those shirts will have become an icon of victory, and will be seen by others wearing them as a similar team jersey, uniting them in their choice. Very likely… But what if he loses? Would people still wear their shirts on Wednesday? What would it mean if they did? Would it be in mourning of what they thought could have been? Would people ever wear them again at all? Would they be ashamed to still be linked to the loser of the election? This icon of hope and change would immediately be turned into a unifying mark of loss and sadness for many people. And the designers wouldn’t have written that in at all…

The meaning of the shirt will have changed based on an event. A collective experience that would shape the perception of that icon in the future. Shaped by victory or defeat, an Obama shirt will mean something entirely new soon enough.