Otherkin Emblem

The Otherkin Emblem

The story goes as such: I was driving down the highway noticing the back of a car were displayed three stickers; the 'rainbow pride' sticker, a cross, and a fish. I knew then with out thinking the driver was gay or a supporter, Christian and a creationist. (Yes, I know, some of those are almost contradictions in themselves.) It dawned on me their was no universally accepted 'symbol' for otherkin. No, I take that back. There is the Seven pointed star. I’ve seen it around here and there. But really… if you were to show it to a complete stranger, do you think they could possibly pull ‘otherkin’ from it? I didn’t think so, and decided to do something about it. So, with graphic programs loaded up, and recalling how the logo to the dragon sunglasses company looked, I wanted to create something as simple, but just as recognizable. Needless to say, it proved to be a daunting task. I'm not sure there is any religion in the world, which comes close to the diversity of otherkin. Trying to group it all together in one small symbol, proved to be nearly impossible.
My attempt, is below. Most have said it's the best thing they've seen thus far as any attempt to organize the belief into one simple graphic. Don't use the image below, as that's just an example to show you what the Emblem looks like. A .Zip file with much higher resolution images, and a better explanation is available for download.

I want to clear something up here. While I'm 'releasing' the image for public use, and display - I Am Not allowing others use the design to make a profit from. Think of it like 'by otherkin, for otherkin.' A recent development is what prompted me to make a clarification.

Update: October 3rd, 2004

Finally I've gotten off my lazy ass and returned the graphic to cafepress.com. Two years ago when they decided to append a $25 fee to any account which didn't meet a minimum profit margin, they annoyed a lot of people and lost quite a few customers (Including me) But, they've changed their tune and have stopped. So, everything's back up and again being sold at zero profit to myself.

Http://cafepress.com/Otherkin/

If there's any products you would like to see, or design suggestions, please feel free to contact me either through AIM Or my email address,

Update 11-4-02: It’s proving difficult to find a company willing to produce this emblem in sticker form, with an online sales capacity. So, I’ll let you know what I did to make a sticker for my car. Recall, I designed this image to make a ‘see through’ sticker on a window. IE: the parts that are white (on the black image) aren’t there, you can see right through the glass its applied to.

    Basically, I used 3M’s Scotchcal ElectroCut Film 7725 series - Cast Vinyl Film - 2 mil on a clear liner. Which is good for 8 years of outdoor application. This is the same film that is used by graphic companies to create large decals for trucks, vans, race cars… pretty much any application that uses large swaths of color. Sheets of the material are cut with a process I’m not familiar with, but The vinyl is only 2 mil’s thick The holding plastic underneath is 6 mils, and is very tough. One such site I ordered from carries 54 colors, including clear. I’m sure there are more, but that’s what’s available online.
    This is how you do it. Print out two copies of the size emblem you want, just be sure the edges of the image are sharp as possible. Get a hard, smooth surface, and a very sharp razor blade. The smaller the cutting blade, the better, as you’re going to have to make some precision cuts depending on the size of the emblem you’re going to create. Take an appropriately-sized piece of the 3M film, and tape it to your working surface. Then, tape the printout over top. Now it’s just a case of tracing out the lines of the emblem on the paper.
    A note, first be sure to keep the razor as perpendicular to the working surface as possible. I could explain why this is necessary, but it would take too long. :P
    Second, just use enough pressure to pierce the paper, and a little bit more. Remember the vinyl is only 2 mils thick (.002 inches or 24.5 microns) it requires very little pressure to cut the vinyl. If you cut too hard, you’ll end up with a puzzle at the end. I suggest you try out a test piece first, then go for the main piece.
    Next, take out all the extra stuff you don’t need. Basically all the ‘white space’ or unused parts. After the removal of the excess, a piece of semi-sticky transfer paper would be placed over top, so you could remove the clear plastic backing, and apply the emblem to whatever surface you wanted, while maintaining all the correct spacing. Of course, I didn't have any... so I've done it the hard way.
    The way I had to do it, was take the second print out, and tape it on the inside of the back window of my car, shine a high powered light from the front, then piece by piece apply the sticker to the glass. It’s a delicate process, and it takes a little time (about 10 min) the trick is, take your time, have lots of patience, and above all, be slow and gentle… Remember 2 mils… The vinyl is very unforgiving as far as tearing. Once its on the glass, it will be quite tough, but in the transfer from the plastic backing, to the glass, you have to be very careful.
    Also, its helpful to use the razor that you used before, to hold a corner of the piece you're trying to apply, before you finally press it to the glass. When applying, pick a corner, then start rolling your finger towards the other end. be careful of spacing and binding, also air pockets. Also, it helps if the glass is warm before you start (mine was firdgid cold, and when I had to remove a piece or two.. it came off ever so slowly.)
    Normally this is a super easy process, but because I don't have the proper materials, I had to do it the hard way. For me it wasn't a big deal, The key is to have lots of patience, and be careful. All in all it took only 45 min to do the entire thing. If I had made a mistake, it would have taken much longer. Hope this little explanation helps.

Here you see what it looks like on my car currently.