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TTS Smile Merch kollekció - egy mosoly, ha a világ sötét

TTS Smile Merch Collection - a smile when the world is dark

The True to Sole Smile Merch collection appears in a "special" period: due to the epidemic, we have been living our lives within limits for quite some time: uncertainty and tension are present in everyday life, darkening our mood.


That's why we chose one of the strongest pop culture symbols of the 20th century as the main graphic element of the collection: this reimagined smiley. A smile that is a good answer when the world seems dark.

The smiley story

The original smiley was created in 1963 by Harvey Ball, a freelance graphic designer for a life insurance company. The logo was intended to improve work morale and symbolize a happier workplace and first appeared on posters and badges.

The graphic designer got a solid $45 for the job and since he sketched it in 10 minutes, it wasn't such a bad hourly wage.


Since neither its creator nor the insurance company protected it, it literally became public property. The slogan "Have a Nice Day" joined it in the 1970s, and since then it has appeared in countless places and forms with minor and major modifications, from stickers and mugs to the small million products. Moreover, this face smiled back from the banners of the hippies protesting against the Vietnam War, and even from the album cover of Nirvana.


Even Forrest Gump "processed" its formation, according to which the pattern is nothing but Mr. Gump's face with mud on a T-shirt :D

The smiley in streetwear culture

Streetwear brands have also been fond of this symbol: Justin Bieber's Drew, Chinatown Market, KITH, BAPE, Supreme, and even Takashi Murakami and J Balvin's clothes have featured it.

Since True to Sole aims to make available the latest streetwear trends at home and in our region, we chose it as the main symbol of our 2021 SMILE merch collection, accompanied by the following slogan: SMILE IS A GOOD ANSWER TO THE DARK WORLD.

TRUE TO SOLE SMILE MERCH

We want you, when you wear a piece of clothing from the SMILE collection, or when someone sees it on you, to remember that a smile costs nothing and makes everyone's day better.


The patterns evoke the atmosphere of writing on a black board with a white chalk marker, which are so typical of Budapest's party district. We further thought about the smiley logo itself in line art style.


The collection includes a t-shirt, hoodie, beanie, and baseball cap. Click and take a closer look at them!


A special accessory was also created: a necklace with a pendant in collaboration with the Chainz by Korvin team.



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