Cool, Popular Pin Buttons

But there is another version of “Cool Story, Bro” which, to my eyes at least, was rather fresh and funny. I’ll show it below, together with more “cool” pinback buttons.

Another designer, kbilltv, has done a Cheshire grin in the same key: white teeth on a back background. He has made two versions of this toothy grin. The second one, a more pronounced smile, he placed on stickers and T-shirts. I find it rather fun. Grin II comes on white and black T-shirts. I find the black T-shirt very appealing and I can imagine it glowing under black light on the dance floor. By the way, do you know how black lights work? They emit low-power UVA light. You know, the kind you try to protect yourself from with sunscreen. Only this one is safer, and long-wave ultraviolet A radiation is not as bad as short-wave ultraviolet B radiation anyway.

You may have noticed that apart from your white shirt, your teeth glow under a black light as well. Well, since I got to talk a little about white on shirts and black lights, I’ll show below not just the Cheshire Grin I button, but the Cheshire Grin II black T-shirt as well.

There are many peace signs, too, some designed in a simple, minimalistic style (just the bars), or with psychedelic outbursts of colors. There are many such flower power buttons to choose from on Z. I like the simple black-bars designs, but I’m also a little partial to the cute flowery pin buttons that have sprung up in the past few years.

Another very common design is the Cool Story, Bro one I mentioned earlier. Some believe the meme was inspired by the 2003 Zoolander movie, which featured one funny instance of “Cool story” in response to a long account by Owen Wilson as Hansel. Of course, it’s hard to tell whether there is a connection, especially as the first instance of it with Bro tagged on dates from 2008, when it was first used on a video games message board. In 2009 it entered the now-popular Urban Dictionary, then it appeared on the MTV show Jersey shore and spread on innumerable macros and products. Judging by popular buttons and T-shirts and mugs, etc. on Zazzle, it’s still going very strong. By now, many of the designs employing this meme have “Tell it again” pinned-on. It sort of takes the fun away for me. I much better like a version I’ve only spotted today. See for yourself below.

There are badges for those who perceive themselves as nerds, too. The temptation is there to include the seventies-style nerd glasses in the design, and many buttons do include them. Not very successfully though. But if you look hard, you come upon better designs. One of them involves a cool cat with nerd glasses. Partially blue-toned. The designer is the same kbilltv of the Cheshire grin. He has used this blue nerd cat on a dark blue sweatshirt as well, and it’s rather nice. So I’m thinking I’ll include both button and shirt below.

Speaking of buttons: note that they come both round and square, and that the round ones come in different sizes. The square buttons are 2”, and the round ones 1 ¼” (small), 2 ¼” (standard), 3” (large), 4” (huge – uh huh), 6” (colossal – really?).

Then there are nerdy pinback buttons for owl lovers. See my favorite below to the left. It really works to have a symbol of wisdom with nerd glasses. Also love the funky colors and the tattoo-style of the design.

As a side note, not all owls are nocturnal. Some of them, such as the snowy owls, are actually more active during the day. Which is rather interesting, as this bird has come to stand for both good and bad things. One thing is for sure: there are more and more owl lovers around, and some of them even have an owl as ring bearers at their wedding.

See below to the right another owl design, with “CHILLIN’” in sixties font underneath.