RESHARED: I’ve been involved in art and graphic design for more than 40 years and marketing for roughly 30.

So when Converse says it “got this wrong,” I HEAR the “apology.” PLEASE CATCH THE SARCASM.

But from MY professional perspective? That composition was INTENTIONAL. Now let me be CLEAR before somebody argues with something I didn’t say.

I cannot tell you what was in the artist’s HEART. I cannot prove racist intent. THERE WAS DEFINITELY KNOWLEDGE OF HISTORICAL CONTEXT… I AM saying artists understand composition.

As creative professionals, WE study iconography. Historical references. Negative space. Visual hierarchy. Symbolism. Light. Shadow. Placement. Juxtaposition.

We learn those things so we can intentionally CREATE associations and, just as importantly, recognize associations we DIDN’T intend before the work reaches the public.

Look at this image. The suspended black shoes.

The pointed white form created by the light and shadow. The positioning. The negative space.

The relationship between those elements.

You cannot tell me, as an artist, not ONE PERSON should have stopped and said, “WAIT… DOES ANYBODY ELSE SEE WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE?”

And that’s actually what bothers me beyond the original composition. This wasn’t somebody doodling at home and accidentally posting it.

An advertisement for a global brand generally moves through PEOPLE. Creative direction.

Art direction. Marketing. Brand review. Approval.

How many “trained eyes” saw it? Because we’re left with two possibilities, neither particularly comforting….Somebody understood exactly what those visual references could evoke…

OR nobody in that approval chain had enough visual/cultural literacy to recognize them. And if the latter is the explanation, THAT IS ALSO A PROBLEM. However, ONCE AGAIN, this composition was INTENTIONAL BY THE ARTIST

We’re living in a cultural moment where I increasingly wonder whether some advertising is playing a game of, “How close can we get to the line while maintaining plausible deniability?”

Then, if people clap back, “We’re sorry. That wasn’t our intention.”

Maybe it wasn’t Converse as a company’s intent. THE ARTIST WHO PUT THIS TOGETHER HAD EVERY BIT OF NEGATIVE IMPACT INTENTIONS; I’ll also venture to say some of the eyes that let this pass giggled as well.