Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out

Palm Fronds

Half way through the Kindle edition and I am already deeply grateful for the insights I've gleaned so far from Mr. Ecko's Unlabel. What I've been able to see through Marc's eyes is invaluable. There is a real sense of history at play here that fortifies the designers focus on authenticity. From drawing up 'Vote for Me' flyers to become the student body president in high school to the advanced maneuvers of 'velvet roping' an empty trade show booth with his brand placed elegantly atop a pedestal; there is a constant affirmation in nearly every page of the sheer value of doubling down on originality. More than a rags to riches story, Ecko's tale is loaded with self effacing admissions of the dangerous side effects of success and lessons on how to counteract them with actual stress tested wisdom. I've been aware of Ecko only intermittently through the mind stamping Rhino brand and I seem to recall when Getting Up, his foray into video game design came out but I'm someone who has always been suspicious of Graffiti as an art form. Miraculously early on in the book I was educated by Marc, that what one mostly sees on the street in the form of 'graffiti' are called 'toys' - a moniker for nascent writers whose pens are cans. This seemingly minor insight clarified a confusion I have held for quite some time, namely, 'why does 98% of graffiti just look like practice?' now I know it's just a bunch of 'toys' and that graffiti, like any art, blossoms only after hours, days and potentially years of perfecting a style before you should manage Getting Up your first time. Wasn't it Voltaire who said 'one must write volumes before signing ones own name'? That idea wasn't lost on the ethos of Ecko. Marc possesses that rare quality of a talent who knows he's got it but takes the time to get it right it in seemingly every aspect of his creative and professional life. I've read it non-stop until I decided to write this review. It reminds me of the 'innocence' of the 80's and 90's. An i...