Branding isn’t reserved for corporate culture: gang culture has used symbols, naming conventions, and colors for many years, but it’s a language few on the other side of gang lines would completely understand.
Author Brandon Johnson has compiled a collection of gang “compliment cards” that were created by Chicago gangs from the 1960s to the 1980s. The cards, full of icons and curious typography, as well as information about territories and enemies, were traded and collected by members and allies. Johnson says his goal in creating the book was not to celebrate gang culture, but to help conceptualize and learn from the social history of the time and the violence than grew from it. (Photos from Co.Design.)
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