Mambo Manifesto

Reg Mombassa

I was reading through the Mambo book Art Irritates Life, which is a really great look at the graphic foundations of the surf fashion brand. It's interesting how the style of one clothing company (and, to an extent, one artist) can define the style for almost a decade. A shame to see that they have shifted from their roots, then. Where are the loud shirts? They also produced a manifesto of sorts, which I'll reproduce here:

1. Revere the past only where profitable.
2. Sell to Satanists only for as long as they pay their accounts.
3. Directors should avoid driving cars costing in excess of creative staffs' average annual income.
4. Use metaphors only when wanting to be thought ironic.
5. Use irony when drawing big jugs.
6. Know how to hold a grudge.
7. An office relationship should involve no more than two members of staff at a time.
8. Only plagiarise the corporate logos of companies unlikely to be able to afford legal action.
9. Invoke principle only where profitable.
10. Only staff of exceptional talent are permitted to be surly and indifferent to personal hygiene.
11. Nicotine patches and stairwells have their place in the creative process.
12. React vengefully when condemned by a spokesperson for an organised religion or the gun lobby.
13. Vulgarity finds its own context when helping to shift some big units.
14. All good T-shirt prints should follow the viewer around the room.
15. Be referential if you can't think of anything original.
16. Create within the context of coherent self-referentiality to cut down overheads.
17. Don't offend the rich until they've bought something.
18. Good taste is fine for some.

I wonder how truly Mambo have stuck to this in the intervening years...