The long, unresolved debate over one of San Francisco's most recognizable logos

"Thatcher was the first editor at Thrasher, the San Francisco magazine known to skateboarders as "the bible." From 1981 to '93, he helped evolve the magazine from a 5,000-copy obscurity to the skateboarding world's paper of record. Thatcher also designed the magazine's logo: eight sharp, angular letters that arch across the magazine's cover, and later, across countless T-shirts and hoodies. (Currently, Thrasher's web store alone sells about 50 varieties of logo T-shirts.)"

"Forty-five years after its first edition, Thrasher still publishes its magazine monthly. Hundreds of thousands regularly watch its videos on YouTube. But Kevin Thatcher's lasting contribution - the thing that, for better or worse, has made the leap from skate subculture to the mainstream - is probably the logo, which is one San Francisco's most recognizable cultural exports. It's a design that, like the famous Joy Division album cover, is endlessly spoofed, remixed and recirculated, far beyond the reach of the subculture that birthed it."

"For a few years in the 2010s, Thrasher tees were everywhere: on fashion models, on Ryan Gosling and all over American malls. Or, from another perspective: Thrasher's logo was embraced by "posers" - people who had no interest in the magazine's "skate and destroy" mission statement. To put it plainly, this pissed off a lot of people. The sudden, enormous interest in Thrasher merchandise started a debate that has yet to be resolved: Who gets to claim one of San Francisco's most recognizable logos?"

Kevin Thatcher sketched the Thrasher logo in 1980 in his Los Gatos bedroom. He served as Thrasher's first editor from 1981 to 1993 and grew the magazine from a 5,000-copy publication into skateboarding's paper of record. Thatcher designed the eight sharp, angular letters that arch across the cover and later across countless T-shirts, hoodies and merchandise. Thrasher still publishes monthly after forty-five years and attracts hundreds of thousands of viewers for its YouTube videos. The logo crossed into mainstream fashion in the 2010s, appearing globally, and sparked debate as many non-skaters adopted the symbol.

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