I saw a post on Reddit today that asked, “What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word Shakespeare?”

“Ooooo,” I thought, “This one’s right up my alley.”  I start mentally forming my response. I click.  I am disappointed to see everybody’s answer says nothing but “Romeo and Juliet” or “Hamlet” or something “Othello” or “Dream”.  I’m also disappointed to see that the post was put up 13 hours ago, so there’s no point in responding, as nobody will ever see it.  I only see it because I’ve got a search filter on Shakespeare posts.  I decide not to post.

Good thing, too, because before archiving the post out of my news reader I realize that the question was actually, “What is the first PLAY you think of when you hear the word Shakespeare?”  So they were all right, and I would have looked like an idiot. 🙂

So then I’ll ask and answer my own question here, because I can do that. What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word Shakespeare?

I’m grasping for the word I want but I can’t find it.  Hopefully somebody will grok what I’m saying and deliver me my word.  But for now I’m going to say it like this :  Eleven.  As in, “These go up to eleven.”  I’m not just talking about what Shakespeare the man accomplished, although that alone makes a worthy life goal (Shakespeare wrote Richard III and Romeo and Juliet by the time he was thirty, what have you done, and are children studying it four hundred years later?) I’m talking about the depth and intensity of what he put up on stage.  We’ll all feel at one time or another love, and hate, and ambition and grief and the whole host of human emotions.  And when we do there’s always some Shakespeare we can point to and say, “Yes.  That.  That is what this feels like.”

That’s what I think of.  What about you?

 

I’ve always wanted an original logo for Shakespeare Geek, it just took me a long time to decide what I wanted.  Everybody always saw the word ‘geek’ and served up a Shakespeare Nerd instead.

Then it hit me.  That image of Albert Einstein sticking his tongue out at the camera.

Albert Einstein, a man whose name is synonymous with genius, had a sense of humor. He could be silly and have a little fun. You know, in between revolutionizing our understand of the universe.

That’s how I think of our approach to Shakespeare. Sure, his name is synonymous with the greatest literature the world has ever known. Does that mean we can’t be silly and have a little fun?

I knew what I wanted.  I wanted the Chandos portrait (my favorite depiction of Shakespeare) crossed with Einstein and his silly face.

I pitched this idea a little while ago and long time reader Alexi Sergeant made me this original sketch.

I love it! I’ve been using it as my avatar on various social media sites ever since.

But I also wanted something that I could use for merchandise, just like the Einstein photo. I imagine people having a poster of Shakespeare Geek on their wall just like we had that Einstein poster back in college.

So I had this version designed!

What does everybody think? I’ve got him in color as well, but I showed him around in various forms and everybody seemed to like this black and white version. I agree, because it’s more reminiscent of the original Einstein inspiration.

Merchandise with the new logo is now available!

Short Sleeve T-Shirt

Long Sleeve T-Shirt

Sweatshirt

Hooded Sweatshirt

(Of course, if anybody prefers brighter colors let me know and I’ll happily make more variations!)

Thanks as always for your support!