# Exploring Memetic Icons V2

By [LGHT](https://paragraph.com/@lght) · 2023-08-09

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_Memetic_.

> (adj.) has the qualities of or is related to a meme

_Icons._

> (n.) a person or **thing** regarded as a representative symbol

As culture [hyperfies](https://mirror.xyz/lght.eth/Av_4Vx1U9jDYgDzdrfWQD3FKuXUbMpQ9h5n-KlFz3KQ), we see increasing value in the representative symbols used to scale and manifest density around interests/morals onchain. Not only are we lending more credence to things like ‘brand’, or ‘design’, UI/UX, and ‘aesthetics’, we are trying to distill their wisdom for a globally coordinated reinterpretation, on blockchains.

Trying Again
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Our first go at contextualizing this concept we came away with:

*   each hyperculture is centered around one
    
*   their aesthetic manifestations include skeuomorphic, abstract, and referential models (noggles, zorbs, & opepen silouhette)
    

[Recently](https://mirror.xyz/lght.eth/LGp5LzoXLMlsslRAk2EFECbaakOlp1j0ul_CDwltMfY) we added a little more context:

*   words, colors (gradients even), and symbols are working models
    
*   you can have more than one (Nike has the swoosh and _just do it_)
    
*   their functionality extends beyond cultural signaling
    
    *   foundation for hyperstack proliferation (commerce, cultural, commons)
        
*   they are not the beginning of a culture, but the beginning of its iconography
    

### Version 2

It wasn’t until a recent conversation on [UFO Radio](https://twitter.com/ufo__club) that I was struck with new insight. **A skateboard is a memetic icon**. A tennis ball, or any sports ball, is a memetic icon. This opens up new possibilities for digitally native ones.

A skateboard provides _kinesthetic-functions_ that our current crop of icons do not; while providing the same kind of cultural vertex. These functions include:

*   riding the board
    
*   designing the board
    
*   upgrading the board
    
*   discovering new locations to skate
    
*   bringing gravity to complimentary aesthetics (music to listen to, food to eat, friends to associate with, clothes to wear)
    

A sports ball has some overlap and its own set of functions as well. Again, I’m struck with the diversity we uncovered when looking at the skeuomorphic, abstract, and referential models.

### Pondering

At the current limits of my purview it feels best to pose some questions:

*   what does kinesthetic-function look like digitally?
    
*   what are the boundaries of ‘hardware’ v ‘software’ in crypto (when dealing with token mechanics for example)?
    
*   will additional functions pattern the aesthetic model of established memetic icons
    
    *   noggles become ar glasses? or something entirely different?
        
    *   zorbs become incredibly diverse yet functional hardware?
        
    *   opepens become functional ‘avatars’? or skins?
        
*   and to what degree does kinesthetic-function play in scaling the icon?

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*Originally published on [LGHT](https://paragraph.com/@lght/exploring-memetic-icons-v2)*