Being a child of the 80s there are two things that I’m always going to have a soft spot for. The first is terrible, cheesy music, the second is sloganeering.

The 80s, especially in Britain, was a time of political conflict mixed with an energised design ethic. Brash ideas and bold text were mostly the order of the day, leading to some of the most memorable symbols and slogans from that century.

Take Katherine Hamnett‘s ‘Frankie says’ and ‘Choose Life’ t-shirts. As far as design goes there is almost nothing to it – Black text on a simple white t-shirt – It does what it needs to though, it takes an identifiable, branded message and creates a fashion item with it.

It was the must have style of ’84.

That said, the 80s came and went and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone willing to wear them now… Unlike another attempt to mix politics, design and fashion…

The campaign for nuclear disarmament (CND) actually created their classic symbol in 1958… it was designed by Gerald Holtom… it’s a fantastic piece of art – instantly recognisable, simple and yet very intelligent.

The symbol itself is a mix of military semaphore symbols for ‘N’ and ‘D’ (for nuclear disarmament) and also appears to be very similar to the runic symbol for protection. It works in any colour combination (personally I think black and white is best… but I would), it was intentionally left un-copyrighted, and most importantly, it’s circular.

This circular shape helped it combine with another 80s trend, pin badges, and it quickly became the student’s badge of choice, especially during the Molesworth demos.

Actually, it was used to protest about pretty much everything from civil rights abuses through to anti-apartheid (it was very nearly banned in South Africa). Wrapped up in that simple little symbol are volumes of ideas and concepts of freedom… ideas and concepts that you can carry around with you, on your clothes for all to see… a bit like a crucifix for the publicly minded.

I remember the first time I obtained a CND badge. It was in the ‘Free Nelson Mandela Coffee House’ at my local University. Wearing that badge was not just a fashion statement, it was, for me, a statement of intent and acceptance into a non-exclusive club… I wonder what happened to that badge. No doubt it probably went through the wash once too many times.

And so it was that the other night I was thinking of obtaining a replacement. Looking online I found a few places that sold them and many more that would let you design your own badge…

I was struck by the paradox of ordering a badge that protested against the use of weapons technology that could destroy us all whilst reading the following disclaimer at the bottom of the page:

Safety Warning

Most of our badges fasten with a metal pin which may be sharp and considered to contain small parts. Care should be taken to avoid injury.

Too right it should.

I always thought the Cold War was so called because it was expected to end in nuclear winter.

It wouldn’t have been all bad news though, we could have gone out and built sootmen, made char-angels in the snow and had a good-old ash fight.

Remember, kids, don’t eat yellow ash.

There are two things that interest me about the Doomsday Clock. The first is that it goes backwards.

The theoretical clock tells us how close we are to total annihilation, initially by nuclear war, but now by almost anything. When the clock strikes midnight, we’re done for.

At the third pip the time will be precisely five minutes to midnight.

Compare that to 1995 when we were hovering around the quarter-to mark.

The second thing that I like is the fact that, according to some, time is essentially a man-made construction. That means when we go, it goes. There’s a nice symmetry to that.

Personally though, I like to set my clock a little fast, it helps me get up in the morning.