Cool. Cool? Cool!

“Cool” is said around the office all the time. No exclamation, just cool.  It’s a simple word that has many uses around the office. When a project is started the main point is “make it cool.” When a project is approved, it’s not “approved” or “proceed to the next stage”, it’s just “cool.” When sales are going well…cool. Even within our marketing we use the term “other cool stuff.”

Is what we do cool? Well, coolness is truly in the eye (or hand) of the beholder, but in our eyes/hands we have and will continue to make some cool stuff!

“Cool” as a slang word has been around for quite a long time, here are some historical points around our favorite word:

• Cool describes behavioral characteristics, state of being, aesthetic appeal and as an epithet

• As well as being understood throughout the English-speaking world, the word has even entered the vocabulary of several languages other than English.

• The West African word, Itutu, literally translates as “cool” from the Yoruba language. It has been suggested by Robert Farris Thompson of Yale University that Itutu is the origin of the American idea of the “cool”.

• Cool was a way of countering stress from racism and oppression by African Americans in post war America. It was a self dignified expression and a way of achieving respect.

• The definition, as something fashionable, is said to have been popularized in jazz circles by tenor saxophonist Lester Young in the 1940s giving birth to “Bohemian” or beatnik culture.

• The author Hannah Beech describes Asian cool as “a revolution in taste led by style gurus who are redefining Chinese craftsmanship in everything from architecture and film to clothing and cuisine” and as a modern aesthetic inspired both by a Ming-era minimalism and a strenuous attention to detail.

• Tokyo, New York, London and Paris are considered the world’s “capitals of cool.”

• English poet and playwright William Shakespeare used cool in several of his works to describe composure and absence of emotion.

• The Italian word “sprezzatura” (“aristocratic cool”) from the 15th Century means “a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it.”

• Modern European cool came out of the post WWI avant-garde art movement, revolting from reason and logic, and prizing intuition.

• American cool came to Europe during WWII when US soldiers’ relaxed and easy-going manner plus Lucky Strike cigarettes, nylons, swing and jazz were introduced to the young people of Europe.

• Cool is used throughout marketing and advertising. “Cool has become the central ideology of consumer capitalism.”

All points have been taken from Wikipedia. If you would like to read more about “cool” go here… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_%28aesthetic%29

If you want to buy some cool pens go here… http://retro51.com