The Toughest Man I've Ever Met
Published March 26, 2021 · 4:05 · 292,521 views
About This Video
Van Neistat maps the origin of The Spirited Man logo across four ingredients with exact proportions: one-sixth baseball cap insignias, one-sixth steel mark asteroids, one-third rattlesnake, one-third Scott Myers. The 4-minute video plays as a recipe, and the ratios are non-negotiable.
The baseball insignias come from the classic era. Jackie Robinson's Kansas City Monarchs cap. The Chicago American Giants. The Yankees. The hometown Dodgers. The interwoven letters in The Spirited Man's mark borrow from that tradition of hand-drawn letterforms built for a cap, not a screen. The steel mark, created by a steel company, carries small diamonds called asteroids drawn with a geometric formula. It predates the Pittsburgh Steelers logo. The original source, not the famous derivative.
The rattlesnake takes up a full third of the recipe. Joan Didion said it was a Californian's obligation to kill a rattlesnake on sight. Van's family has killed three so far. Ben Franklin argued that the rattlesnake was a good symbol for the American spirit, and Van, who calls himself "hopelessly American," folded it into the mark without argument. The last third belongs to Scott Myers, Van's best and oldest friend, "the toughest son of a... he's ever met." In one of those coincidences Van calls "subconsciously driven," the initials of the series happen to be Scott's initials. The logo is a portrait of a friendship disguised as a brand.
What Van Uses: No specific products featured. The video is about the logo's symbolic composition: classic baseball cap insignias, the steel company's geometric asteroids, the rattlesnake as American symbol, and Scott Myers's initials.
Related: Van Neistat: The Spirited Man (the original episode), What Does it Mean to be Spirited?, Why Do Details Matter?, and Van's full biography at About.
FAQ
What are the elements of The Spirited Man logo? Van Neistat breaks it into four ingredients with exact proportions: one-sixth baseball cap insignias (Kansas City Monarchs, Chicago American Giants, Yankees, Dodgers), one-sixth steel mark asteroids from a steel company's geometric formula, one-third rattlesnake (a symbol Ben Franklin tied to the American spirit), and one-third his best friend Scott Myers.
Who is Scott Myers in The Spirited Man? Scott Myers is Van Neistat's best and oldest friend, described as the toughest man Van has ever met. The series initials, TSM, coincidentally match Scott's initials, which Van considers "subconsciously driven" rather than accidental.
What does the steel mark in The Spirited Man logo mean? The steel mark is a symbol created by a steel company that predates the Pittsburgh Steelers logo. Its small diamonds, called asteroids, are drawn with a specific geometric formula. Van uses it as one-sixth of the logo's recipe, a nod to steel as the king of building materials.
Transcript
who knows where ideas come from probably from some aquifer of thoughts in our subconscious the ideas for this logo came to the spirited man in bits and pieces but if pressed for a recipe the ingredients would look something like this 1 6 baseball cap insignias 1 6 steel mark asteroids 1 3 rattlesnake and one-third scott myers [Music] the interwoven letters come from the classic baseball insignias like the one on the great jackie robinson's kansas city monarchs cap
[Music] then there's the chicago american giants insignia the yankees of course the hometown world series champion dodgers and that upstate team this is called the steel mark made up by a steel company steel is the king of all building materials this is where the little diamonds come from they're called asteroids and they're drawn with some kind of geometric formula the steel mark predates the steelers logo steel mark came first okay the rattlesnake now let's not start getting controversial and judgmental here but joan didion says that it's a
californian's obligation to kill a rattlesnake if you see one and well [Music] the spirited man's family has killed three so far though he considers himself a relatively worldly man this spirited man is hopelessly american and ben franklin said that the rattlesnake was a good symbol for the american spirit and in one of those lucky subconsciously driven coincidences the initials for this series just happened to be the initials of this spirited man's best and oldest friend scott myers
the toughest son of a he's ever met what would scott's logo be if he had one well it would definitely have a tough old rattlesnake on it that's for sure [Music] you
People Referenced
Jackie Robinson, Joan Didion, Ben Franklin, Scott Myers