Graphic by Raj Brodie
Raina Bornstein
Arts Reporter
This year, the class of 2024 is taking a new approach to the tradition of annual class merch. In the past, the class officers have been charged with the task of designing merch for the class. However, this has led to many student complaints about the style of the merchandise. “The merchandise last year was unmemorable. I don’t recall what it looked like, and I did not buy it,” said eleventh-grade student Misha Goldfarb.
This sentiment echoes a common dissatisfaction across the grade regarding last year’s merch, so this year, the 2024 class officers decided to think outside of the box. The class merch will be both designed and chosen by the people through the Merch&Ice competition, which aims to ensure the junior class is “iced out” with merchandise that truly represents the style of the grade overall and gives artists an opportunity to win free merch. With only a few basic parameters, the students are given an abundance of creative freedom to make their own designs by hand or through a design platform such as Custom Ink.
The designs can be submitted through a Google Form available via the nshs2024 Instagram account, which remains open through the end of the week. On September 19th, the junior student body will determine their favorite design through bracket-style voting on Instagram. All designs will be anonymous to prevent bias throughout the voting process, but once a design has been chosen the winner will be revealed. In addition to this celebratory acknowledgment and having their design represented on the class merch, the winning artist will receive free merch.
This design competition has been well received by many of the grade’s artists, who are excited at the opportunity to utilize their artistic skills for the benefit of the grade at large. “We can do better than solid colors and block letters,” declared eleventh grader Ryan Leonard. “I’m excited to see what people come up with”. The class as a whole is also excited about the ability to vote for their favorite designs. “I definitely feel better having a say in what our merch looks like,” agreed South student Haley Kim.
Only time will tell which design will prevail and be displayed for all to see. Regardless, the popularity of this new and more democratic manner of designing merch holds the potential to begin a new tradition for the students at South, resolving the dissatisfaction with class merchandise that was previously thought to be inevitable.
