With our Kickstarter completed, we're excited to announce that we're launching our Zodiac Enamel Pin Collection along with an assortment of other zodiac and astrology themed goods.
Check out the collection of goods here or keep reading for a write-up of the Zodiac Kickstarter Project and the meaning behind all of the signs.
We partnered with Little Foolery artist Jayd Aït-Kaci to create a truly unique and beautiful collection of zodiac pins. Jayd is a critically acclaimed and accomplished artist, co-creator of Sfeer Theory and many other works. Every purchase from the Dual Wield Studio: Zodiac Pin Collection will directly benefit the artist and help us continue to collaborate on projects like this one.
ARIES
The ram charges. Aries is a sign of vivacity, existence and life. Cogito ergo sum — "I think, therefore I am." It is not interested in anything other than its birth, and its purpose is nothing more than to live. It wants to experience, to interact, to engage, to pursue. For what doesn't matter, as long as the flames keep being stoked. As such, the pin was designed to be a wild flame and constantly facing forward — even the fur of the ram or its horns seem to be angled in the way of the flame that consumes it.
TAURUS
The bull has been worshiped religiously across many cultures and mythologies, of which many are ascribed to Taurus. As a nod to the religious importance, the pin was designed with the aesthetic of a fresco. Flowers and sunshine surround Taurus, as this is the sign that "stops to smell the roses" — in other words, taking pleasure in life. It radiates serenity and peace, because, in spite of it being the sign of value and attachments, Taurus' priority is achieving a comfortable state of perpetual zen.
GEMINI
The twins are ascribed to Pollux and Castor — one brother human, one brother divine. Since Gemini rules hands, the pin was designed with the focal point, the silhouette of the hands evoking the Sistine Chapel's Creation of Adam to show the relationship of heaven and earth, though it's hard to know which hand belongs to which brother, if they are reaching to touch or pulling away, or if the vacancy in the middle is a window to a different way of thinking or an empty purpose.
CANCER
The crab wants nothing more than to be protected and loved. The feeling of safety is deeply important to Cancer, and so it shells itself in. The crescent of the moon — the luminary that rules the sign of Cancer — is wrapped around the crab like a protective blanket against the dark, and it curls its pincers to itself not for protection but for comfort. Its rich inner world is only accessible to those who want to hug Cancer tighter than it hugs itself.
LEO
You hear the lion roar, and you take notice when it does. This pin was designed with one word in mind: LOUD! The mane is the flame that lights itself and its world, and the rays of the sun protrude like an exclamation. At the same time, the sun is still a star, and Leo knows it is a star. It is the most golden pin of the set, as Leo announces itself in its own spotlight with great pride. But, as fierce as the Lion is, the effects that define it is almost cartoonishly dramatic, showing its loudness is for the purpose of entertainment and fun.
VIRGO
Virgo is depicted as a maiden of the harvest accompanied by a dove, so for the design I merged them into an angel — of which Virgo aspires to be, a lot of the time. To be an angel means to be a divine tool, symbolic of a greater standard, perfected by service and purpose. Virgo wants to be useful and productive, ensuring a rich harvest for itself and wanting to inspire others to achieve the same. Even meeting Virgo's expectations halfway isn't in vain... you may never meet Virgo's standards, but if you try to even a little you'll be better than you were before.
LIBRA
Libra is the air sign that introduces morality... Libra asks what is good and bad, what is right and wrong, what is fair and unfair. It is the sign that represents justice because it weighs the pros and the cons of all things, from all angles, from all perspectives. It does not like dispensing judgment until the scales have weighed evenly, and the verdict is perfectly balanced, accounting for all information and arguments. The pin's design has the scales balanced from an orb that looks like an eye — an eye that you can decide is either blind, or all-seeing.
SCORPIO
Scorpio is actually defined by its several phases, often condensed to three representations: the scorpion, the eagle, and the phoenix. The mythology has it that Scorpio evolves through all three, continuously, starting as a venomous arachnid, to a liberated bird of prey, to a legendary creature that is doomed to burn itself into nothing and rise again to do it all over. In the pin design, the scorpion is fanned as though spreading its wings, evoking the silhouette of a bird in flight. The colors start dark and black at the bottom, and grows in contrast until it reaches a spiritual discovery, a truth, and transforms.
SAGITTARIUS
The centaur that always shoots for the impossible. Sagittarius is represented here as an archer whose bow makes up of the world itself. Even though the night sky is full of stars, Sagittarius isn't satisfied with being a star among them, it wants something more, though what is "more" it can't say. It takes hold of the edges of the very sky littered with the legends that came before it, pulls, and releases an arrow beyond what it can see and what we can imagine. The greatest adventure is one even Sagittarius itself doesn't know can be had.
CAPRICORN
The sea-goat here is rigid, black, and intimidating. It's poised aggressively, though it is hard to know if it looking for a challenge or presenting itself as the challenge. The pin design is meant to evoke a number of things: is it a resident of the sea it occupies, or is it the ocean itself? Is it ambitious enough to climb a mountain, or is it the mountain itself? The answer is all the above, really. Capricorn makes the world to live out as king in it.
AQUARIUS
The legend associated with Aquarius is one of Ganymede, a man so beautiful he was whisked away by Zeus disguised as an eagle, and was then made to be the wine-bearer to the Gods. The pin pays symbolic nod to that legend: a figure so beautiful it is hard to know who or what they are in terms of gender, age, or if they are even human — if any of that even matters, that is. They have the wings of heaven carrying them and their world. Their hair falls as water into the vase they hold, symbolizing the nectar of the gods and the well of knowledge. Aquarius rebels against what is defined, and asks us to drink so that we can rebel as well.
PISCES
The sign that represents cycle itself — it is the beginning and end, life and death, creation and destruction, the masculine and the feminine, the active and the passive, and so on. The revolving twin fish represent the dual natures of life, whatever those dual natures are, and how we're both trapped and set free by them at different points in time or growth. The pin is designed to evoke the yin and the yang, opposing natures that complement and contrast and never stay still, but can only be whole and complete together.
Don't forget to check out the rest of the collection!