The dotZero symbol
an ‘underground’ or ‘on-the-ground’ brand …
Hearts and Minds
The contest for hearts and minds is a contest of symbols.
In this contest, we cannot concede the power of brands to predatory corporations or their advertising industry enablers.
We need to create our own brands and imbue them with our own values and priorities.
From this view, ‘dotZero’ was born.
dotZero seemed right for a range of reasons.
XR Hourglass
If you ‘connect the dots’ you end up with the XR Hourglass.
This is pretty cool considering XR’s role in bringing the theory and practice of non-violent civil disobedience to the modern climate movement.
It’s true! DOTS is a love child of XR and #FridaysForFuture. 🤣
Patient Zero
dotZero arrived in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when ‘Patient Zero’ and viral transmission were hot topics.
As a movement dependant on viral spread, a nod to Patient Zero seemed spot on for DOTS.
Gen Z
‘Z’ and Zero also have a range of other apt associations, from Gen Z to Zero Carbon and Zero Hour.
Yours to use …
Adding or integrating dotZero is a quick and efficient way to link your chalking to DOTS.
The Patterning Instinct
It doesn’t matter if people don’t quite ‘get’ dotZero. Actually, that’s a feature not a bug.
We know from psychology people often pay greater attention to stuff that’s tough to understand. So being cryptic can work to increase engagement.
In fact, ‘gamification’ and prompting our ‘patterning instinct’ is integral to all of DOTS design.
Also, DOTS deliberately aims for ‘strategic ambiguity’. We wan’t to appeal across tribal lines, and encourage people to look at things anew.
On the flipside, those who *do* recognise dotZero get cred for their street smarts. They’re in the know and have connected the dots.
BTW… Putin is a thief
Recently, a very nasty element of the Russian military have been using a ‘Z’ symbol, especially in Ukraine.
Putin stole DOTS idea!
This is kinda problematic as some people, especially from politicised and tribalised online communities, now get wary whenever they see a Z.
This is understandable, and DOTS has responded by damping down the prevalence of dotZero in recent chalking.
But our overall view is that complex communications will inevitably carry some risk of misinterpretation. That’s no reason to shy away from complexity or nuance.
Anyway, ‘Fuck Putin’.