Along with our ‘evergreen’ Nutcase helmet styles that never go out of style, like the Watermelon and the Eight Ball, we’ve always had a thing for stripes.
Of course we’re not alone in using repeating bands of lines in varying colors to create designs that please the eye and the soul.
Through the ages, stripes have been seen as marking something distinguished (a flag) or even something disgraced (prisoner’s uniforms).
Stripes can be narrow and discreet – think of a banker’s suit – or wide and loud like on a rugby jersey.
Social historian Michel Pastoureau says that following the history of stripes in the nineteenth and twentieth century there’s a a gradual transformation of the stripe from a common nautical motif, worn by sailors, to something that signifies sports and leisure.
Metroride
“In discovering the pleasures of the beach that European society shifted the maritime stripe from the sea to the shore,” Pastoreau says in his book on the history of stripes.
That’s likely how we all became enamored of the perfect stripe.
In our newest helmet design, the sporty and urban Metroride, stripes have a big role, featuring in five of our seven current designs.
The Technicolor Metroride is a great example of how we see stripes.
“Technicolor is inspired by my love of colorful stripes,” said Nutcase founder Michael Morrow. “Especially thin colorful stripes, and not just colorful, but an eclectic mix that is punchy and bright as well as muted and neutral.”
One of our early design successes was with a pattern called ‘Stripey’ that laid 1960’s bright, Day-Glo stripes in a front to back pattern on a helmet, with the stripes ending in paint drips.
Stripey, Michael said, is part of the inspiration for our current Technicolor.
“We wanted Technicolor’s stripes to be more sophisticated–which means a bit narrower–so that we can generate more stripes in the same visual area. We always look at the overall color ‘feel’ of our stripes, and decide if we like the color flavor from a distance. In the Technicolor, it’s an all-season color way–stripes to wear year-round.” Michael said.
The effect is to create a highly visual and stylish helmet, the Technicolor.
