#83

F0RYXKw

This image (from the about page of a panel back) would lead me to think they are not included as a joke.

2 Likes
#84

Hmm, good to know I guess. Glad that I held off on buying.

1 Like
#85

I think you mean how the typography of the “S” resembles the S from the SS logo. This was brought up before and was completely unintentional AFAIK. I think @retoid was rather upset about this and was thinking or redesigning all panels.

All this time I naively thought the designer liked fish…

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#86

Looks like BKM has closed up shop.

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#87

That bums me out. I ordered a couple panels recently. They are lovely and very well made. I did receive a chick tract and a short note explaining its inclusion. I personally was not offended or put off by this. I’m not religious. This didn’t come off as anything other than sharing a personal belief. An invitation at most.

Personally, any insinuation or accusation that these designs are nefarious seems silly and is likely hurtful. The lighting bolt ‘S’ can be found on the official Make Noise panels. The BKM panels are clearly inspired by those designs and I believe this was acknowledged on the website.

All that to say, I love this forum. Nothing wrong with critiquing the design or not liking the pamphlets but something felt off about where this thread went.

17 Likes
#89

only recently became aware of the topic when it got bumped and, while slightly surprising, the turn this thread has taken is nobody’s fault

several users above asked polite questions raising some concerns (often very respectfully/cautiously couched in considerate phrases to avoid seeming harsh or negative)

most everyone was satisfied by initial responses about typeface and panel design shared by BKM (please correct me if i missed something there)

then we have the most recent development which, frankly, seemed quite a bit more alarming and deeply concerning to some members here

i’m reading in between the lines but know em well enough to gather why a synth manufacturers’ willingness to embed their religious beliefs into the permanent and temporary branding of a product (in a clandestine manner) would be unwelcome

i’m trying to state as this as nicely as possible…some users and prospective buyers did not want such an invitation without warning

i understand this is a sensitive topic and we should strive to acknowledge and respect each others varied beliefs

at the same time, when @retoid made these choices i’m sure plenty of thought went into how they’d like to present themselves to potential buyers

as can be seen by the existence of this very thread…synths are very personal objects for most users and, for better or worse, we often view the instrument as extensions of ourselves

no doubt this may be why BKM took a risk and tried to be honest about their beliefs

but the users who’d rather not incorporate overt christian imagery in their rack or lend financial support to someone who adds religious literature to orders are not “wrong” for saying so

this is one possible outcome @retoid may have foreseen

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#90

there were several posts in the eurorack fb group that brought this up. i thought it would be a fair thing to ask @retoid to confirm before coming to any conclusions. i also think it’s fair for people to know before they order - if only to save money and effort on sending it back, which i would have done. this is also why i posted in this thread.

it is sad that it came to this and that it involves a member of this community who contributed to it. i don’t want to derail this thread any further. but one thing i want to make absolutely clear - this is not because chick tracts are religious. there is a reason why SPLC lists Chick Publications as a hate group.

25 Likes
#91

Indeed unfortunate. The panels are well-designed and well-made and he’s been nothing but kind to me and as far as I know to this community as well. I think the “SS” criticisms were a big reach and I recall being pretty off-put by the whole accusation, especially with how well it was responded to. But yeah, quite an odd move to be including unsolicited religious material with the product. I am very much not religious but honestly would not have that big a problem with it, IF not for the fact that this particular “chick” stuff seems to have some hurtful associations, particularly anti-homosexual. Though I’d honestly never heard of them until now.

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#92

thank you for explaining in further detail @scanner_darkly

agreed

#93

Thanks for the thoughtful replies. Some really good points. Being aware before purchase seems absolutely fair.

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#94

I didn’t see this discussion had continued. And I wanted to clarify that my previous statement was made fully aware of what Chick Tracts are and the kind of hateful rhetoric they represent.

I didn’t really feel this thread had “gone off the rails” but was a members expressing concern about spreading hate literature in our community. Chick tracts roundly deny the rights and personhood of LGBTQ, Jewish and Muslim individuals. I feel relatively comfortable here, but if the concerns of LGBTQ, and other faiths are not held with the same level of seriousness as other groups I’m not sure I would.

I believe Chick Tracts are largely a American/Canadian phenomena and probably out of the life experience of some members.

I am spiritual myself, and a Christian. Some thoughtful Bible verses would not be unwelcome in a synth package. I think it’s a bit odd how many members jumped to defend without even checking out the links provided explaining why people were concerned

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#95

I wish I had ordered some. I don’t really care if something is on the back panel. I’d personally just throw whatever else that came with it in the trash and call it a day.

2 Likes
#101

Oh, BKM went belly up? Unfortunate. Really like his stuff.

//// pictures of our sound-making machines ////
#102

He got forced to close due to a small number of very vocal complaints about some of the material included in his shipping of panels.

It was very unfortunate. A hard-working member of our community that actually made stuff people want, as grass-roots as it gets. His panels were awesome.

Black mannequins panels
#103

Wow didn’t know that, how unfortunate. I saw some being upset about some of the Christian iconography on the backsides. Was that it?

Black mannequins panels
#104

Yep, that was it. 20 characters of “this is why we can’t have nice things.”

Black mannequins panels
#105

I’m sure there were some events/exchanges I missed, but I don’t recall seeing all that much force used. I saw a few people who weren’t super into being called wretched sinners or whatever by someone’s packing material, voice that they weren’t super into it, and then he closed his shop.

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#106

it was not the christian iconography on the back, it was the hateful literature included. chick tracts which are homophobic, islamaphobic, anti-catholic, etc. there was some concern expressed in the thread on here, but no clear indication that was why they shut down. there was more discussion in the thread if you’re interested in hearing what people said, it was all quite civil.

13 Likes
#107

Oh ok. My panels were always in non-hateful bubble wrap with nothing extra. Weird.

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#108

Does anyone have any copies of these chick tracts? I’m really interested to see what content he was actually including. I know that chick tracts are originally quite xenophobic, so I’m wondering if BKM’s were too, or if they were rather Christian booklets conflated with those more inappropriate. Perhaps I should be asking this in the other thread!