Judge Eric Shepperd

Last week, while at the Leadership Austin Experience Austin event at the Acton MBA in Entrepreneurship campus, I had the pleasure of hearing an inspiring talk by the Honorable Judge Eric Sheppard, Travis County Court of Law #2 on “Leadership & Service”. Judge Sheppard drew our attention to a quote prominently displayed at Acton for all to see and encouraged us all to reflect on it. Here it is…

It is Not the Critic

It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong
man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The
credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred
by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes
short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, great devotions; who
spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the
triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails
while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls
who know neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt

“Citizenship in a Republic”

Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris

April 23, 1910

Have you ever paid attention to the labels on your clothes? Every garment you own comes with a care label: dry clean only, wash cold, tumble dry, etc. It’s there as a guide, aimed to help you clean your clothing properly and not do something that might shrink, damage, or alter it. I’ve done all three!

I must admit, our house is very low maintenance in the laundry department. We either dry clean our business attire or we cold wash, tumble dry the rest. Button down shirts and delicates are hung dried. Care labels are rarely a major concern. I don’t know if that’s reflection of my wardrobe tastes.

On a recent load, I had a new item and was unsure of its care, so I went for the tag and was suprised by the number of symbols. So many, I could not determine what to do without a trusty Google search. The result, a comprehensive legend from the Textile Industry Affairs website. Click here to see the Care Label Guide. Would you know what all of these symbols mean if you found them on the label of your favorite shirt?

I’m usually a proponent for standardized symbols. Think of the Stop sign, WiFi logo, or Women’s restroom figure. All of these are helpful in providing quick recognition. The laundry care label symbols reflect when we may go too far. This level of complexity limits use. Sure, my local dry cleaners may be able to translate the various symbols, but will us Sunday home laundry mortals be as astute? I’m predict I’ll mess up.

When designing for easy recognition, it’s important to keep it simple. Sometimes less is more. If we need a cheat sheet to translate, it likely missed the aim. What do you think?