There are many kinds of helmet which visually represents cultures or rather stereotypes inherent in different cultures. Despite the main purpose of helmet as a protective headgear, not all of them are used for protection. Some of them are worn in celebratory events, while others are used as a medium for entertainment, social activism and many other purposes.
The nordic helmets worn as protective head gears by the Vikings in the late 11th century. It justifies the stereotype of the Vikings' barbaric nature. For instance, the nose guard implies that the Vikings war are usually close range and violent combat.
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| Nordic Helmet |
Custodian helmets is a cultural heritage of police in the United Kingdom. They used to be worn by police in patrol duties, but recently they are deemed to be cumbersome. So, they are only used for ceremonial purpose in the present. The medium that I chose is white colour pencil on a black paper. The black background represents the mourning of many police officers as the custodian helmet has become a relic of the past.
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| Custodian Helmet |
The Vespa helmet symbolises of the Mod culture originated from London in the 1960s. It also marks the rise of hedonistic pursuit post World War II as people started to care about fashion, brands and music. I unintentionally made rough and bold lines with charcoal (which smudges in the end because it is too thick), but I think this treatment suits the illustration as it represents the crude ideology of youths back in the 1960s which is highly influenced by superficial commercialised trends.
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| Classic Vespa Helmet in Mod Culture |
Another style icon associated with the word 'helmet' is helmet hair, also known as the Bouffants. This hairstyle is really popular among American women in the 1960s. I use bright colours to represent the gayness of the fashion style at that point of time. I drew the rollers to fill the background as I imagine how many rollers does these women put on their hair to make it puffy.
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| 1960s Helmet Hairstyle |
Oculus Rift is the current cutting edge gadgets which offers the virtual reality experience that people has been dreaming of. The strap that goes over the head of the wearer and the hard material that it is made of makes it fit into my own definition of a helmet. This helmet serves as a form of entertainment for the current generation of gamers. The media used is markers and watercolours. The repetitive patterns on the background reflects the electromagnetic waves travelling into the people's mind and produces imagery as they are processed by the human brain.
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| Virtual Reality Headgear in Gaming Culture |
An illustration based on the picture I found on Pinterest as I look up for Indonesian motorbike gang. Indonesian motorbike gang are infamous for racing in the city at night. Most of the members comes from the lower middle class Indonesians. Despite being an outlaw, this gang is surprisingly active in green campaigns. The members of the gang wear pot helmets and cycle around the city to promote reforestation. The medium that I use is marker, and I use colour markers to engage the audience on the form of social activism that the motorbike gang is involved in.
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| Motorcycle Gang Promoting Green Campaign |
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