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To order a Colour of Words shirt, please send us an email with the text you would like transcribed.

If by Rudyard Kipling

£ 39.00

Colour of Words translation of the poem If by Rudyard Kipling. American POWs held captive during the Vietnam War helped keep their sanity and resolve by tapping out this poem in code between themselves. No distinction was made between C and K leaving 25 letters in the alphabet. These were arranged into five rows of five letters in alphabetical order. The first tap indicated the row and then quick taps for the letter in the row. Simple to remember and daily use drove speed and efficiency. Captivity was characterised by solitary and otherwise cruel confinement in filthy conditions between periods of torture. These communications saved lives. Using a phonetic alphabet developed by designer Sarah Roseman, we have expressed this marvellous poem as colour. Sarah's phonetic alphabet assigns a colour to the sounds in speech enabling any piece of text to be visualised as coded blocks of colour. Colour of Words is an exploration of synaesthesia, which in Sarah's case is the blending of sound and colour.

Our t-shirts are unique for being wholly made with CoolMax freshFX. CoolMax is a patented fibre designed to wick perspiration and accelerate moisture evaporation, keeping wearers cooler and drier. This wicking feature of the fabric is made possible by micro channels engineered into the profile of and surface of the fibre. These channels are cleverly dimensioned to exploit the surface tension and capillary action of water. Being physical properties of the fibre, these channels endure and do not significantly diminish with wear or washing.

Antimicrobial (freshFX) treatment stops the propagation of odour producing bacteria. This is achieved by embedding silver salt crystals into the structure of the fibre. FreshFX treatment like the wicking is permanent and does not leach out with everyday use. These characteristics ensure the shirts remain cool, dry and odour free regardless of what you might do in them. Performance of the fabric is guaranteed through a certified and monitored manufacturing process.