# Original source of \[thing\]& \[thing\]& \[thing\] text layout? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-source-of-thing-thing-thing-text-layout/830290 "2019-02-27T14:07:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-source-of-thing-thing-thing-text-layout/830290/1 "2019-02-27T14:07:42Z")
I have seen this a few times recently on t-shirts, but my sense is that it is not strictly a t-shirt thing. And those t-shirts were being worn by people on-stage at the close of _Saturday Night Live_, but my sense is that it is not strictly an SNL thing. When Seth Meyers hosted _SNL_ earlier this season, he came out at the end wearing a t-shirt that read… **Axel& Ashe& Alexi& Frisbee** It was a shout-out to his family; these are the names of his kids, wife, and dog. (Frisbee is the dog.) Also this season, someone on stage (I forget who) was wearing a similar t-shirt with the names of former SNL cast members. It was something like… **Farley& Spade& Sandler& Rock** The latter example is an approximation as I’m going by memory. I’m pretty sure I got the earlier example right, though, because I found it for sale. Cool; who doesn’t want a t-shirt with the names of Seth Meyers’ family on it? If you don’t mind clicking on a site with a Liechtensteiner domain name, you can see it here: [https://rsz.tzy.li/816/918/tzy/previews/images/001/442/499/601/original/axel-ashe-alexi-frisbee-shirt.jpg?1539529371](https://rsz.tzy.li/816/918/tzy/previews/images/001/442/499/601/original/axel-ashe-alexi-frisbee-shirt.jpg?1539529371) I am assuming both t-shirts were created in the style of something that already existed. Does anyone know what original design these are playing off of? ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-source-of-thing-thing-thing-text-layout/830290/2 "2019-02-27T14:18:17Z")
Ha, I posted the OP right after chastising the folks at another message board for not solving this for me, and the thread bump actually netted me an answer. I should have been more patient. This seems to be what I was looking for: [https://www.howdesign.com/how-design-blog/origin-of-helvetica-ampersand-list-t-shirts/](https://www.howdesign.com/how-design-blog/origin-of-helvetica-ampersand-list-t-shirts/) So, um… as you were! ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-source-of-thing-thing-thing-text-layout/830290/3 "2019-02-27T16:47:25Z")
> [@Borborygmi](#): > > Ha, I posted the OP right after chastising the folks at another message board for not solving this for me, and the thread bump actually netted me an answer. I should have been more patient. This seems to be what I was looking for: > > [https://www.howdesign.com/how-design-blog/origin-of-helvetica-ampersand-list-t-shirts/](https://www.howdesign.com/how-design-blog/origin-of-helvetica-ampersand-list-t-shirts/) > > So, um… as you were! Beat me to it, as a T-Shirt designer this was one I could finally answer. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-source-of-thing-thing-thing-text-layout/830290/4 "2019-02-28T14:00:05Z")
> [@Borborygmi](#): > > Ha, I posted the OP right after chastising the folks at another message board for not solving this for me, and the thread bump actually netted me an answer. I should have been more patient. This seems to be what I was looking for: > > [https://www.howdesign.com/how-design-blog/origin-of-helvetica-ampersand-list-t-shirts/](https://www.howdesign.com/how-design-blog/origin-of-helvetica-ampersand-list-t-shirts/) > > So, um… as you were! It still doesn’t answer what I wondered most: why no space between the name and ampersand? That’s what makes it look odd to me. We always right, for example, “Ben & Jerry’s.” I actually thought it might have to do with programming. I will admit, it looks more aesthetically pleasing in the original, for reasons I cannot place my fingers on. It looks off on many of the others–like the balance is not achieved.