Abstract design of a cube with two blue sides and a white top on a yellow background.

This illustration is part of a series of buttons that were distributed at the Park Place Gallery in New York, the first art gallery in SoHo. According to an Art in America article, they were given out during the opening show in 1966 and at a party for the Rolling Stones at the Scene discotheque. The buttons were designed by different artists including Dean Fleming, Tony Magar, Tamara Melcher, Patsy Krebs, and Steve Vasey. According to Fleming, the colorful geometric designs encourage the viewer to interpret the art in their own way.

Black text on a white background with an image of a man scratching his head. 

Could imply that the wearer is brilliant, but no one understands the incoherent ramblings, or that the ramblings are incoherent and only the wearer thinks they are intelligent.

Illustration of a head with a white bag tied over the face with a nose and lips on the outside of the bag. White text on a turquoise background. 

This button is from the 1965 series of LEAF "Fink Buttons" illustrated by popular Mid-Century artist Basil Wolverton. Perhaps best known for his work at MAD Magazine, Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978) was an American cartoonist and illustrator famous for his humorously grotesque drawings. Wolverton worked in the "Golden Age" of comic books doing features like "Powerhouse Pepper" and "Spacehawk" in the 1940s. A 2009 New York Times article states that Wolverton’s drawings embodied the “sick-and-proud humor” of MAD magazine and were considered a “virtuoso exercise in bad taste, made all the weirder for being so meticulously executed."

Painted image of black curved shapes around a white circle on a tan background. 

This hand painted button was created by an unknown artist and found in a closet in Wicker Park, Chicago. 

White illustration of two figures dancing on a dark blue background with white text along the bottom edge.

Illustrator Thomas E. Powers (1870-1939) is known as the first American to draw a color comic strip for a newspaper, the New York Evening World. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, educated in Kansas City, Missouri, and worked briefly in Chicago, Illinois before moving to New York City in 1894. His most well-known comic is "Joy and Gloom" and features a character named Joy.

Illustration of The Riddler, enemy of Batman, in blue costume with black question marks.  White text and white question marks on a red background.

The Riddler was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Dick Sprang. This character commits crimes revolving around an obsession with riddles. He leaves challenging clues behind his crimes to prove that he is smarter than others.

Robin flying in the air with a full moon backdrop. Blue and red letters on a purple button.

Dick Grayson, a fictional superhero otherwise known as Robin from the DC Comics comic book series, Batman. He was Batman's sidekick and adopted son. The youngest in a family of acrobats known as the "Flying Graysons", Robin's character first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940. After Robin saw his parents die at the hands of a mafia boss who sought to extort money from the circus, Batman takes Robin under his wing as a legal ward and the two become inseparable. When Grayson grows older and spends more time with the Teen Titans, he retires as Robin and becomes Nightwing. Others fill in for Grayson's role as Robin upon his departure.

Color illustration of a woman with pink glasses, long wavy hair, green shirt and a blue jacket smoking a cigarette. Black text on a white background. 

The cover illustration from the 1st edition of Patricia Welles' 1967 novel BABYHIP features a character smoking. One review describes BABYHIP as a cult sixties novel about a rebellious teenage girl who tries to break into the swinging Harvard scene. Cleveland Press reviewed the heroine, Sarah Green, as the" thoroughly original creation of novelist Patricia Welles...wonderfully alive...preposterously funny...the best of the beat, bored, turned-on generation."

Illustration of a black asterisk with purple, pink, orange, yellow, green, and blue areas shaded in between each point on a white background. 

This design was created by artist Jesse LeDoux for the Fall 2004 Button-O-Matic series by Busy Beaver Button Co. 

Born in Portland, Oregon, Jesse LeDoux worked as an art director for Sub Pop Records where he created work for artists such as the Shins, Death Cab for Cutie, and Iron and Wine. He has worked on commercial illustrations and collaborative projects for companies such as Nike and Disney, and has had his artwork exhibited internationally. More of LeDoux's work can be found on http://ledouxville.com/

Red text in a white speech bubble with scalloped edges on a red background. 

"I Believe in You" is a design by artist Cody Hudson based on the Neil Young song by the same title. Cody Hudson (b. 1971) is a Chicago based artist whose work has been exhibited throughout the world. Hudson began as a graphic designer but has experimented with painting, illustration, sculpture, and digital graphics. Hudson founded the commercial art house Struggle Inc., which is known for its clean graphics, urban modernism and organic visual deconstruction.

Hudson designed this button for the Summer 2010 Busy Beaver Button Co. Button-O-Matic series. The Button-O-Matic is a gumball style vending machine that dispenses limited edition art buttons.