Can the graphic design of everyday products be used as anthropological tools? What does the look of matchboxes, notebooks and cold cream jars say about cultural attitudes and history? We invited design expert Alisa Grifo, proprietor of popular New York design store Kiosk, http://www.kioskkiosk.com which features interesting utilitarian objects from different countries for six months at a time, to muse freely on this topic, using favorites of past and present from her own merchandise.

Mexican crayons
“ I love the fun and simple graphics of this box. The yellow font seems so quintessentially Mexican to me. It was a really popular style there in the ‘70s and ‘80s and it reminds me of Spaghetti Westerns. I also love the gorgeous color combinations. When I was shopping for merchandise in Mexico I saw the yellow and turquoise over and over on kids’ products like toys and notebooks. Sadly, this packaging has been discontinued, and the redesigned version just emulates Crayola. It’s too bad that when companies from developing countries go global, they tend to just imitate the look of American products, and you lose a lot.”

Swedish candy bags
“This design has been around since the ‘30s and it’s still the bag that your loose candy comes in, no matter where you buy it. It says something about how homogenous and consistent Sweden is. Also, the design is geared towards kids but it’s pretty minimalist, not goofy and childish, which I think is an indication that children are taken more seriously there. I love the fact that someone who was a kid in 1930s had the same candy bag as a kid that was born in Iraq and just moved to Sweden. It’s like a positive icon.”

Japanese school books
“The book with the gray binding is interesting because of its obsessive approach to functionality. It’s made of recycled paper with a color tone that is considered optimal for the eyes. The height of the line space is considered ideal for writing. I’m fascinated by this drive to create ideal conditions, which seems very Japanese to me. The book with black binding is all about aesthetics. It reminds me of the Meiji era, when Japan first started to become influenced by Western cultures.”

German baby cream
“The naked baby on the blanket is drawn in a very straightforward way, it’s not cute and cuddly with chubby rolls of fat. It just serves its purpose. I think that is a reflection of the pragmatic German mind. Also, I think it says something about gender equality. In Germany, men are more involved in caring for babies, so maybe the design is meant to appeal to a male customer.”

Hong Kong matches
“Of course there’s the yellow and red for China. But the design of this box reminded me of funeral papers that mourners burn in a ritual that is meant to make sure that the dead person is affluent in the after life. I thought it was interesting that the matches had the same look as the paper you burn. I also love the repetition all over it.”

Kiosk’s new installation of merchandise from Hong Kong opens today
Kiosk
95 Spring Street, 2nd floor
New York
http://kioskkiosk.com/

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.