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An introduction to North Korean graphic design
- RubenSandwich 9y agoThis reminds me quite a bit of soviet packaging: https://www.google.com/search?q=soviet+packaging&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiI1sP_mN_WAhWBRyYKHUZoDJQQ_AUICigB&biw=1137&bih=551 https://www.google.com/search?q=soviet+packaging&client=safa.... With it's use of state colors and very minimal and straight to the point designs.
- wodenokoto 9y agoIt's odd that they don't mention the English translations printed on the label. That seems very unkorean to me. Everywhere in the world nationalists are complaining about the use of foreign language in advertisement. Why is the state allowing it in NK?
- kawera 9y agoGood question! Perhaps those products are made for foreign markets too.
- DaiPlusPlus 9y agoAlso possibly for the benefit of Chinese and Russian (bordering nations) visitors in particular who may have a better grasp of English than Korean, which is easier than putting trilingual labels on products. English is the new Lingua-Franca anyway, whether or not North Korea likes it.
- smikhanov 9y agoMost of the products you see in this book are specifically manufactured to be sold in shops where foreign tourists are taken. Tourists have virtually no access to the shops ordinary Koreans would go, and the opposite is also true: ordinary Koreans in most cases would simply not be allowed entry to the shop for foreigners, and they would have no Western currency to use in those stores anyways. So the English on all labels is easy to explain: people making that book mostly had access to a specially prepared versions of any product.
- bane 9y agoIf you want to see the most fascinating look at how things work in North Korea, at least in Pyongyang for a foreign diplomat, I highly recommend watching videos made by Jaka Parker. He lives there with his family and, though it is through his specific lens, you get to see some of the more well known stores that you can spot on google maps, but from the inside. How the purchase process works, how stores are layed out and so on. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzvCf_q10UZkUJE0lOav0ag https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzvCf_q10UZkUJE0lOav0ag https://www.instagram.com/jakaparker/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/jakaparker/?hl=en https://jakaparker.blogspot.com/ https://jakaparker.blogspot.com/ Here's one of my favorites, Jaka goes to buy a flashlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeBtSnFeA18 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeBtSnFeA18
- kmc059000 9y agoI also found it strange and surprising, especially with how prominent the English is on the labels. If it is due to being sold in foreign markets, which most likely have competition, then the point of the labeling not being used to promote the product due to lack of competition seems to be somewhat contradictory. Although the point about the labeling supporting North Korea being the best Korea still stands. I wonder if designers or approvers consider and balance the domestic and foreign labeling goals. I also wonder how many North Korean's know English and what they think about the English being on the labels.
- dzonga 9y agoBeautiful designs
- kmc059000 9y agoI agree. I find them better than many modern American designs. Compare the North Korean peas to a modern American label NK: https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/centaur-wp/creativereview/prod/content/uploads/2017/10/040-green-peas-label.jpg https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/centaur-wp/creativerev... American: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnVKbiU6p_8TiMXr__eKZ8WkBzKVjrbAdyc7HLJWv9Qag9t3f8zg https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnVKbi...
- Randgalt 9y agoThe lack of any mention that the DPRK is a murderous dictatorship that is starving its people to death is disturbing. This piece makes it seem like the DPRK is just another country with a quirky culture.
- threeseed 9y agoIt's not starving its people to death though. Many people are on the edge of poverty, sure, but you will find exactly the same thing in USA, South Africa, Phillipines etc. I have been to Pyongyang and driven though country areas in North Korea so I've seen how good and bad it is. The human rights abuses are what is truly shocking but again some of the things that go on in China, USA, Phillipines, Israel/Palestine for example are also truly shocking.
- Randgalt 9y agoTo compare the DPRK to first world nations such as the USA is beyond the pale. I can't even comprehend this.
- FreakyT 9y agoRelevant Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
- 4WIW 9y agoHow's that "not starving"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_famine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_famine
- kmicklas 9y ago"1994 to 1998"
- bitwize 9y agoNice try, Mr. Kim.
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- rubyfan 9y agoThe designs remind me on 1950-1960s US advertising styles.
- notaboutdave 9y agoNK seems like a living time capsule of that era.
- girzel 9y agoNick Bonner, the author of the book reviewed in the article, once ran (still runs?) Koryo Studio[1] in Beijing, which carries a bunch of North Korean art and "stuff". I once bought a slim volume of film theory there, by Kim Jong-il. It had been translated into English, but was still almost literally unintelligible. [1]: http://koryostudio.com/ http://koryostudio.com/
- nonbel 9y agoI feel like more and more often I am clicking on pictures and cannot zoom in enough to be satisfied with the detail (here I cannot read the captions). Is this something that is happening? Is it becoming standard to use lower resolutions for some reason?
- santaclaus 9y agoLooks like the labels in the grocery store on The Handmaid's Tale.
- ajuc 9y agoIt seems all communist regimes were alike :) Some packagins from communist Poland: https://www.google.pl/search?q=prl+opakowania&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwik9b_W_d_WAhWJ7hoKHbyODC4Q_AUICigB&biw=1396&bih=698#imgrc=_ https://www.google.pl/search?q=prl+opakowania&safe=off&sourc...
- Larrikin 9y agoI found it rather annoying the article lead up to a modernizing of the packaging and how it has changed over time, with basically no examples of anything that shows change.
- gbog 9y agoNorth Korea is a good inverting mirror of our modern societies, and there is always something of inspiration in the diametrically opposite. I, for one, would welcome a brandless packaging of most products, where a pack of coffee would just be a dark brown folded paper with "coffee" written on it. Same with sugar, yogurt, butter, etc. We are brainwashed into believing that sugar X is different from sugar Y but it is the same thing with different packaging, often produced in the same lines in the same factories. Muji is a successful Japanese brandless shop where I get my clothes. We have generics drugs that are less expensive. I think a brandless Walmart would be successful too, for those who refuse to be brainwashed.
- fiblye 9y agoThe ironic thing about Muji is everything I come across there costs 50-100% more than branded products I see elsewhere. Single serving packets of curry for 800 yen? Basic shirts for 3000 yen? No thanks.
- gbog 9y agoI live in Beijing and there, for the few I know (because I never shop elsewhere), clothes in Muji are good quality, simple functional design, and relatively cheap.
- sjellis 9y ago"Muji is a successful Japanese brandless shop where I get my clothes. We have generics drugs that are less expensive. I think a brandless Walmart would be successful too, for those who refuse to be brainwashed." This is one of the appeals of Marks & Spencer, who are one of the last survivors of the old British department stores. They sell clothes and food, all almost entirely their own-brand products, which are not cheap but are good quality. You can go into an M&S and buy essentials just by collecting the things on your list, without ever having to choose between brands.
- rtpg 9y agoMuji is a pretty fun case in irony. No brand markings but super obvious that things come from it due to its unique style.
- ubittibu 9y agoI’m more suprised at the english descriptions in every product and at the fact the author seems not ever notice them.