JAPAN: DRIED OCEAN IN A COLORFUL BAG
author: Jana Nikolić
November 2006

translation into English: Danijela Tomazović
November 2009


After the feeling of joy due to the package that arrived from Japan calms down, and besides enormous gratitude for Irena's, Setsuko's and Mateja's effort to make sure the fresh cookies with red bean paste reach me in time, I'm wondering whether I am more delighted by the essence of the ocean in these packages of food additives or the packages themselves. Their design does not stick to the rules we know and is applied without thinking in everyday shaping of food products.

First of all, and as the point closest to our typometric topics, they often use clear calligraphic lettering and thus the simplest packages get energetic, subtle and delicate tone, to which the combination of colors changes context and gives traditional or modern spirit. In such condensed living circumstances, with many people in small space, with micro apartments and capsules in which the businessman can sleep over when passing by, I suppose that it is more than desirable for the packages to be completely clear in the array of many other products, with basic data simply positioned. In our circumstances, the products still fight for predominance on shelves with loudness, and not with dignity and confidence in quality, including subtle dosage of humor.

I chuckled to the simple stylizations on these few packages: little pan, fish, recycled carving with wave motif (without holding off red color), so cute little girl holding the fish of her own height (!?), cook with distinctive haircut and with head ribbon energetically making the condiment, and colorful family of algae. In Japan, being “sweet”, maybe more like “enchanting”, that is, “cute” or “kawaii” in Japanese is a virtue. In everyday visual communication it is completely normal to see this “girly” spirit and this is something design is not running away from. Although it is equally of a men's world, maybe even more expressed than in some other places, feminine illustrations are not given negative connotation. Design is not made “manly” with tough illustration or typography, but with the overall impression created by all unit elements.

Although the concept of this written and spoken language is completely strange to us, different fonts (whose variation is absolutely equal to the one we use) are clearly recognized. In these few examples only we recognize different display fonts, some similar to Times, but also some obviously refined designer fonts similar to HelveticaNeue font or maybe Gill in some SmallCapsBold version.

The way colors are used is so different than the western way, that we often wonder whether the can in the front of us contains orange juice or fruit yoghurt. Since there is no caption in English, you're mostly relying on your own instinct, and as far as I am concerned, when I'm facing some machine with cans in Tokyo for the first time, I will not even care. All of it will be one wonderful game of luck. Total zen! You can expect the story about Japanese cans soon.

Orange and blue, lime green and black, no limitations and “non-digestible colors”! How liberating, isn't it!

Theme: JAPAN
Tokyo Design Week 2006
Refreshing Drinks