
An introduction to North Korean graphic design - kawera
https://www.creativereview.co.uk/north-korea-graphic-design-book-phaidon/
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wodenokoto
It'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?

~~~
smikhanov
Most 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
If 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)

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gbog
North 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.

~~~
kakwa_
I don't know if it's the case in other countries, but in France, most
supermarket chains have their own "budget" brand which are generally quite
explicit/generic in term of packaging.

Here is the label of the tin I ate yesterday for example:

[https://image.ibb.co/kCxA0b/IMG_20171008_094309.jpg](https://image.ibb.co/kCxA0b/IMG_20171008_094309.jpg)

no product name, just the composition of it.

Even the color are meant to associate to the composition (green -> little
peas, pink/red -> bacon, white -> onions, orange -> carrots).

And a realistic photo of what to expect.

~~~
SyneRyder
Australia has Black & Gold brand, not specific to a certain store but always
low priced and bland packaging that is identical for every product (yellow
box, black text).

[http://www.lossofprivacy.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/01/abou...](http://www.lossofprivacy.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/01/aboutusbrands.jpg)

Still not as utilitarian as the Dharma Initiative food packaging in the TV
show Lost, though:

[https://cdn2.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/1313454/l...](https://cdn2.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/1313454/lost-food.0.jpg)

~~~
kw71
Walmart tried this with the 'Price First' brand, I don't watch tv but I
pointed it out to my wife and she said it reminds her of 'Lost'

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girzel
Nick 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/)

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RubenSandwich
This reminds me quite a bit of soviet packaging:
[https://www.google.com/search?q=soviet+packaging&client=safa...](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).
With it's use of state colors and very minimal and straight to the point
designs.

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rubyfan
The designs remind me on 1950-1960s US advertising styles.

~~~
notaboutdave
NK seems like a living time capsule of that era.

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nonbel
I 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?

~~~
rangibaby
It’s hard to find good reproductions of art sometimes because they want you to
buy the book :-)

~~~
nonbel
Thanks, that makes a lot of sense in this case. I'll have to pay more
attention to the context next time it happens.

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ajuc
It seems all communist regimes were alike :)

Some packagins from communist Poland:

[https://www.google.pl/search?q=prl+opakowania&safe=off&sourc...](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=_)

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Larrikin
I 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.

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dzonga
Beautiful designs

~~~
kmc059000
I 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/creativerev...](https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/centaur-
wp/creativereview/prod/content/uploads/2017/10/040-green-peas-label.jpg)

American: [https://encrypted-
tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnVKbi...](https://encrypted-
tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnVKbiU6p_8TiMXr__eKZ8WkBzKVjrbAdyc7HLJWv9Qag9t3f8zg)

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ubittibu
I’m more suprised at the english descriptions in every product and at the fact
the author seems not ever notice them.

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santaclaus
Looks like the labels in the grocery store on The Handmaid's Tale.

