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Monday, January 31, 2011

Classic Minimilist Advertising: Richelieu Tea Tin

Years ago my dad owned a small grocery store in a town of about 1500 people.  On some mornings I would have to unload the delivery truck and restock the empty sections of our shelves; looking at the different types of soup cans and cereal boxes as I filled the empty spaces. I'd study the different typestyles and color printing techniques, always taking notice when companies made a change in their packaging design.

That probably explains part of the reason I decided to make commercial art my career, as well as my fondness for good package design.

I came across this tin while visiting a friend lately, and he was nice enough to let me take it home to get some photos of it.



The design is simple, but very eye-catching and well balanced.  The orange and black contrast each other, while the silver pulls everything together.

One side has a classic geisha done in well drawn line art, while the other side has what appears to be a worker harvesting tea.  The styles of the two art pieces differ slightly with one having gradient shading suggesting they are by two separate artists, but the leaves at the bottom bear a resemblance tying them together.

I'd like to know what year this comes from.

The Artist who created Maus also created Garbage Pail Kids?

When I was kid, the Pulitzer Prize winning graphic Maus really struck a nerve with me.  It was an interesting viewpoint of the German invasion into Poland through the eyes of animals, specifically mice and cats instead of Jews and Germans. 



Written and illustrated by Art Spiegelman,  the books narrative bases itself on interviews Spiegelman conducted with his father about his personal experience during the Holocaust.   The illustrations carry so much depth and deal with such serious events; you can't helped but me moved by its candid view of one of history's worst tragedies.

That's why when I found out Speigelman also created Garbage Pail Kids in the 80's, I was kind of flabergasted.
Even though I'm a fan of both, I can't think of two creations that seem more opposite.