Disgusting Yet Delightful Design
(not for the squeamish...)
When I saw this, my first reaction was “Oh my goodness! That is so ingenious!” My second reaction shortly after was, “...gross.”
I think that one of the things that works the best for this product is the shock value. This is not exactly the norm. I mean, this is stationary for crying out loud. It is stereotypically supposed to be peppered with geometric shapes, company logos, or butterflies, right? No one (well, very few) usually use zombies on their letterheads. The thought of blood squirting across an official letter does not generally enter the average person’s mind. At least not purposefully. There have been incidents with letter openers however... or exacto knives...
The thing that impresses me most about this stationary set is the interaction between the design and the office supplies. I am sure that most students, especially most art students, have drawn pictures incorporating the holes in their notebook paper or tracing around the staples in our homework. It makes me wonder if the creators, Jacques Pense and his design team, have done that before. Their work is certainly taking the concept to an entirely new level. The fact that they used zombies is also a bonus. While I am not a zombie’s biggest fan (never met one I liked), the growing craze among society for zombies makes this product more interesting to a larger number of people. I can’t imagine what one would use this stationary for. Perhaps if one were making a film about zombies, pulling a joke on some poor unsuspecting teacher, or working in a morgue that liked humor then it would be fine. I doubt that the average person’s boss would be very elated to be looking at blood and brains every time he read a memo. I am guessing that this was a special event project. It was created for NBC UNIVERSAL Global Networks in Germany. What they needed it for, I could not find. Whatever the need, I am glad that it was designed. Overall, it was gruesome yet creative, inspiring and memorable.
Oh yeah. I found this on Behance.net. This is an amazing website with thousands of professional designers posting their work. It encompasses every aspect of the art world from advertising design, to music, to claymation and puppetry! They even post job offerings. I would encourage any artist to visit and browse through the different categories. It is amazing.
I'll admit it - I'm a squeemish little girl as much as I wish it were not true. So this is me removing my gag reflex and looking at it more intently.
ReplyDeleteIs it simply genius? Absolutely. But I wonder what the point is - it is a very narrow audience, but maybe that is okay. It's detailed and creative and were it not about zombies I'm sure I wouldn't be able to shut up about it!
Okay, this is awesome and I want some. Not because I necessarily find it to be something that I want to look at every time I open my notebook, but because of the reactions I would get from people around me. So fun.
ReplyDeleteJust like Amelia, I'm slightly confused as to what real purpose of this is, but whatever it was I'm assuming it ended up being highly effective. I would buy this.
Ingenious. Whoever thought of this deserves an award of some kind. Well, that might be going too far. But at least a pat on the back. Or a firm handshake. Or high five.
ReplyDeleteDesign-wise this is great. Actual usefulness, as previously stated, would probably be limited. But hey. It's the art world. Who says all of it has to be useful?
Well it's very well designed, I think. Definitely a lot of fun. Like Megan said I don't really know what the point of it is, but then this isn't an advertising campaign, so it's probably fine in its context. I'm sure whatever audience it was designed for got a kick out of it.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I want to say the designer has watched one too many "Saw" films... but... the problem he was trying to solve was for Germany's "horror channel" So, I guess he successfully solved the problem. Good design always has a point or purpose interlaced within it. The question I ask is, does the purpose justify it's rattling content? If the purpose is simply to rattle in general, then I'd say a higher purpose is needed to for it's justification. But then again, isn't the nature of a Horror Channel to rattle? Gosh, this design is tricky...
ReplyDeleteYuck... Not a big fan of the blood and guts... One of the many reasons I stayed clear of the medical industry.
ReplyDeleteI don't have much else to add to this. No matter how much I dislike this design, the shock value always wins out. It got people's attention. It served it's purpose. Now, whether or not people will buy it... that is a totally different question