Japanese Cardboard Box Design

1 Mar 2007 Category: Features, Graphics, Japan

Japanese Cardboard Box Design

Mikan are small Japanese oranges. So please welcome friendly Mr Mikan proudly standing by his logo. Wonderful and funny Japanese cardbox design!

Nearly every day you go the green grocer’s – but did you ever take a closer look at the superb designed boxes the groceries are offered in? The fruits and veggies in Japan surely look pretty similar to that of any other country, but its packaging certainly doesn’t! PingMag went shopping and presents you a quick photo scrapbook of the eye-catching cardboard boxes you can discover around town.

Written by James Bowskill

Photos by James and Uleshka

Cardbox Colour

Perhaps fruit packers in Japan have a larger printing budget for their boxes, or maybe it’s just their cheerful disposition? Anyhow, Japanese boxes in general are pretty colourful, like all sorts of package design seems to gone wild sometimes over here! Just remember PingMag’s recent feature on snack characters. If we approach the bigger surface of cardboard boxes for example, it is the time of the Mikan season right now: the supermarkets are filled with loads of orange and yellow boxes to carry all those small Japanese oranges. As the season changes, the colours change, too: from pink and green watermelon boxes in summer to red boxes of apples in autumn.

Here we go for the first round of colourful displays:


Note the ornament on the side that plays with the orange shape. Awesome!

A simpler approach with a tidy lay-out.

Wow! I really like the blue and orange, and the way they’ve left a border around each element to become outlined in the cardboard brown.

I particularly love the picture on this one - it reminds me of illustrations in kids’ ABC books.

A stack of boxes outside a supermarket in Kyoto. I wonder if they were purposely stacked symmetrically, or it was just a pleasant graphical coincidence?

The same boxes from the side - three completely different designs for the same fruit.

Lovely pink boxes of Hassaku, a type of sour Japanese oranges.

Typography

Of course, Japanese boxes have writings in Japanese on them – and this does spice your weekly shopping trip that little bit up. Quick lesson: there are three different alphabets used. Kanji is usually applied for places and company names, Hiragana for most native Japanese fruits and vegetables and my personal favourite Katakana for traditionally non-Japanese things like this splendid cabbage:


It may just be a cabbage, but have you ever seen a more sporty, dynamic vegetable logo? Rather reminds me of the logo for Gatorade.

A box of lettuces from Shizuoka

Some onions…

… and the back of a box of chestnuts.

Lovely font here for these apples from Aomori!

Packaging Icons


This little box is proudly saying that it is staple free!

But fruit and veggie packaging design is not only about typography, of course. In addition, there are lots of cute little interesting icons, characters and signs you can find on many boxes. First we get to the icons and signs: Note this nice personification – the friendly box guy!


Whereas this box has been recycled…

… and this badge means the produce has come from somewhere really tasty!

Cardbox Characters

Of course it wouldn’t be Japan if there weren’t some characters on some of these boxes. And whilst they’re not as surreal as our recent drunken panda seals, they’re still pretty cute!

But the vegetables aren’t left out with this smiley little eggplant.

I know this is neither fruit nor vegetables, but it’s still very cute: a box you receive from the movers to put all your things into – on time.

Close up: note the instructions on the bottom - tape the flaps, don’t fold!

And why are we showing you those images of cardboard boxes for moving in the end??? Because PingMag has just moved all their stuff to their new office in Harajuku, overlooking Yoyogi Park. Congratulations!!!

PingMag’s books and all sorts of stuff wrapped in boxes from their local grocery store - environmentally friendly and ‘in style’! This one says ’spinach’

Next time you need to move homes or offices, ask your local grocery store for some spare boxes! That way you actually get to ‘talk’ to the people around you, save the planet more than you think and - look at the things around you! Someone put some time and love into those designs and as for those Japanese cardboard boxes - they are certainly beautiful!!!

99 Comments

  1. I love cute boxes. If you thought the grocery boxes were cute .. wait till you check out their stationery. Ah.. Pingmag should do an extensive writeup on Japanese stationery.. you can quote me on this. :)

    Posted by: Maki on March 1st, 2007 at 10:49 pm

  2. The designs of the boxes look great
    and cool website/blog
    I enjoy it always

    Good success
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    Posted by: Millus on March 1st, 2007 at 11:40 pm

  3. love the pink box of hassaku from wakayama.
    nice catch!

    Posted by: curious pig on March 2nd, 2007 at 12:34 am

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    Posted by: Nicholas on March 2nd, 2007 at 2:58 am

  5. why are Japanese designs always so cool!? the only thing that’s similar in Canada is the aridamikan orange box.

    Posted by: Ben on March 2nd, 2007 at 4:15 am

  6. I wish I could go to Japan to see these boxes in person!

    Great POst!

    Posted by: JIm on March 2nd, 2007 at 8:41 am

  7. Sweet report!
    There’s allways stuff to tells us on the other side of the planet ;)

    Posted by: pricca on March 2nd, 2007 at 9:18 am

  8. I’m sure the boxes were stacked symmetrically on purpose! Attention to detail at every level…
    The cool thing is that it’s easy to have these boxes for your very own! Supermarkets usually have a stack of free boxes for the customers to take… I routinely pick them up to send packages.

    Posted by: selena on March 2nd, 2007 at 11:00 am

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  10. Japanese designs are so cool, because they care about details and small unnecesary things. Paying attention to small things gives finally excellent product. Thats way we drive toyotas, and listen to sonys and denons and making photos by canons or nikons.

    Posted by: oxipoxi on March 2nd, 2007 at 3:53 pm

  11. Interesting article. I have a few photos of cardboard boxes in my flickr account too.

    Posted by: Ben Bullock on March 2nd, 2007 at 7:54 pm

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  13. as always a very interesting article… I love japanese design.. are so original

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    We have a supermaket in Miami (Florida) called Publix that has wonderful store-brand packaging.

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  22. When I moved away from Japan I did recycle boxes from my grocers. However, I got styrofoam boxes not cardboard ones. I still have the styrofoam box with the Japanese on the lid proclaiming すいか (watermelon) in a beautiful calligraphic font. I also got small wooden boxes from liquor stores that were used to crate sake or scotch.

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  23. I love this stuff from japan. Sad thing is, it’s not Japan’s idea. The U.S. used to have such great graphics for such simple things back in the day.. but now we’re lazy.

    I challenge all american designers to find a mundane produce logo, revamp it, and get the company to use it!

    In fact I challange all designers to do so wherever they see the mundane! =)

    Posted by: Chris on March 8th, 2007 at 3:43 pm

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