Thrilling Tape Roll Designs

14 Feb 2008 Category: Features, Graphics, Japan, Products

Thrilling Tape Roll Designs

You might not have the same overseas, but these Japanese gaffer tape rolls reveal a unique pattern inside: Here it is the brand name of manufacturer Ojitac with quite a clever logo.

One day when unsuspectingly buying a common Japanese duct tape at the local Conbini, we glimpsed at the roll‘s inner surface for the first time consciously: There it was, quite a cool logo and a unique font of vibrant purple and orange caught our eyes! Surely, a simple brown paper tube would do, and the plastic packaging of the tape was rather dull by comparison. So, why all the hassle to make such a great pattern, only to be hidden inside an ordinary tube? Today PingMag finds out more about this other side of gaffer taper art.

Written by Ryoko
Translated by Kevin Mcgue

The outside: Some not-so-exciting tape packages…

Having a closer look at the tape market in Japan, we discovered a wide variety of bright designs. One that especially caught our eye was duct tape from Teraoka Tape:

Magnificent blue surrounded by checker and dots: A look inside a Teraoka Tape duct tape roll. Welcome to the “Space Age.”

The variation with a playful anchor: Another product from Teraoka Tape.

Another simple and not too assertive dashing design comes from Nichiban, known for making adhesive bandages and other medical products. The company was founded in the early 20th century, and its classic logo design has not changed since:

Timelessness: Classic logo design of Nichiban’s inside a roll of electric tape.

A very handsome light blue with white contrast for a logo design from Nitto Denko…

…and a similar striped pattern (including a house) in different colours by Nitoms.

The Diatex logo in calm marine tones comes in nice diagonals.

And interesting coloured blocks forming a pattern for Cemedine.

One of our favourites is duct tape from Sliontec with a simple white logo on a red background. The “O” in the Sliontec logo resembles a roll of tape in use, making no qualms about its sole interest. To find out why there is actually a tape role design in the first place, we talked with Yoshihiro Tamura of the Sliontec sales team:

“Once you take your tape out of the package and throw that away, you no longer know what brand tape it is,” Mr. Tamura explained. “So, the inner surface of the cardboard roll is the only part of the product that is visible while the product is used. And, of course, manufacturers want to take advantage of this space to assert their brand name. For example, if one of our products is used on TV and the inside of the roll is shown even for a tiny moment on screen, people would know that it is from our company. Actually, we used to use a lion logo, but now we are using the company name.”

Look closer to make out the special “O:” A striking red and white logo on a roll of duct tape, again from Sliontec. Courtesy of Sliontec.

Sliontec’s previous logo design with the little lion silhouette mark. Courtesy of Sliontec.

Yes, of course! Companies brand themselves with the space they have available. Yoshihiro Tamura told us something more: “In Japan, duct tape is referred to as gum tape, but around the world it is called cloth adhesive tape, or craft tape if it is made out of paper. Gum tape is actually a kind of tape that has to be moistened before being used - like a postage stamp. Even though it is incorrect, I say gum tape when talking to people, otherwise they wouldn’t know what I am talking about.”

Now that he has mentioned it, there really are lots of types of tapes available at art supply stores and hardware stores! We checked out some cloth-based and paper-based tapes and found their looks, and stickiness, were all quite different.


Feel the surface: A sturdy tape with embedded cloth fibres…

… and a paper-based craft tape.

Lots of tape for wrapping, packaging, and decoration!

Colourful vinyl-based tapes.

Rolls of craft tape with images of plywood and brick walls printed on them.

“In the tape industry, we talk about the tack and stickiness of tape,” Tamura explains further. “The tack can be tested by gently pressing a finger to the tape and seeing how gummy it is. The stickiness is the strength with which the tape actually adheres to a surface.”


Lesson 1: One way to test the “tack” or gumminess of tape is with a gentle touch of the finger. Courtesy of Sliontec.

Lesson 2: To test the stickiness, stick the tape to a smooth surface and try to rip it off. Courtesy of Sliontec.

Duct tape in production… Courtesy of Sliontec.

A tape rainbow! Courtesy of Sliontec.

Looking into the world of tape for this article, we discovered tape in a wide colour range, such as for example pink and light blue. Tape as decoration is not only finding its way into window displays for some shops. As we showed you recently with gaffer taper art, there are more artists who use tape as medium:

“Emily, Arielle, and Helen” by Mark Khaisman, a tape art creator.

Another work of art by Mark Khaisman who uses tapes of different colours and opacities.

Next time you look inside a duct tape roll and spot a cute pattern, let us know, please!

65 Comments

  1. Gaffer-Baroque Povera! Sugoy!

    Posted by: Momus on February 14th, 2008 at 8:57 pm

  2. I love duct tapes and you’ve just answered those questions I’ve always had! Thank you.

    Posted by: clara on February 14th, 2008 at 10:51 pm

  3. duck tape is like one of the greatest invention… for artists ! hehe !

    very cool article, i remember you did one also about “tape design” in tokyo it was very interesting (check the archive people!)

    Posted by: francis.t on February 14th, 2008 at 11:02 pm

  4. wonderful
    tape me!

    Posted by: horst on February 14th, 2008 at 11:37 pm

  5. huh?

    Posted by: Anonymous on February 15th, 2008 at 1:44 am

  6. [...] Read more on the “Thrilling World of Tape Design“ [...]

    Posted by: Aap! Global - Alternative Advertising Possibilities - on February 15th, 2008 at 8:25 am

  7. Lovely photography

    Posted by: o.s. on February 15th, 2008 at 3:38 pm

  8. Oh my gosh. I have such a colored tape fetish. This post is awesome. Part of my family were adhesive engineers. And there is a tradition in my family to cover a newly married couple’s car windows with small pieces of colored tape.

    Posted by: Christopher on February 16th, 2008 at 1:24 am

  9. wow great article and wonderful images. any chance of posting higher resolution images? i’m thinking desktop size :P

    Posted by: zoomlines on February 16th, 2008 at 10:42 pm

  10. It’s possible to find some nice graphic surprises when you look inside the things.
    Some Security Patterns of the envelopes are nice too:
    http://olgallopis.es/wordpress/?p=46

    Posted by: Olga on February 18th, 2008 at 8:03 pm

  11. Is there any chance you could post where I could find that plywood tape? I am in love with it.

    Posted by: Reagan G on April 12th, 2008 at 12:42 am

  12. lovely photos

    Posted by: antony on May 20th, 2008 at 4:58 pm

  13. nice and lovely

    Posted by: antony on May 20th, 2008 at 5:00 pm

  14. [...] One day when unsuspectingly buying a common Japanese duct tape at the local Conbini, we glimpsed at the roll‘s inner surface for the first time consciously: There it was, quite a cool logo and a unique font of vibrant purple and orange caught our eyes! Surely, a simple brown paper tube would do, and the plastic packaging of the tape was rather dull by comparison. So, why all the hassle to make such a great pattern, only to be hidden inside an ordinary tube? Read the full story>>> [...]

    Posted by: Kevin Mcgue - Tokyo-Based Journalist & Filmmaker » Thrilling Tape Roll Designs on March 3rd, 2009 at 10:31 pm

  15. [...] Read the English version at PingMag» [...]

    Posted by: Kevin Mcgue | “Thrilling Tape Roll Designs” Translation on April 17th, 2010 at 10:08 pm

  16. lovely photos

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  17. Is there any chance you could post where I could find that plywood tape? I am in love with it.

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