WORDS BY ALYSSA MERCANTE ∙ DESIGN BY MARTIN FLORES
A visual journey through North Korea, where graphic design exists in a self-made vacuum. We’ve got five key themes that define its distinctive style.
Honor Your
Supreme Leader with Glorious Design!
Made in North Korea, by Nicholas Bonner, published by Phaidon
Practicality. Purity. Beauty. According to Nicholas Bonner, author of Made in North Korea: Graphics from Everyday Life in the DPRK, these are the pillars of North Korean graphic design. His book, which features a variety of North Korean product labels, postcards, and other found objects, is the result of 25 years of Bonner travelling throughout the country. It offers a rare peek into the imagery of a nation virtually devoid of Western influence. The graphic design is vibrant but practical, steeped in North Korean pride (depicting historical references or famous monuments) but often including English words to exude a sense of luxury. With the help of Bonner’s book, and our interview with him, we’ve identified five key trends that define the visual history of this mysterious nation.
A canned food
label for beef
A watercolor landscape of the Red Flag train along the east coast of Korea.
illustrations
Some of the older examples from Bonner’s collection feature watercolor paintings that seem to have come from a bygone era. That’s because until the mid-2000s, designers drew labels by hand. “That’s the period of graphic design I love,” Bonner admits. In the early 2000s, economic reforms opened up the market to product-based competition. At the same time, digital photography hit the design scene. The combination resulted in the phasing out of hand-drawn design in favor of computer-generated imagery.
Collection Nicholas Bonner
Collection Nicholas Bonner
Canned chicken featured in its natural form and on the plate.
A box of ginseng
candies featuring a
painted ginseng root.
Collection Nicholas Bonner
Collection Nicholas Bonner
UTILITy
What we call “advertising” in the West is described as “promotion” in North Korea. “For them, it’s actually informative, it’s more telling you what this package is, what’s inside it,” Bonner tells us, “In America it would be ‘if you eat this product, you’re going to be taller, sexier to women, cleverer, brighter, faster.’ In North Korea it’s ‘these are matches and they work.’ You know what you’re getting—No frills, no fuss, no empty promises.
Deep red and sky blue make a canned apple container a vibrant piece of art.
Collection Nicholas Bonner
VIBRANce
As design methods shifted from hand-drawn to computer-aided, North Korean designers have remained loyal to the country’s traditional, bold color palettes—likely because every piece of graphic design has to be approved by the state. “The coloring is not what you’d expect from what you hear about North Korea,” says Bonner, “If you look at the traditional colors from North Korea, they’re wild! They’re not frightened of using color. And big blocks of it.”
Each building is instantly recognizable to all Koreans. They represent ’The Revolution’, the rebuilding of the country after the Korean War.
This matchbox has Pyongyang Railway Station emblazoned on it.
Collection Nicholas Bonner
Collection Nicholas Bonner
SYMBOLIsm
The country’s superiority is constantly reinforced visually, with products often featuring iconic landmarks like mountains or historical references that evoke a “recognizable Koreanness.” Emblazoning products with such iconography implies that what is being sold is just as superior as North Korea itself.
The gold exudes elegance, which is only amplified by including English snippets on the packaging.
Bilingual
Collection Nicholas Bonner
Collection Nicholas Bonner
When the Kwangbok Supermarket opened in December 2011, it represented the best shopping experience North Korea had to offer. The three-story market was created in collaboration with a Chinese partner, bringing in foreign products that directly competed with North Korean goods. This competition was a first for the reclusive nation, and directly correlated with dramatic shifts in graphic design—including printing the English language on labels. “It’s partly because, on some products, it makes it look a little bit more other-worldly, and a little bit posh,” Bonner explained.
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When the Kwangbok Supermarket opened in December 2011, it represented the best shopping experience North Korea had to offer. The three-story market was created in collaboration with a Chinese partner, bringing in foreign products that directly competed with North Korean goods. This competition was a first for the reclusive nation, and directly correlated with dramatic shifts in graphic design—including printing the English language on labels. “It’s partly because, on some products, it makes it look a little bit more other-worldly, and a little bit posh,” Bonner explained.
Collection Nicholas Bonner
Collection Nicholas Bonner
english
The gold exudes elegance, which is only amplified by including English snippets on the packaging.
The country’s superiority is constantly reinforced visually, with products often featuring iconic landmarks like mountains or historical references that evoke a “recognizable Koreanness.” Emblazoning products with such iconography implies that what is being sold is just as superior as North Korea itself.
SYMBOLIsm
Collection Nicholas Bonner
Collection Nicholas Bonner
This matchbox has Pyongyang Railway Station emblazoned on it.
Each building is instantly recognizable to all Koreans. They represent ’The Revolution’, the rebuilding of the country after the Korean War.
As design methods shifted from hand-drawn to computer-aided, North Korean designers have remained loyal to the country’s traditional, bold color palettes—likely because every piece of graphic design has to be approved by the state. “The coloring is not what you’d expect from what you hear about North Korea,” says Bonner, “If you look at the traditional colors from North Korea, they’re wild! They’re not frightened of using color. And big blocks of it.”
VIBRANce
Collection Nicholas Bonner
Deep red and sky blue make a canned apple container a vibrant piece of art.
What we call “advertising” in the West is described as “promotion” in North Korea. “For them, it’s actually informative, it’s more telling you what this package is, what’s inside it,” Bonner tells us, “In America it would be ‘if you eat this product, you’re going to be taller, sexier to women, cleverer, brighter, faster.’ In North Korea it’s ‘these are matches and they work.’ You know what you’re getting—No frills, no fuss, no empty promises.
UTILITy
Collection Nicholas Bonner
Collection Nicholas Bonner
A box of ginseng
candies featuring a
painted ginseng root.
Canned chicken featuring it in its natural form and on the plate.
Collection Nicholas Bonner
Collection Nicholas Bonner
Some of the older examples from Bonner’s collection feature watercolor paintings that seem to have come from a bygone era. That’s because until the mid-2000s, designers drew labels by hand. “That’s the period of graphic design I love,” Bonner admits. In the early 2000s, economic reforms opened up the market to product-based competition. At the same time, digital photography hit the design scene. The combination resulted in the phasing out of hand-drawn design in favor of computer-generated imagery.
illustration
A watercolor landscape of the Red Flag train along the east coast of Korea.
A canned food label for beef
Practicality. Purity. Beauty. According to Nicholas Bonner, author of Made in North Korea: Graphics from Everyday Life in the DPRK, these are the pillars of North Korean graphic design. His book, which features a variety of North Korean product labels, postcards, and other found objects, is the result of 25 years of Bonner travelling throughout the country. It offers a rare peek into the imagery of a nation virtually devoid of Western influence. The graphic design is vibrant but practical, steeped in North Korean pride (depicting historical references or famous monuments) but often including English words to exude a sense of luxury. With the help of Bonner’s book, and our interview with him, we’ve identified five key trends that define the visual history of this mysterious nation.
Made in North Korea, by Nicholas Bonner, published by Phaidon
Honor Your Supreme Leader with Glorious Design!
A visual journey through North Korea, where graphic design exists in a self-made vacuum. We’ve got five key themes that define its distinctive style.
WORDS BY ALYSSA MERCANTE ∙ DESIGN BY MARTIN FLORES
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