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VinCenzo in Japan |
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| Ahhhh, Japan. Land of the rising sun. Home of sushi, samurai and subaru. Birthplace of Ichiro. Exporter of Pokemon. |
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| Japan has always been one of our favorite countries. No other place on earth has managed to fuse ancient Eastern tradition with Western commercialization in quite the same way, and the result is a completely unique sense of style and design in the world market. With this is mind, we set out to see what was new in the world of Japanese packaging. |
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Nice Pagoda
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"Japanese packaging is really typified by two primary styles," explains VinCenzo CEO, Keith Armato. "First off, you have the classic design, which is influenced by the traditional Japanese watercolors, prints, and other works of art whose techniques and design elements have been passed down for centuries." |
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Keith & Joe inspect tins in an Osaka department store while a sales clerk gives us the deer in headlights look.
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"Then, you have the more modern Japanese design, which is very clean, very simple... minimalist. You almost never see photographs or four color artwork, and the color palettes, though typical to the Japanese eye, look very distinctive to us. Also, the Japanese tend to go out of their way to create unusual and unique shapes to give their packaging an especially distinctive look. Of course, the modern design frequently incorporates very traditional elements, so that that packaging, in many ways, very much reflects the culture." |
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Typical Japanese packaging... clean design, simple artwork, unique shapes.
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And one of our favorite cultures, at that. Certain VinCenzo employees (who shall remain nameless) have a soft spot for all things Japanese, so naturally the trip wasn't all work. The food sections of the department stores were a favorite browsing place, both for tins and grub alike. Take the escalator down from women's fashion, and you're in a bustling underground market where vendors hawk goods at the top of their lungs. |
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Ahhh, but which one is the shrine?
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The Ginza Ito-ya in Tokyo is your best bet for stationery and office supplies... all nine floors of it. And once the stores closed, the Namba district of Osaka was by far our favorite night spot. Restaurants, video arcades and clubs stretch in every direction as far as you can see, all bathed in the light of the massive neon billboards that cover every building. All in all, as packaging research trips go, Japan is always one of the most unique and enjoyable ones, and we hope to be back soon. Well... as soon as our credit cards recover, anyway. |
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The neon of the Namba district in Osaka... modern, but not exactly Western.
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Gift Ideas from the Big Vincenz... |
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It must have been a bumper crop this year, because the price of Japanese gift cantaloupes has plummeted to a mere 10,000 yen, or about $80 U.S., so get them while they're cheap!
(Don't laugh. We've seen then as high as $250. No joke.)
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