SWEETISH: A Swedish take on packaging design

The day was magic. I started off Östermalms Saluhall, through some of the coolest interior shops in Stockholm to Skansen - so idyllic it might have as well been set in Bullerbyn. Frozen to the bone, at around 4:40PM I found myself at Nordiska Museet. At this point I didn't care about much else than my (purple) toes, but as soon as they unfroze I crossed the gates of "Supermarket" - the ultra cool exhibition set designed by Joann Tan Studio, a new add to my (ever growing) internship list. 

Socker is a beautiful presentation on sugar eating society focused on all aspects of sweet: Luxury, Every Day Food and Health Hazard. An educational journey (or, as in my case, run) ends with a store mock up, so marvelous and pink that it would make it into Barbie-world Architectural Digest in no time. Custom designed packages seem to be anchored in vintage Sockerbolaget wrappings, honoring minimalistic (almost pedantic) approach, sans serif lettering and minimum sign of human touch. They could have been drafted by designapackage.com generator. They could have been sold in IKEA. So is it some sort of anti-capitalism or national praise gesture? I'd rather see it as a statement against the  photo-obsessed culture and over Photoshopped reality we live in. So why not go back to times before Photoshop and make something nice for a change? Looking around Supermarket I wouldn't worry it won't sell. 

Exhibition closes on  September 27th. Go see it if you have a chance.

Photos source: Nordiska Museet