packaging as content

December 9, 2009

Kleenex Christmas Packs

More of those prism-shaped Kleenex boxes for Target Stores—the same construction as those “Perfect Slice of Summer” boxes. (Deconstructed: here.)

The sweet, felted illustrations by Betz White, in this context, turn the the usual idea of a crafted tissue box cover on its head. Toilet paper cozies and tissue box covers, have long been a staple of middle-American craft projects—(I remember my stepfather’s mother in Louisville having one of: these)—and the motivation for disguising packaged products has a lot to do with the public’s (former) ambivalence about keeping branded products out in the open. (See: Branding in your home)

Betz White’s project for Kleenex brings this idea full circle. Like
a crafty wolf in Christmas sheep’s clothing, each of these “decorator”
boxes proudly wears its faux “hand-crafted” covering, slyly embracing
Grandma’s (now quaint) idea that commercial packaging should not be on
display in your home.

(More pictures, after the fold…)