North Korean design
In the autumn of 1993, the British-born landscape architect Nicholas Bonner was persuaded by a friend to join a tour of Pyongyang, just as the reclusive Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was beginning to take its first steps towards accepting western tourists. Boarding a plane from Beijing, Bonner imagined that it would be nothing more than a journey “from one grey communist capital to another”. But even before he had entered North Korea, his attention was caught by the simple condiment pouches handed out during the flight. Here, miniature sugar and pepper packets were adorned with blue and red polka dots, and the outline of a swooping crane (the livery of Air Koryo). Bonner was captivated by the idea that even when subjected to the monotony of North Korea’s bureaucratic decision-making, someone somewhere had still bothered to consider the aesthetics of these little seasoning packages.