Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Pee & Poo

I was going through the design book Dos Logos by Robert Klanten, a book solely dedicated to showing various logos from all different companies and media types from corporate to design, and I stumbled upon the company Pee & Poo. For a company that provides products for children and adults using the ideas of human waste, which is usually a repulsive subject, they managed to make their branding scheme attractive. Their logo is a picture of a teardrop-shaped ‘pee child’ and a fat teardrop-shaped ‘poo child’ using the respective yellow and brown colors and the title Pee & Poo in between which also uses the same color scheme. In theory this should be bizarre, but I find their characters to be so cute and striking. Instead of being repulsed by them, I am intrigued about what their company makes and I wanted to investigate further. Any company with this kind of subject, but with such an appealing brand must be something worth looking at. Turns out their website goes further and in their home page makes a pee and poo rainbow with their yellow and brown color scheme. Who would have thought that the pretty idea of a rainbow would be reestablished into the unpleasant idea of the waste.  However, yet again they manage to make it look endearing, those Swedes are always making interesting design work.
http://www.peeandpoo.com

18 comments:

  1. Sheri, I cracked up when I saw this website. To think that you can brand a clothing store based on human waste of pee and poo is really interesting to me and one that I wouldn't have thought would be successful.

    I do think it is weird that you can by a stuffed animal of a pee drop and poo for your child. I can't really get passed the fact that peoples' children cuddle up at night with not a teddy bear but a drop of pee or poo.

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  2. I think that what was most interesting about this is that the designer is Swedish and that she really had not planned on making the products. I guess the saying that you can market anything is true!

    I think that the fact that it can be used for potty training is a way to make this educational design.

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  3. Ha, never thought I'd see this type of cute potty aesthetic outside of Japan (who I swear to the Gods can cute-ify anything). There's something similar going on with these pins and these charms on Etsy. (You can even get them in different colors!)

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  4. Uhmmm, right. Urine and fecal matter turned plush and cutesy. Okay. I honestly do not know what to say (not that I am saying its bad).

    Sheri gets my nod for "Most Provocative Post Title". And I do agree those Swedes do make some good design over there.

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  5. Haha, to me this is pretty gross, but I definitely know some people who would buy into this!

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  6. Like Lili said, and as it explains on their website, these are great for potty-training. I do a lot of babysitting, and if the kids saw this, they'd absolutely want them right away. It's similar in idea to the book "Everybody Poops", which is also used for potty training.

    Plus, little kids don't have the same thought process as we do as far as "don't talk about that!!" (until they have heard that statement from adults many, many times) so these would be just another toy for them.

    I think it's interesting that (from their website) "Their design idiom not only appeals to children but also flirts with the adult designer toys market."

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  7. This post is really funny/cute. Who would have though you could create a successful product out of pee and poop. Really sparked an interest in the field of product design, so thanks :)

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  8. I cant really get into this topic being cute. But its definitely a topic that Ive never seen any other designer tackle in the same manner!

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  9. I remember how excited you were when you came across this in the logo book. I feel the logo is awesome, and it does connect well with the target audience.

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  10. I had to look further into this, its hilarious. I can imagine giving a little kid these toys or having them wear these clothes except for a good laugh. But the characters are kinda cute if you didn't know what they represent.

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  11. I wonder if they've sold any of their stationary...

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  13. this is hysterical, good potty humor. but I agree with katie and lili in thinking it is a great example of design for children at this age- its obviously something they can visually connect to and recognize, which i think for kids is starting to become important when they are around this age.

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  14. haha! Rare to see this sort of thing pop up, but all in all quirky

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  15. Haha. I think it's great that design is capable of transforming something repulsive, into something cute and cuddly.

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  16. Haha! I think this is adorable in a very different way. I defiantly was not expecting this when I pulled up the website. You are right, they did manage to make the branding attractive. The graphics are perfect for a company that is targeting parents with small children!

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  17. It is odd that such a concept actually made it to reality. I find it rather funny in a twisted sort of way, especially seeing it on children.

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