When you’re in Guangzhou, China it doesn’t take very long to get the feeling that Monokuro Boo, a character brand consisting of a pair of minimalist cartoon pigs (one black, one white), has just usurped Hello Kitty as the pop icon of choice for the locals. Monokuro Boo has taken over Chinese fashion accessories, umbrellas, shower caps, windshields, pillows and any other thing with a fairly flat or round surface. Three main reasons for this:
1) the pigs are quite cute,
2) they’re simple to draw and can therefore be drawn on anything,
3) they’re simple to replicate and can therefore be pirated by anybody.
The case of Monokuro Boo in China brings up some interesting issues for minimalism in China. The art and challenge in minimalism is the representation of an object with the least amount of detail as possible. Minimalism is all about stripping something down to its fundamental core. In real world practice this usually means that while this is very difficult creative work, the physical manifestation of it is both beautiful and very easy to copy.
Monokuro Boo’s tagline is "simple is best." But… will piracy change this sentiment?
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Sorry, but the pigs are made by San-X and not Sanrio..
November 16th, 2006 at 10:40 am
That’s right actually. Though I’m quite sure that San-X is a sister company of Sanrio (but please correct me if I’m wrong). I know the girl who owns the Sanrio license in the Philippines and she automatically has rights to all San-X characters. That being said, just figured that “Sanrio” would be more recognizable and so decided to throw that in as the title.
November 16th, 2006 at 11:27 am
No San-X is not a “sister” company of Sanrio, although the names are similar, they are 2 distinct entities.
November 17th, 2006 at 6:10 pm
oh, i thought SAn-x was some kind of a part of Sanrio. Does anyone of you know how 2 subscribe to the Strawberry News magAzine? thanks
eMail me,
kyline-philippines
kitty_kyline@hellokitty.com
February 2nd, 2007 at 6:03 am
oli
soy fanatica de sanrioo
y + de hello kitty encontre lindos a esos cerdios
por eso bye beye
August 15th, 2007 at 9:29 am
I bought a pen set — and piracy must be about — for my slogan is “Simple is Bes” I got it at the local Hong Kong Supermarket, which, at the front has a “boutique” that sells all manner of figures, trinkets, replica coins and other crap, but the pencils, erasers and leads are what have me frequent the place. The rubber grippy part does not feel at all genuine, with a slicker finish, closer to a plastic than a standard grippy material.
March 9th, 2008 at 9:53 pm