beyondwords would like to welcome our newest guest blogger, Lisa Shaw. Lisa earned a degree in Professional Writing from Michigan State University and a certificate in book publishing from the University of Denver.  Lisa is currently teaching English to students in Busan, South Korea. This guest post is the first in a two-part series of design inspiration.

Be sure to also check out our In the Workplace interview with Lisa!

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On my first full day in Korea, I set out on a mission for apartment essentials. For anyone who’s done their fair share of traveling, you can probably guess my methods for acquiring said items — deducing all I could from the pictures on the packaging and hoping for the best.  Soap and laundry detergent were easy enough (women smelling clothes, women smelling their hands), and really any hollow cylindrical item can be used as a trash can.

Upon the realization that we needed bleach, however… well, I was anticipating a headache and wishing I had brought my “Say it Right in Korean!” translator book to Family Mart. But then, just as the clouds parted and the angels sang, I saw — Clorox! Absolutely none of the packaging was in English, but there was no doubt in my mind that the white bottle with the simple blue and red label contained one of the most powerful cleaning agents known to man. After adding the bottle to my cart, I silently praised Clorox for their brilliant branding that I had never consciously noticed before.

That said … this  set of photos is comprised of a few examples of the typography, logos, and branding that I’ve noticed while walking and shopping around the streets of Busan.

1) matching bag & box, perfect packaging for sweet barley bread (a delicacy of Gyeoungju).. you can’t see the details, but the beige background is also textured with flecks of light brown, the same color as the barley image;

2) signage that works in all languages… particularly effective is the PB (Paris Baguette) + Eiffel Tower — whenever you see the Tower, you know tasty pastries are nearby;

3) a bar that uses great fonts;

4) I have no idea what this logo is for, but I love the shapes and colors;

5) all neighborhoods in Busan have uniquely designed manhole coverings — this is one of my favs, in Nampodong;

6) Clorox bleach, SoKo-style.