About This Project

Pitching ideas is a good exercise if you can discern the direction of a company’s creative character through observation and research. I was working on some commissioned projects for a company in Canada called Pure Design. They sent me their catalog to help orient me to their creative direction so I could better design for their market. Having completed my assignment, I browsed other sections of their product line and found a one-page selection of mailboxes. It occurred to me that they could use one more design in that product selection.

I began to search for a crossover between concept and function where each was fully expressed without any gratuitous parts. Nothing is more common, and therefore part of our common psyche, as the No. 10 envelope. It’s instantly recognizable based on its folding pattern and triangular sealing flap. Seeing this object, one inherently knows how to use it. Combining this concept with a flip-top mailbox transfers all the knowledge of how to use a No. 10 to the mailbox and makes it instantly understandable and simple to use.

This is a great object that strikes the right balance between whimsy and function.