For over the years, Glodok has become the face of Chinese diaspora in Jakarta. From traditional medicine to everyday goods, the local community live from its trade-based activity. While trying to adapt with its surroundings, they still hold some of their belief on Chinese superstitions, such as lucky numbers and positive words for their store.
When Chinese names were banned from store signage, the common Indonesian names used here tend to sound motivating, such as “Kemenangan”, “Hidup”, “Sinar”, or “Terang”. This kind of optimistic wording can also be found on alley names in Glodok. Inspired by the typical graphic styles of Chinese stores in Glodok, we try to incorporate the history, passion and culture of Glodok’s local community to this collaboration work with Footurama for the 'City Pack Series’.
Fusing numerology into the design development is one of the key ideas in the process. The chosen numbers are 57 & 58, lima tujuh lima delapan in Indonesian, which is shortened to the optimism-driven “MA JU MA PAN”. The technique at work is manual hand-painting, adapted from the sign paintings seen at the stores.
MOON CAKE PIN — Inspired by this particular confection that originates from the Chinese culture, merging and making up the confectionery in Glodok.
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*Image courtesy of Microsoft. All rights reserved
