One Man’s Junk is Another Man’s Treasure

As creatives, we must constantly be on the lookout for inspiration. So many of our ideas come from the things we expose ourself to whether it’s travels, meals out with friends or little things we come across on a routine shopping trip. With the internet, there is an infinite amount of visuals we can tap into for ideas, but sometimes it’s better to go after things more tangible.

Bob Gill, one of the original founders of Pentagram Design, and an original Mad Men said that if you want to design for a dry cleaner, then you need to go to a dry cleaners. In other words, get up from the screen and get your ideas from the real world. One of the biggest advocates for getting out in the world is designer Aaron Draplin from Draplin Design Company. He loves to go junking—he travels across America and hits up small town flea markets and antique shops looking for design inspiration. He takes massive amounts of photos of his junk treasures and posts them online, and he’s been known to buy a few things as well.

Last week, I went on a creative adventure at a local antique market with my coworker. We decided to channel our inner Draplins and reach back into history for some design ideas. What we found were definitely treasures. Old things had so much more craftsmanship to them compared to now. Labels were hand lettered, signs were hand lettered, packaging was sturdier and less disposable.

We’re going to make our own photo library and draw on it when we need ideas. It was great to get away from the computer and let the creative juices flow.

Read an interview with Aaron Draplin about his junking adventures here.

I love this Wheaties tin. The colors are so vibrant and the typography is beautiful. Crazy to think cereal used to come in a tin instead of a box.

I loved this label found on a travel trunk. The lettering and illustrations are fantastic.

Beautiful hand lettering on this label on a post office machine.

Who knew coffee came in jars at one point? Great typography!

This was my favorite package that I found. The hand lettering and illustrations are stunning.