Frequently Asked Questions

The packaging is real, but the products are not commercially available. Each piece is a parody artwork based on an existing product or style of packaging.

Some are complete physical objects. Others exist as finished label designs, mock-ups or digitally applied packaging, depending on what was practical to make.

Yes. Every visible element is recreated from scratch.

I scan an original for size and placement reference but I absolutely won’t use any part of that in my finished piece. Any original brand logo, barcode, ingredient list, product photograph, certification mark, legal line or stray decorative symbol on an original is re-made again.

Yes, where it is useful.

AI is mainly used for certain photographic elements, difficult display lettering or ageing effects on vintage designs that may be impractical to create conventionally. It is one tool within a much larger process that also involves research, typography, image editing, compositing, photography and manual reconstruction.

The finished design still requires the original idea, all of the rewritten content, repeated direction, correction and final assembly.

Usually several days.

Some designs take much longer, especially where the original packaging contains a large number of detailed panels, illustrations, range variants or difficult type treatments. Even a minor side-panel image may require several additional product fronts to be designed in full before it can be used.

Usually, but not always.

All of the designs exist as finished artworks, although some older pieces would need to be reprinted or reassembled before they could be displayed again. Certain jars, tins or containers may have been 3D printed, digitally mocked up or applied to substitute objects where the correct base item did not exist or could not be reproduced easily.

Sometimes.

A few items remain unopened, including the tinned meat product. In other cases, the original contents have been consumed, replaced or altered where appearance matters. For example, a rum bottle may contain a mixture of tea and coffee rather than rum.

The contents are incidental. These are artworks, not food products intended for consumption.

Unfortunately not.

Most pieces are closely based on recognisable commercial packaging, which creates obvious copyright, trademark, consumer-protection and food-labelling problems. The original companies would also be unlikely to approve of unauthorised versions of their products.

There may eventually be other Rude Pantry items that can be sold legally, but the main parody packaging is not currently available to purchase.

Oh, but you can buy a very sweary map I’ve made already: The Great British Vulgaris Map.

Not yet.

I would like to think that some of the designers or staff involved in the original packaging might enjoy the work as an unusually detailed tribute. Their intellectual-property lawyers would probably take a much less enthusiastic professional view. Hopefully not a problem as a humorous art and design project, but not for financial gain.

The project is deliberately vulgar, so offence cannot be ruled out.

I do not knowingly use racist, sexist, ableist or homophobic slurs, and I would not include language intended to attack a particular group. Some words with sexist associations may still appear where they are not being used specifically against women, although I would normally use them sparingly and consider the context carefully.

I work on the project alone, but I can respond to specific criticism and take it into account. At the same time, removing every word that someone might find offensive would remove the central premise of the project.

Because vulgarity is one of the main reasons for the project.

The aim is not simply to place a swear word on a packet. The humour comes from combining crude or absurd ideas with convincing graphic design and carrying the theme through every part of the packaging. If you don’t think any form of vulgarity can be funny, then I really can’t help you understand this project. But thanks for popping by anyway.

Kind of, but don’t expect much.

Suggestions are welcome, but the work is produced sporadically and I need to feel some connection with the original product, its design or the potential joke. There is therefore a good chance that I will decline or simply never get around to a suggestion.

Possibly.

A commission is more likely to be considered than a general suggestion, but each design requires a substantial amount of research and production time. I am also not particularly good at estimating a fair price for work of this scale.

Get in touch with the product, purpose and timescale, and I can consider whether it is practical.

Possibly.

It depends on where and how the work would be used, which images are required, and whether the context is appropriate. Please get in touch with the relevant details.

Possibly.

I would be very happy to discuss exhibitions, displays or events, although I would also be exceptionally surprised to be asked.

Some pieces may need to be tweaked, reprinted, reconstructed or newly assembled for display, so enough notice would be required.

Actually, yes. Lots.

Go and have a look at my own website, which has details about me and lots of things such as costumes, props, public-space work, digital work and other projects.

stevenlovell.org