The Design Museum Supermarket boasts Walala interiors and packaging by Joey Yu, Kentaro Okawara and Charlotte Edey

In the store created by Bombay Sapphire, the museum shop’s shelves will be stocked with beautifully wrapped essential items such as loo roll, bread and pasta sauce.

Date
19 April 2021

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This week you can do your weekly shop at the Design Museum, courtesy of an installation / store at the London institution titled Supermarket. And what a beautiful basket-full it’ll be. The store, open for just five days from Wednesday online and IRL, is selling essential items such as loo roll, bread, rice, pasta sauce, tea, coffee, washing up liquid and more, all at regular supermarket prices. The products’ packaging is designed by ten illustrators and artists including Joey Yu, Kentaro Okawara and Charlotte Edey, and the Supermarket interior is designed by pattern queen Camille Walala, so it's guaranteed to be an eye-popping experience in itself.

The shop, which is created, curated and funded by Bombay Sapphire, promotes the message that “creativity is essential” as shops begin to open in the UK, while galleries and cultural institutions remain closed under lockdown restrictions. The Design Museum has suffered a 92 per cent drop in its usual income streams during the pandemic, so Supermarket shoppers will also be supporting the institution in a difficult time for the whole sector.

The Bombay Sapphire team gave the ten illustrators and artists a blank canvas to bring their own distinct style to their packaging design. The full inventory includes fruit and vegetable stickers by Isadora Lima; a bread bag by Charlotte Edey; a rice box and a passata jar by Joey Yu, a pasta box and a coffee jar by Holly Warburton, a kidney beans tin and a face mask by Kentaro Okawara, a porridge oats jar by Amy Worrall, a tea bag tin by Katherine Plumb, toilet roll wrapping by Michaela Yearwood-Dan and washing up liquid by Jess Warby, plus a special edition Bombay Sapphire bottle and Fever Tree tonic by Ruff Mercy, and a tote bag by Camille Walala.

“The past year has been really challenging for artists who haven’t been able to show work or collaborate as normal,” says Camille Walala in a statement. “Supermarket is a great way to not only support the Design Museum, but also shine a spotlight on the ten brilliant young artists who through this project have a new platform for their work.”

Design Museum director Tim Marlow adds that the installation is “an opportunity to rethink about what we buy, who profits and what we consider to be essential. We can’t wait to welcome visitors back to our museum”.

Supermarket is open 21-25 April at the Design Museum on Kensington High Street, London and online.

GalleryDesign Museum and Bombay Sapphire: Supermarket (Images copyright © Design Museum and Bombay Sapphire, 2021)

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Illustration by Michaela Yearwood-Dan

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Illustration by Kentaro Okawara

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Illustration by Joey Yu

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Illustration by Ruff Mercy

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Illustration by Kentaro Okawara

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Illustration by Joey Yu

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Illustration by Charlotte Edey

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Illustration by Isadora Lima

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Work in progress shots of Camille Walala's interior design alongside some Supermarket products

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Work in progress shots of Camille Walala's interior design alongside some Supermarket products

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Camille Walala: Store interior renders

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Camille Walala: Store interior renders

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Product range in store

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Camille Walala outside the store

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Products in store

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Products in store

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Products in store

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Design Museum and Bombay Sapphire: Supermarket full product range (Copyright © Design Museum and Bombay Sapphire, 2021)

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Jenny Brewer

Jenny oversees our editorial output across work, news and features. She was previously It’s Nice That's news editor. Get in touch with any big creative stories, tips, pitches, news and opinions, or questions about all things editorial.

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