Not Real /
Don’t Steal
Format: Screenprinted Objects /
Type: Individual Project /
Year: 2025 /
Screenprint on varied materials (Faux Leather / Fabric / Acrylics / Paper)
Packages and cardboard boxes have become a ubiquitous sight nowadays. In 2023, Amazon alone delivered 5.9 billion packages in the US. While it’s easier than ever to shop, the society has also been trained to consume more and waste more.
Growing up in China in the 90s, designer Shane Li didn’t see cardboard boxes as throwaways. He was raised to believe that anything that can be reused should be reused, and the bar for categorizing something as trash was pretty high. Witnessing the amount of waste these days, a question has to be asked: Could we ever see the real cost of this shopping frenzy? To answer the question, a speculative design project emerged: what if packages look like luxury designer items - would we still get dozens of them every year? Would we still throw them away without a blink?