The Eraser project is about the exploration of variation within the same languages, and expressing it through a humorous design language.
The Rubber/Eraser is designed to allow users to personalise and choose the name of the object based on their preference.The back is designed with a return reminder to prevent thieving.
It is really interesting to find out that an eraser can be called different things between British English and American English, as well as Macau Cantonese and HK Cantonese.
In the UK, we usually call it a 'rubber' . However, in the US, 'rubber' generally refers to a condom; instead, they call the same item an 'eraser'. From my observation, Brits are starting to follow the 'eraser' trend to avoid awkwardness, since it's becoming a more globalized country.
Frankly speaking, British and American English differences are pretty common. However, it is quite rare to spot variations between Macau and HK Cantonese.
Somehow, the characters are flipped the other way around. In Macau, we call it '膠擦', and in HK, it's called '擦膠'. And this ''eraser phrase difference'' is often used to distinguish between Hongkonger and Macanese.
The Chinese version is deliberately designed to be more dialogical compared to the English version. Cantonese is a very special language; it sounds way more casual and straightforward (sometimes rude) in spoken Cantonese than written. It's also not a surprise we swear a lot on daily basis, despite the fact that we are neither angry nor emotional (depends on the swear phrases you use). Most of the time, it makes you sound local when one or two swear phrases are used within sentences.
As a result, I created an additional eraser design (the black one) with swear words written on it. This design targets for Canto speaker and trigger the feeling of familiarity.
