Pro­pa­ganda are one of the world’s most dis­tinct­ive and ori­ginal object design com­pan­ies, and a Bangkok-based stu­dio which brings an “innate sense of Thai play­ful­ness” to every day life through decor and design.

Pro­pa­ganda Design Dir­ector Chaiy­uth Plypeth

You’re likely to recog­nise their products — they’re just that mem­or­able — even if you don’t know the name at first. Estab­lished in 1994 by a group of four friends, who worked in the world of advert­ising at the time, Pro­pa­ganda is now avail­able in more than 40 coun­tries around the world.

Their Mr.P char­ac­ter is a cheeky icon who pokes his tongue out at the stuffi­ness and ser­i­ous­ness of high-end design, pop­ping up on products from lamps to chop­sticks, umbrel­las to clothes pins. Other product ranges include the Tooth col­lec­tion, a series of clever stack­able glass designs (such as the great spider set below), and their sad, marooned polar bear collection.

Some of the many forms the iconic Mr.P takes | Images cour­tesy Pro­pa­ganda Online

Design Dir­ector Chaiy­uth Plypeth, inter­na­tion­ally recog­nised for his witty approach to design, tells us that his home of Bangkok is a con­stant inspir­a­tion and his pick for the most cre­at­ive city in Asia.

1. Where do you live?
I live in the sub­urb area of Bangkok, away from the work­place around 25 km. Last two years, the eco­nomy was in crisis and the gas price was very high. I sold my car and decided to use taxi ser­vice believ­ing that it helped us save the envir­on­ment although it didn’t help me save money at all.

2. What makes your city cre­at­ive?
Bangkok is the city that opened to all new cul­tures. Vis­it­ors to Bangkok would find a good match between life in the old day and mod­ern day, Low tech and high tech. Our new gen­er­a­tion is also influ­enced by many cul­tures espe­cially Chinese, Japan­ese, and Korean. It allows me to always pop up the unlim­ited ideas.

3. Which city, in your opin­ion, is the most cre­at­ive city in East Asia?
Ser­i­ously, I think Bangkok is the most cre­at­ive city in East Asia because it is full of diversity of people with dif­fer­ent nation­al­ity. You could see their art of liv­ing and their cre­ativ­ity through their life­style espe­cially the way they dress up or the way they cook. They could mix and match very per­fectly and make it become unique. For cook­ing, they put the art in it. Every step, every detail is neat and has mean­ing. You need to come and feel it for yourself.

Check out the Cre­at­ive Asia series to find out what inspires cre­at­ive lead­ers in the UK and across East Asia. What makes your city cre­at­ive? Answer these three ques­tions to join the conversation!

Spider glass set by Pro­pa­ganda | Image cour­tesy Pro­pa­ganda Online