Doosje bij penning van de Negende Olympiade (Olympische Spelen) te Amsterdam, 1928

This little box, made by Johannes Cornelis Wienecke, probably around 1928, was made for a commemorative coin of the Amsterdam Olympics. It’s so humble, so functional. And yet, it’s trying so hard to be elegant. The design is all about the relationship between the printed text and the raw cardboard. The lettering, "Amsterdam - 1928," dances around the top of the box, forming this cool, imperfect circle that gives the whole thing a sense of movement. It's like the letters are athletes, running around a track. The cardboard itself has this beautiful, slightly distressed texture, which gives the whole thing a feeling of being handmade, almost folk-arty. I keep thinking about the edges of the box, where the raw cardboard is exposed. They’re rough, imperfect, and kind of vulnerable. It reminds me of Kurt Schwitters' collages, where he'd use bits of trash and everyday objects to create these beautiful, chaotic compositions. This box, in its own way, is doing something similar. It's taking something ordinary and turning it into something special.