Justin Perricone Q & A | Bread & Butter

After I wrote up my little post on Justin Perricone's Hot Pockets typography poster, Justin was kind enough to get back to me and answer a few questions about his inspiration and mindset concerning his design. He even shared his thoughts on Michelle Obama's reform, in particular that which pertains to moving nutritional information to the front of packaging. I've decided to share it all with you here in Q & A form. Enjoy!

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Bread&Butter: What was your inspiration behind the poster?

Justin Perricone: My wife went and saw Jim Gaffigan a year or so ago and took a Hot Pockets box for him to sign (which he did). It's on a display wire in our hall and I glance at it pretty much every time I walk to my desk. I saw that the box says something like, "Made with real cheese!" But when you look at the ingredient list, it's horrifying what else is in there and how little of it is "real."

B&B: As a self proclaimed food junkie, do you actually eat hot pockets? If so, is ham & cheese your preferred flavor?

JP: While I've certainly had one it's been years. I remember it being a chicken fajita flavor. It singed the hell out of my tongue.

B&B: If not, what's your hot pocket alternative? What are you eating that you can't get enough of?

JP: I don't know if I really have a Hot Pocket alternative per se, but I've grown accustomed to snacking on pistachios. I really cannot get enough of them. Otherwise, it's a bag of homemade microwave popcorn a few times a week to curb after lunch munchies.

B&B: I'm sure - as more people have stumbled upon your poster on the internet, featured it or passed it along - it might not come as a surprise to you that foodies and lovers of healthy eats alike are championing it as tasteful, elegant and educational in the way it draws attention to the amount of ingredients and chemicals in a commonly consumed processed food... Was this your intention?

JP: I created this half as an exercise in setting type, and partially to just show how unwholesome something that's bread, cheese, and ham can be. What really got me was the sheer number of ingredients that are even outside the realm of normal food additives. We've all heard of "modified corn starch" or hydrogenated oils. They're so common, we're almost comfortable with them. But what the hell is "L-Cystenine Hydrochloride" or "disodium insonate?" Those seem like they should be in swimming pools, not in frozen sandwiches.

But this is what processed food has yielded: formulas, not recipes.

B&B: ....Especially on the heels of the announcement of Michelle Obama's childhood obesity initiative and a move to make food companies place nutritional information on the front of packaging. How do you feel about it?

JP: As long as people need fast, convenient food, there's going to be an abundance of products just like this. And aside from wrecking package designs, I don't think having the nutritional information on the front will do anything to keep people away from these foods. We need quick, we need cheap. And the kicker is that these things aren't really that bad for you (in terms of calories) so it's not like you're going to turn people off on that front.

I think poor eating habits come from a slow decline in people learning how to cook. Over the past half century we've been gradually working ourselves to death and people don't want spend the little time we have to spend with their families in the kitchen. It's easier to grab take out or just nuke something.

But we need to make that time. I've been in the kitchen as long as I can remember. Both sides of my family are Cuban/Italian, so we do food. Lots of food. Even with as much as I work, I figure out how to make at least 18 of the 21 meals my wife and I eat every week. I spend nearly 90 minutes in the kitchen most nights, but it's relaxing and fulfilling to know what's going into everything I prepare. That said, we love to eat out and have even been known to throw a frozen pizza in the oven from time to time.

Now that I've seen how much interest there was in this poster, I feel a lot more pressure to find more "chemical foods" suitable for the design.

I certainly never would have predicted how much people are taking to it. I guess it's got that design mirepoix of pop culture, education, and kitsch.