“The Labubu Dictionary”

Category:

Product Design,
Interactive Design
Publication

Year:

2025 - 2026

Small, yet big. Cute, yet creepy. A toy, yet a system.

The impact ‘Labubu’ has brought to today’s society is immense, leading to the creation of a whole new culture and community that makes the ‘Labubu’ and category of ‘blind boxes’ not just objects, but an entire system of its own. Specifically, one of the subcultures that formed as a result was the use of weights and scales to identify rare/secret-edition boxes, which are often prohibited in ‘blind box’ stores.

“The Labubu Dictionary” is a book made up of words inspired by ‘Labubu’ that can be used to describe the social behaviours that occur in the world of blind boxes. However, inside, there is also a secret mini digital scale that can be used to weigh blind mystery boxes, allowing people to find the secret-edition items in a subtle, hidden method.

Through this project, I wanted to explore the category of ‘blind boxes’ as a system, exploring the vast culture and hidden logic behind this phenomenon, using the ‘Labubu’ and its obscurity as a medium to hack into the system.

The dictionary was tested inside actual blind box shops and promoted through tear-off flyers posted outside for shop visitors who wish to use ‘The Labubu Dictionary’.

New ‘Labubu’ Vocabulary

Within online blind box communities, new terms have been created through the development of blind box culture. One of them is ‘Lafufu’: a term that is used to describe fake or duplicate ‘Labubu’s that are made or bought from the non-official markets. Inspired by this new term, I created an original new vocabulary based on the ‘Labubu’ toy that allows to portray or describe the social behaviours that happen within the blind box culture. For instance, ‘Ladudu’: a term that is used when one gets the same blind box figure that they already own previously.

Process & Sketches

Prev

Next