Welcome to Matchverse : A universe of Matchbox images!

The partnership of humble ‘Matchstick’ and not so flamboyant ‘MatchBox’ has enriched and enhanced our lives for years, giving easy access to light & fire for everyone.

While human ‘Matchmaking’ is built on emotional bonding, the improbable ‘Match’ between the ‘Stick’ & the ‘Box’ is built on clever separation of volatile components; and their daily ‘Safety Matches’ of encounters in friction! Yet they regale us with a vast collection of rich imagery, representing life in all its varied forms.

A powerful visual culture & vocabulary of images, has emerged over the years, engaging all class of people across the globe.

Explore the diversity of visual motifs, themes, designs and subjects of human interest put across in this colorful, quirky, portable, yet affordable objects.

Matchbox labels represent various points in our history, drawing from cultural, social, & political happenings. They are a miniature gallery of popular art, mirroring the changing ‘Operating Images’ of the society. People absorb images of the world, and create their own worlds of images. Change occurs as operating images in our minds change.

Compared to posters, leaflets and other print media, Matchbox is most accessible form of printed communication.

The Matchbox is a window to our collective unconscious, showing the role of images in our lives. They chronicle our perception through a language of images and symbols.

This ubiquitous, cheap and disposable form of communication has been used effectively for advertising and social communication.

Brands are used for promotion, but sometimes the Matchbox label itself has become a brand. In words of Marshall McLuhan ‘The Medium is the Message’.

Enjoy the collection and explore new ways of using this portable, inexpensive, yet powerful mode of mass communication, even in this age of Metaverse.