For me, Chile was a stand-out country in South America in terms of graphic design. Santiago has many great examples of well-thought-out leaflets, posters and displays. There are nice finishing touches everywhere in the city, such as the riverside gardens, and the beginnings of a love padlock bridge.
I also visited Valparaiso, which is a small hill-side coastal town, well-known for its pretty pastel buildings, hill trams and painted staircases. This little town has the best collection of street art I have seen in my travels, every spare wall was painted, and with talent too, no tagging to be found. It was here that I came across a lovely little sweet shop, I stopped to watch the sweets being made – cut from long bars (just like British rock!) Sweets in a decorated jar are a great idea as a hand-finished gift, and I really liked how the shop had gone a step further by making those jars into lights – what a great idea!
Sweet jar light
Sweets in the making
Ingredients display
Valparaiso street art
