The Unicorn Variations
The enduring power of Lisa Frank, Trapper Keeper visionary.
If you were an elementary school kid 25 years ago, escaping Lisa Frank when browsing school supplies was like trying to outrun glittering rainbow-hued sunlight. If the Smurfette Principle, as coined by essayist and poet Katha Pollitt, refers to a single female in a cast of all male-characters, then the Lisa Frank brand has built itself as a weird Smurfette Principle of trapper-keepers and school supplies. In a sea of monochrome storebrand products, Lisa Frank stood out with its unmissable neon color palettes adorned with pastel-pink unicorns and white kitty-cats.
It’s hard to say whether the aesthetic’s absurd level of girliness was intended to be subversive. Given that Lisa Frank describes herself as a “girly-girl,” I’m inclined to conclude she only wanted to create an aesthetic that reflected her personal conception of “girliness.” But it’s difficult to come to a solid conclusion without getting distracted by all the pretty colors.
