Calling Collect - Catalog Spreads

Calling Collect Poster

Calling Collect - Brochure Covers

Spec Sheet - Calling Collect

Calling Collect

Calling Collect: A collection of Japanese phone cards from the 1990s

Overview: 

These cards feature a very large variety of designs. Colorful Japanese landscapes and cityscapes, educational information, drawings that reference popular culture, or ads.
Owing to the large quantity of individual designs, these are highly prone to collection in Japan. 

Each of the cards in the collection have been used, as they all have machine-punched holes in the top, indicating how many credits they have left. Most cards have been used in full, but some still have some of the original 105 or 50 credits left. 

Honolulu Museum of Art

900 S. Beretania St.

Honolulu, HI 96814

Rhythm and Balance

Symmetry and Asymmetry

Asymmetrical Composition

 

Symmetrical Composition

Animation

 

Expression Through Line

10 Collections - Japanese Telephone Cards

Japanese Telephone Cards

Introduced in the country in 1982, these calling cards quickly grew to be one of the most common ways to pay for phone calls until the rise in prevalence of the cellphone.  They are still in circulation and are made by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), Japan's largest telecommunications company. 

They come in a very large variety of covers, mostly of Japanese landscapes and cityscapes.
Designs could also feature ads or useful information. Owing to the large quantity of individual designs, these are highly prone to collection in Japan. 

Each of the cards in the collection have been used, as they all have machine-punched holes in the top, indicating how many credits they have left. Most cards have been used in full, but some still have some of the original 105 or 50 credits left. 

Among the designs in this collection, there are some vertical designs, a few advertisements, and some educational cards, like one with common Portuguese phrases released for the Brazilian Carnival of 1991.

Today, they are still available in convenience stores and are commonly used for payphone calling. Front designs can be customized with company names or a personal picture, or they can be printed with any cover designed by the customer.