Periodic table mug

Mug, made from heat-resistant glass with handle in style of 1-litre laboratory beaker and imprinted with a gold silhouette of the periodic table, designed by Georgia Tech Institute Communications and made by Promo Entertainment Group LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 2018.

2019 marks the 150th anniversary of Dmitri Mendeleev’s creation of his periodic table, which the United Nations commemorated in a worldwide, year-long celebration: the International Year of the Periodic Table (IYPT).

This mug was produced by the Georgia Institute of Technology as a prize given out at university IYPT events. Its design motif, ‘up with the white and AU' (the chemical symbol for gold) references a Georgia Tech school spirit song. It features a silhouette of a periodic table, without scientific content such as chemical symbols, groups and atomic information, which illustrates how the table's form itself has become a recognisable design icon in 21st century popular culture, appearing on everyday consumer items such as kitchenware. The mug, reminisicent of a laboratory glass beaker also shows the broader trope of chemical glassware representing the image of science in popular culture.