Drinking glasses with meaning - The Boston Globe

Ebenezer Akakpo’s glasses are silkscreened with intricate designs inspired by Adinkra symbols of his native Ghana.

Each symbolizes a concept, such as hope, unity, bravery, or endurance.

Ebenezer Akakpo’s drinking glasses tell a story. They are silkscreened with intricate designs inspired by Adinkra symbols of his native Ghana. Each symbolizes a concept, such as hope, unity, bravery, or endurance.

Akakpo, an award-winning designer, lives in Portland, Maine, and studied jewelry making in Florence, at the Maine College of Art, and later earned a master’s in industrial design at the Rochester Institute of Technology. 

He’s chosen patterns he uses for earrings and bracelets to producing home goods, including a colorful line of drinking glasses, each with a message. “The symbols create patterns, and each pattern becomes your personal story you share with people,” says Akakpo.

“The colors are matched to the symbols and represent the emotion.” One glass bears a repeated design of red linked hearts, paused by the word “Patience.” Another, adorned with a pattern, also in red, resembles a ram’s horn, and says “Strength.”

“Pick a symbol that goes with your mood,” he says. Glassware-turned-conversation piece could be a pleasant distraction these days ($14 to $16 each). And they are dishwasher safe.

By Ann Trieger Kurland Globe Correspondent