Posts from — September 2008

I’m in the market for a bicycle and came across bicyclestore.fr. It’s a bicycle store in Paris and when I first found it last week the site wasn’t even fully up but when I checked back today it had these super-cute bicycles and I totally want one. Especially that orange one. I bet it’s a fold-up. The English version of the site appears to be coming soon!

Nichifutsu, an importer of French foods into Japan, announced their new eco-friendly wine, “Greener Planet.” What is so eco-friendly about this wine you ask? Well first of all, it’s made from strictly organic grapes. Second of all, these good-lookin’ bottles are actually PET bottles instead of glass. Ok, I’m confused. According to the company, they plan to cut CO2 emissions by significantly decreasing the weight of their packaging. That part I understand, but questions still remain. Do people really recycle PET bottles? Does the decrease in CO2 emissions justify the fact they may be creating more waste? It sounds like just another way to cut shipping costs for the company, but I could easily be wrong!

In anticipation of the Asahikawa Furniture Fair 2008, taking place this weekend in Hokkaido (GMAP), I thought I would take a look back at some of the awesomeness that came out of the IFDA (International Furniture Design Competition Asahikawa) 2 months ago. There were some very impressive pieces by furniture designers around the world.

My favorite was this exquisite bench by Korean national Sehwa Bae, appropriately titled “Meditation.”

Other memorable entries included the avant-gardish bench, “Barca,” by Jacob Joergensen…

The “Sheep Chair” by Tetsuro Yokata…

And this cool modernist desk that I would like dearly to replace my current desk, “Bureau,” by Martin Holzapfel.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! Last week was pretty crazy for me. My Dad was visiting from 7000 miles away, which doesn’t happen often, so that was special. I also had a ton of projects going on simultaneously, the majority of which are now thankfully out of my hands!

Today I wanted to talk a little about Yuen’to（所以と）a Japanese product design brand under the IDEA International label. Translating as roughly, “the reason why,”I think one of Yuen’to’s strengths is that they have the unique ability to boil down the visual and conceptual, leaving you with only the necessary. They then apply this to your everyday mundane products. Check out this AiAi Umbrella Stand (about $100, $150 for chrome) that cleverly houses both regulars and fold-ups.

But what I really wanted to show you was this cute marketing segment built into the product description. After displaying images of the product, the flash animation launches into a series of shorts humorously describing what kinds of people should by this product.

The waterproof Splash CD Radio (about $160)… for people trying to lure their kids into the shower (which totally reminded me of the pied piper)!

The Clocklike Clock (about $50) with built in simplicity such as automatic time set and silent clock hands… for people who can’t trust their old clocks.

 
(all images courtesy of Yuen’to)

Nice. Adorable.

As you may or may not know, Scandinavian design is huge in Japan right now. That’s why it’s only fitting that Finnish heavyweights artek, famous for their stools, and marimekko, famous for their fabrics, collaborate in Japan for an installation. “Be Honest” will feature an installation using Alvar Aalto ‘s Model No. 60 stool (circa 1933), as well as reinterpretations of his stools by marimekko designers. Taking place at SPIRAL in Tokyo, the show will open this Saturday and run for 2 weeks.

Related:

• Photographer Seiji Shibuya at SPIRAL

I spotted this cool exhibit that I’m jotting down on my calendar in bold red! Trendy boutique hotel CLASKA in Tokyo will be hosting “caresser la maison,” an exhibition by Rie Yagura starting October 3rd in their gallery space “Do.” And courtesy of Elle Deco, we get a sneak peak into what the show will look like!

（images courtesy of Elle Deco）

Equating to something like “caress you home,” the exhibition will showcase a wide range of products by Paris-based Yagura, who believes that the secret to creating a comfortable space is to love the space. Yagura creates unique interiors by basically recycling and transforming objects. Works that will be shown, and will be on sale, include an old table modified by attaching additional plating (top image), a wooden turntable turned key holder, floor lamps fashioned out of headlights salvaged from an old automobile (middle image), and a reupholstered chair with some embroidery work (bottom image).

This show is of particular interest to me because the antiquey style is still very rare in Tokyo but I see it catching on in the near future!

An interesting conversation took place over the weekend surrounding so called “street photography” and the disillusionment that the photography subjects are actually fashion professionals (models, magazine editors, etc.) whose job requires them to be style savvy. One of the criticisms is that identities and occupations are rarely revealed, leading readers to believe that they are surrounded by fashionistas. The subjects of the conversation include U.S. based Sartorialist, France’s look de rue, and Japan’s Style from Tokyo.

My reaction? flabergasted (I’ve always wanted to be flabergasted) . Call me naive but I never suspected that the Sart’s beautiful subjects were anything other than innocent bystanders. The effect? For me, probably minimal. I continue to browse The Sartorialist for inspiration rather than a means of gauging trends amongst the local consumer.

You can read the conversation HERE and HERE.

Some very exciting news from over the weekend! As of 8/29, the wasara disposable plates went on sale in Japan. Unfortunatly, they aren’t available over the Internet but that is hopefully in the works. Check out the Shop List for all the vendors. Via a spokesperson of the company pricing is as follows:

Kaku / Maru plates (L) – 1,000 yen / set of 8
Kaku / Maru plates (M) – 1,000 yen / set of 12
Kaku / Maru plates (S) – 650 yen / set of 12
Compote　- 900 yen / set of 6

Related:

• Wasara Update
• Wasara