Posts from — November 2009
Ikushinsha Signage Campaign | Nosigner
Japanese designer Nosigner recently completed this signage campaign for a cram school run by Ikushinsha, a publisher of educational materials. I think it’s so clever how an ordinary ruler, when adapted as a motif, can look so visually stunning. It is also the one iconic symbol of learning and growth – an object that all students use at some point in their studies regardless of the discipline.
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November 16, 2009 Comments Off
Toyama Product Design Competition
The winners of the 2009 Toyama Product Design Competition were recently announced. I wasn’t crazy about the first place so instead I’m going to direct your attention to the runner up…but of course feel free to check out all 3 winners on the website. This year’s theme was color. Not exactly a unique theme but inspiring none the less. Especially when you have Jin Kuramato applying the theme to traditional wooden bowls and tea cups. And I love how they stack!
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November 13, 2009 2 Comments
0.02 EX Okamoto Condoms
I came across this ad the other day while flipping through one of my wife’s magazines. The colors and the sleek design caught my eye. Was it a new fragrance? Cosmetics? Actually it turns out to be condoms. Okamoto Condoms to be exact. The new 0.02 EX brand just launched several weeks ago and their claim to fame is that their latex rubber, no matter what part of the condom you measure, has a width of just 0.02 millimeters. Leave it to the Japanese to apply precision and smart branding to just about anything. Take that Trojan!
November 13, 2009 3 Comments
Minä Perhonen | Tamago
So, as fate should have it, Akira Minagawa, designer of the faux-Finnish Japanese label Minä Perhonen, recently collaborated on a new store in Amsterdam and guess what it’s called? Of course, “Tamago”. Of all the nerve, Akira had to go and bite my style! I’m just kidding Akira. I love the name and I think your new store looks fantastic. I also think you, me and Jurgen Lehl should sit down for lunch one afternoon.
all images courtesy of Jane Wheeler, whose lovely garments can also be found at Tamago.
(thanks Jane!)
November 11, 2009 1 Comment
I love yu (I♥湯) by Ohtake Shinro
Remember the sneak peaks of the new hot bath, I ♥ Yu, by visionary Japanese artist Ohtake Shinro? Well the bath house has officially opened their spigots. And they have a website, with images that look just as eccentric as the artist himself, to prove it. As I mentioned earlier, They hired graf for the architectural component and botanical artist Makoto Azuma as the landscape designer. And it has shaped up to be one hell of a hot bath!
I’ve devoted quite a few posts (see relateds below) to Naoshima and its surrounding islands. This is because I believe that with the Chichu Art Museum in 2004 and now the recent openings of the Inujima Art Project and the I ♥ Yu hot bath, this region has positioned itself to become the next innovative arts community in Japan. Artists will continue to flock to these islands and we will hopefully see some very unique and interesting work. (They also have a strong corporate backing, which helps.)
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November 10, 2009 Comments Off
Studio Aiuto
I have a confession to make. I have never been to the West Coast. Not even once. It’s a region (and perhaps a culture) that I’m not familiar with. But when Jaime Di Dio Aoyama, founder of Studio Aiuto and based in the tiny San Diego coastal town of Leucadia, sent me these pictures I suddenly had a strong urge to plan a visit.
Co-founder and in-house designer Seitaku “Tak” Aoyama was raised in Japan but currently works out of Leucadia, where he overlays his own Japanese perspective with the indigenous culture. For his latest project, Tak designed this surfboard that, in his own words, is a celebration of the fact that “life and death coexist…. When I no longer need my body, I will contribute it to nature with the possibility that animals could use my former ‘home’ as their own. They can have a party in there.”
November 10, 2009 Comments Off
PROTOTYPE 03
Nice to see that the PROTOTYPE exhibition is back for its 3rd year. Almost half of all the participants have not changed since the original installment! Check out the relateds below for some coverage on previous years.
via jean snow
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PROTOTYPE
PROTOTYPE 02
November 2, 2009 Comments Off
Masahiro Minami | Tokyo Midtown Award
Masahiro Minami was kind enough to send over images of “Chonmage Yookan“, a design that took first place in the recent Tokyo Midtown Awards. Judged by Japan’s design elite (Kenya Hara, Manabu Mizuno, et al.) as having perfectly blended humor with regular yet astute design, the piece shined over its 1300 peers in the “New Gifts from Japan”-themed competition.
Indulge me as I try and awkwardly articulate the genius behind Minami’s design. In this case, “gifts” often refer to apologetic peace offerings that husbands bring home to their wives after late soirees of boozing. To define the terminology, chonmage is a topknot of hair, one of the most significant ornaments of the samurai and represents honor and esteem. However, the cut-off chonmage, used as a motif in the images above, reflects the downfall of the old samurai and the absence of the pride and honor that supported him. Yookan is like sweet bean jello and is popular as a choice for gift giving. Combine the two and you have an apologetic gift that represents the submissive retraction of honor, an act that is sure to smooth the nerves of any enraged wife.
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November 1, 2009 4 Comments
insidehouse & outsidehouse by Takeshi Hosaka Architects
click to enlarge | photos by Masao Nishikawa
insidehouse & outsidehouse is a private residence in Suginami-ku, Tokyo designed by Takeshi Hosaka Architects in 2009. Structurally, the home is 2 different buildings with the smaller building representing the “outdoorhouse” while the larger unit is the “insidehouse.”
The outside house is equipped with a small office space and a courtyard, which looks into its adjacent insidehouse. I love how, despite the separation, the courtyard in the outsidehouse, and opposing large windows facing it on the insidehouse, create an implied visual connection for those within the home.
November 1, 2009 Comments Off
