Category — Product Design

Pick Holder (2,300 yen) | click images to enlarge

Designer Mikiya Kobayashi was kind enough to send us images of kime, a new line of products that he launched over the summer. Kime (木目), which means grain or wood texture, is an appropriate name for this new line of finely crafted wooden products because that is exactly what they are all about.

Bottle Opener (2,800 yen)

Each piece was hand crafted by wood artisans in Ashikawa, Hokkaido, who have worked with the material their entire lives. Kobayashi speaks of wood as if it was a person. Every piece of wood is different from the next, without a single one having the same face, says Kobayashi in an interview. Each grain is unique, offering the user an infinite glimpse at the many expressions of wood.

Tape Measure (2,500 yen)

You can see the product lineup here and you can buy the pieces here.

I climbed Mt. Fuji with my Mom when I was about 10 years old. At the time I wasn’t old enough to drink, but that’s all right because this Fujiyama beer glass hadn’t been designed yet. I like the tagline, which reads, “drink it down at Fuji.”

Designed by Keita Suzuki, the Fujiyama Glass (3,776 yen) won the Mizuno Manabu Award at a design contest in 2008. It was just recently commercialized with Mizuno Manabu himself taking on the packaging design. They encourage you to see the many phases of Mt. Fuji by experimenting with different drinks. For example, tomato juice would create a Mt. Fuji sunset.

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Fun Fact: did you know that the top of Mt. Fuji is technically nowhere? It doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of either Shizuoka or Yamanashi prefecture. In 1974, the supreme court shot down the state and ruled in favor of a Shinto shrine, arguing that it was the embodiment of the gods of Mt. Fuji and therefore all the land above the 8th station is sacred and belongs to the shrine. [source]

Being released alongside Furoshiki Bag 2 (see previous post) is clipico (525 yen), a cute interpretation of the 143-year old unchanged design of a paper clip. The card/photo stand is super portable because it’s made from a single piece of stainless steel and folds flat. It was designed by Toshihiro Aya – a designer I have never heard of.

I also like the negative space it leaves when propped up. I’m not sure if people are still buying card stands but I think I could definitely find space on my desk for this one! You’ll be able to buy it HERE in 2 days.

Japanese product design label +d will release Furoshiki Bag 2 (press release – pdf) on August 18th, 2010. Designer Chie Kanayama, of Genta Design, improved upon her original Furoshiki Bag by reworking the design and adding pockets.

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The furoshiki is a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth that was developed over 1000 years ago to carry clothing and gifts. Given their ancient history, people typically imagine them being carried around on the back of an old obachan (grandma). Kanayama hopes to breathe new life into the versatile carrying bag by catapulting it into the realm of fashion once again.

They will be sold in 3 sizes, Shoulder (L), Hand (M) and Lunch (S) and retail for 1,500 yen – 3,100 yen

Architecture office STAD, led by up and coming architect Toru Shimokawa, has some great ideas for organizing books. In the past I’ve seen a lot of ideas for furniture that incorporates book storage (such as the magtable, bibliochaise and bookshelf coffee table). But STAD’s Plywood Table for Books (2010) is perhaps my all-time favorite.

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Not only is it adept in storage but its structure is inherently space-conscious in that it completely collapses. Fantastic!

Massive (2008) is a very simple yet infinitely customizable series of bookend. They come in 3 different sizes and by turning them upside down they can essentially adapt to any number or size of books.

Two nights ago I was fortunate enough to attend iida’s new product release party. iida has been building up it’s reputation for merging cell phone technology with avant-garde art by pairing up with artists and designers. Most notably, their collaboration with Yayoi Kusama last year was hugely successful and got them a lot of press coverage.

And if you are a Spoon & Tamago reader, you will certainly recognize some of the artists whom iida has decided to collaborate with this year.

Botanica by Makoto Azuma – We were very excited to see the Azuma collaboration as we have been following him since very early in his career.

PixCell by Kohei Nawa – The Nawa collaboration was inspired by the sculptors work he did for Hermes last year.

Light Pool by Hironao Tsuboi – This is really their only functional release – the previous 2 were art editions that may only be released in limited quantity. With the help of filmmaker and musician Masakatsu Takagi, the geometric windows are brought to life with light and sound.

Accessories – We have always been big fans of the accessories. This year iida has come out with a pretty cord organizer and a phone strap, modeled after a car, that not only keeps you phone in place while in your bag but also diminishes the unsuspectingly loud vibrating noise.

Speaking of Jamo Associates, one of the pair of designers, Chinatsu Kambayashi, has attempted her first product design. Bottle Candle (PDF) is, as you may have guessed, quite simply, a candle shaped like a bottle.

Back in 2008, Kambayashi curated a pop-up shop within The Globe, an antique shop based in Tokyo. The Bottle Candle is a collaboration between The Globe and an extension of this project, which ran with the theme, no antiques, no life.

Mark, Carol, Ann, Susan, Fabio and Margaret are available at Cibone and range from between 1,365 yen – 7,140 yen.

Japanese product design label h concept just announced the release of a sequel to their popular “waiting” figurine. Made from silicone, the figurine holds the lid down on your instant noodles, while reacting to the heat and changing color to let you know when your 3 minutes are up. The new model, Cupmen 2, carries all those same properties. The only difference is that it has taken a more laid-back approach to its work, as opposed to the diligent original. The product goes on sale June 10th for 840 yen.

You can request to purchase it HERE.

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Related:
Cupmen: waiting for your instant noodles

People who find beauty in Japan’s tetrapod-lined shores will undoubtedly be equally pleased with this concrete bicycle rack (7,300 – 12,600 yen). It was designed by the female duo luft for the Tenkei Project, which launched in 2009.

the double and the single

Tenkei (literally “typical form” ) focuses on product design with an emphasis on the following guidelines:
1)    There is no such thing as Tenkei (typical). It is a function of the culture of which it dwells.
2)    Tenkei is: easy to use and easy to produce. A prerequisite is that there is steady demand for production.
3)    Tenkei can take on different variations, effectively expanding its life span.

The contrast between the metallic spokes and the minimal concrete just makes my design heart spin.

Japanese industrial designer Chiaki Murata’s design firm Metaphys recently announced their latest product design: a snazzy new lunchbox named Ojue. The concept is actually quite revolutionary.

Your typical bento box looks like this (in fact, mine does too, except it doesn’t have ballerinas on it); horizontally-orientated with a large base. However, all my shoulder bags look like this; vertically orientated, and rightly so, to accommodate objects like books and notepads. So when I stuff my horizontal bento box into my vertical shoulder bag it’s not only uncomfortable, but looks lopsided and ugly.

So Ojue (2,800 yen, including the chopsticks) is a welcomed addition to the array of selection when it comes to bento boxes. It includes 3 stacking units that “can be freely combined depending on appetite and physical condition, based on the idea of providing ‘vertical flexibility.’ ”

Take that, old bento box!

Related:

• NODE by Chiaki Murata