A big thank you to UPrinting for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed!

UPrinting.com is a leading socially responsible online printing, marketing and technology firm. If you are looking around for printing companies, UPrinting deserves a look! They support a sustainable future by recycling, using non-toxic inks, and offering eco-friendly recycled paper stocks for their letterhead and other printing needs. Don’t have your own design? Check out their collection of letterhead design examples to get inspired and help you come up with ideas for your own letterhead designs!

This flash sale is only available for the next 24 hours! The full album of 100 songs is available for download at $100. [See the full song list]

A limited compilation of 20 songs is also available for $20.
Wednesday: 20 Song Compilation – starts Wednesday 12:01am

1. Aileen Morgan – Room to Grow
2. Alina Smith – Kissing Tree
3. Artemis – Fountain of Life
4. Cheryl B. Engelhardt – Moving Towards LoveUnreleased
5. Emily Zuzik – Saudade
6. Fill the Silence – Push
7. Hope Waits – Fortune Teller
8. I Am Not Lefthanded – Boats
9. Jenni Alpert – Sweet Talk
10. Kate Walsh – Light & Dark
11. Katey Laurel – Blue Sky’s Comin’
12. Kings Cross – Never Say Never
13. Kristin Hoffmann – All Together NowUnreleased
14. Marina V – You Make Me BeautifulUnreleased
15. muMs&Aurora – Sleep Baby Sleep
16. Random – Cry of the PlanetUnreleased
17. The Cringe – Gimme Resurrection
18. The Perfects – New Life
19. World Versus Me – Transference
20. Zoe Noell – Just Believe

SOLFJ Team hope to raise $250,000 for ShelterBox, an international disaster relief charity.

Another- and perhaps the last – award I felt was worth mentioning was Jun Ebata’s stool, “Tension,” which won the Kenji Ekuan award.　Side note: Kenji Ekuan, one of the judges of the award show, (b. 1929) is an award-winning designer known for such ubiquitous designs like Kikkoman’s soy sauce dispenser.

Appropriately named, “Tension” incorporates architectural elements, such as brace structures and beam strings, to achieve ⌀ 6mm  legs and an overall precarious look and feel. I’ve always been stunned by architectural mechanisms so it’s nice to see them beautifully implemented in household furniture.

Jun Ebata is a design student at the Shizuoka University of Art and Culture. His work was last seen during the 2008 Kokuyo Design Awards where “kezurinbo,” a set of adorable pencils that change facial expressions as you sharpen them, won him considerable attention.

Related:

• Kokuyo Design Awards 2009

The award for honorable mention was like an unexpected visit from an old friend. We featured Takuya Motte’s neck camera, “Vision” during our coverage of student work at Kobe Design University about 1 year ago.  So it was nice to see the piece progress this far!

The neck camera, which was co-developed with the University, is a working model. You drape the camera strap around your neck and images are recorded by the simple act of creating a picture frame using your hands like this (Photo: Oliver Strewe/Lonely Planet). Not only is it a beautiful looking product, it poses some interesting questions about our relationship with photography, as well as gadgets, for that matter.

In his seminal essay on photography, John Berger writes:

Photographs bear witness to a human choice being exercised in a given situation. A photograph is a result of the photographer’s decision that it is worth recording that this particular event or this particular object has been seen. … At its simplest the [photograph], decoded, means: I have decided that seeing this is worth recording.

Although we don’t always look at a photograph and think, “ah, human choice,” Takuya Motte’s neck camera has the potential for making us far more aware of our actions as photographers. Not only will we be more conscious of the act of recording, but we will take pleasure in the process, our surroundings and our current conditions far more than we ever have.

It’s interface is also worth considering as it is a significant step forward in blurring the lines between human and mechanic relations. What was once a very mechanical process can now be accomplished through a very natural human gesture. Although I imagine it would be quite awkward at first, I would love to try it out to see what it’s actually like. I have a strong feeling this is not the last we will see of the “Vision” neck camera.

I love this multi-purpose bookcase which, by removing the two chairs at each end, doubles as a table. Although I would find the most use for it somewhere in the middle; housing books while also functioning as a table and chairs.

It was designed by Milan-based Japanese designer Sakura Adachi and was shown during Milan Design Week 2010. It was designed for Italian furniture company Campeggi, whom Adachi has worked with on more than one occasion.

The “Trick” bookcase is a continuation of Adachi’s work in exploring creative and unconventional book shelving, such as “Cave,”  which was inspired by her fascination with pigeons and their ability to create their own nooks in virtually any space.

via swissmiss and shoeboxdwelling

Here are our most popular posts of 2010:

A Room in the Glass Globe by Hideyuki Nakayama
Hideyuki Nakayama’s interior-reflecting doorknob captured the hearts of everyone (including a few serial killers and pervs).

Mast Humidifier by Shin Okada
Shin Okada’s hinoki humidifier seems to be the perfect solution for cold, dry winters.

Student Work | Kyoto University of Art and Design
There is a lot of up-and-coming talent, as evidenced by the amazing work showcased by the students of Kyoto University Art and Design. Professionals, beware.

Wipe Shirt by design unit FIFT
Design unit FIFT’s button-down with built-in microfiber is high-fashion with just a hint of geek.

Green Marker | Yuruliku
Those who have not yet migrated fully to eBooks appreciated Yuruliku’s book weeds. The grass-shaped post-its serve as page markers and the accumulation of  interest or curiosity creates a blossoming tuft of grass.

screenshots | click to enlarge

The highly participatory video prompts users to connect via twitter, facebook, webcam, or any combination of the 3 (but you don’t have to). And without giving too much away, the video quickly whisks you away to a world of sound, visuals, multiple browser windows, social networking, global mapping and overall interconnectivity. It’s truly quite a unique experience and I would recommend you try it out. But if you don’t want to wait for it to load (I had to wait a good 5-minutes) there is also a non-connected youtube video you can watch below.

SOUR rose  to Internet (more specifically, YouTube) stardom last year with their low-budget, high-impact music video “Hibi no Neiro” (3mm + hits and counting!) which was made simply from global fans and their webcams. The video went on to win several awards including Best Animated Music Video at Animanima Film Festival and the 2009 YoutTube Video Awards in Japan. Masashi Kawamura, who has worked with SOUR on almost all their videos, is a senior art director at BBH in New York. Some of his side projects include NHK’s highly acclaimed PythagoraSwitch, and some of my personal favorites, Calculation in Motion and Rainbow in Your Hand.

Norihiko Terayama, the man behind Studio Note, has unveiled his latest creation: Tile Cowpet.

The concept is really quite simple. We use tiles and carpets to cover surfaces of our homes, right? Carpets provide warmth and texture to our rooms while tiles offer durability and protection.

The innocent question, “so why not combine them,” led to the eventual development of Cowpet, a cowhide rug inserted into acrylic tiles. I love how the presence of the rug seeps out through the spaces between the tiles; slight evidence of its original form.

Photos: Kentaro Amatatsu | Model: Kyoko Takemura

Related:

• f,l,o,w,e,r,s and folling flower by Studio Note

Following our coverage of Tokyo Designer’s Week, I wanted to highlight a few projects that were of particular interest to me. One of those projects is the Jaime Hayon line of ceramics for Choemon, one of the better known ceramic companies specializing in Marutani-yaki, a style of ceramics native to Ishikawa prefecture. It will be produced by Maruwakaya, who brought us the deerskin iPhone cases.

Although this is not the first time Hayon’s work has cast anchor in Japan (more on this and a recent history of Spanish design in Japan HERE ), it does mark the first original product line that was conceived specifically for a Japanese company.

I think the reason I am so drawn to this line of ceramics is that, while they are brimming with Hayon-esque creativity and originality, he has somehow succeeded in imbedding his work with the timeline of traditional Japanese ceramics. So much to the point where I almost sense a form of nostalgia as I look at the pieces arranged on the table.

via excite.ism

Related:

• Toyo Kitchen Spices Things Up
• Barcelona Camper Store by Jaime Hayon
• Spain Playtime – Fresh Air in Spanish Design

Consistent with one of our missions of unearthing new talent from Japan, throughout the week we will be showcasing some of our favorites from the group. First up is Tatsuya Maemura, a 30-year old product designer who  obtained his design education in Europe and, just this year, established his own design studio.

Photos by Ayu Kobayashi | click to enlarge

Cork Stool is a steel stool that is completed only when the user recorks the seat (which is actually made from cork)!

Felt envelope is a minimal, elegant case to protect your mac.

I also like the camera case that he made specifically for the Ricoh GR digital, and specifically for Ricoh GR digital users – a breed of photographers, he believes, who have always been captivated by the compactness and stability of the product.