Category — Web Sites

Fashion designer Issey Miyake has a spanking new website designed by Shun Kawakami of Artless.

Tama Art University, commonly referred to as Tamabi, is a prestigious art school – the RISD of Tokyo – that has produced several notable artists and designers, including Naoto Fukasawa and Issey Miyake. Therefore, we like to pay attention to some of the young artists being churned out of this educational system. With less than 1 month till the exhibition, Tamabi’s information design department has launched a website showcasing the work of their graduating seniors. The work will be on display at Modapolitica in Minami-Aoyama from March 12th – 14th. Here as some pieces that caught my eye.
* denotes titles translated arbitrarily by the author

“Subterranean Fear*” by Masaya Noguchi
A proposed redesign of sidewalks the recreates the fleeting sense of fear one experiences when something unexpected appears below their feet.

“Oripica” by Shion Suminokura
When was the last time you made origami by folding light?

“Calorie Trade Project” by Yoshie Takahashi
An En-Chari (Entertainment-Chrity) project that allows the user to reallocate their own calories to children in Kenya.

“Multiple Perspectives of the Pacific War*” by Mayu Fujimaki
A computer-based reenactment of events of the Pacific War. The user, as he or she engages with the system, is prompted to view events of the war from multiple perspectives.

Related:

• Tamabi’s BFA show from last year

screen shots. click to enlarge

Considering the proliferation of iPods amongst…well, pretty much everyone, I’m surprised that no one has tapped into the customized earphones market. Based out of Tokyo and launched in 2009, Kotori claims to be the only company in the world to offer such a service. For just 3,600 yen the user-friendly interface guides you through the process of color-customizing up to 10 components to create your very own unique set of earphones. They also let you choose from a bunch of themes or, if you are lazy like me, hit the crazy shuffle button for randomized action.

Concerned about compromising sound quality? Don’t be. Kotori is a service launched by Fostex, the Japanese manufacturer of audio equipment, who is single-handedly responsible for the ubiquitous white iPod earphones.

(thanks seki riu!)

In order to counteract his plummeting popularity, as of January 1, 2010, Yukio Hatoyama – the prime minister of Japan – has set up a blog and twitter account in order to reach out to the general public. It was all done under the creative direction of Yuji Tokuda (I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t include that tid-bit of design intel), who incorporated the pigeon into the design. Hatoyama literally means pigeon mountain.

Tokuda has added a disclaimer on his website saying he is not affiliated with, nor does he necessarily support, the Democratic Party of Japan.

Related:

• I LOHAS by Yuji Tokuda
• Yuji Tokuda for Suntory
• Yuji Tokuda | Art Director
• Retired Weapons by Yuji Tokuda

Wow…Japanese architecture firm Wonderwall has updated their website with some insane Flash maneuvers. Not only is it super-fun to navigate, it’s extremely intuitive. The site was designed by star digital designer Yugo Nakamura, who can also be accredited with working on sites for Muji, Uniqlo and ffffound (there’s a nice interview with him over on Creative Review).

via kitsune noir

I had a nice chuckle today reading through Christoph Niemann’s latest post in his New York Times’ blog. I can especially relate to his thoughts on sleeping with your kids and how the initial sweet cuddling quickly manifests itself into a problematic reality.

Happy Friday! I’ve been giving my own personal preview of the Good Design Awards throughout the week and I’ll be wrapping up with the Digital Content category today. It would be cool if some of my picks end up winning but I don’t have very high expectations…

Website: LINK
Client: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Tech
Designer: Business Architects
Government agencies, by nature, are distant and somewhat mysterious. MEXT wanted to change that perception and help people understand what they really do. The result is a fun and inviting website that includes tons of statistics and documents archived in an interactive format that encourages people to make their own discoveries.

Website: LINK
Client: Hamano Bags
Designer: Risky Brand
Hamano, perhaps one of Japan’s oldest maker of luxury leather goods, was first established in 1880 but had been making leather sword holders for the samurai even before that. Clients included Princess Dianna and other notable royalty, making their brand an obsession amongst the wealthy. The relaunching of their  brand via a new website symbolizes an important move in increasing their presence among their European counterparts.

Related:

• Good Design Awards | Part 1
• Good Design Awards | Part 2
• Good Design Awards | Part 3
• Good Design Awards | Part 4

First of all, an apology for 2 consecutive MUJI-related posts. But I was browsing through the TIAA (Tokyo interactive ad awards) announced last month and am totally loving this MUJI website called PLAY MUJI. Using a calendar format, a new product is unveiled each day accompanied by a cute video that visually describes the product.

You can view the entire list of award winners HERE.

The oh so blogger-friendly site also allows you to generate java script code that you can use to blog about it. Overall awesome aesthetic and superfun. But it only won a silver in the corporate website category.

What a  long-awaited iPhone app! The new Sushi Menu Book (iTunes) would be so helpful when you’re sitting at the counter of a posh sushi joint. If you’ve ever been to one of these places you’ll know that they never have menus. Gone are the days of ordering the osusume (ie: whatever the chef wants you to eat).

Released by Rightning Inc, the app is based on this book, which retails for about $13, into this app, which you can download for $4.

I was browsing through this neat tool that allows you to see the front pages of newspapers from all around the world. I know a plane crash is no laughing matter, but I couldn’t help doing a double take on this headline from, of all places, New Zealand, that reads “Kiwi Expert Joins Crash Inquiry.”

I now realize that “Kiwi” was meant to refer to a person of New Zealand origin, but at first I had these funny images of someone rummaging through plane crash debris looking for kiwifruit.

via Open Culture