iida new product release party

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.