What happens when 3 creative all-stars come together to create a designy educational TV show for kids? I found out when I recently came across design ah (デザインあ), a new show that airs on NHK, Japan’s public broadcasting network.
“lets play with ah”: an interactive website by Yugo Nakamura that just launched yesterday. Launch website.
Much in the same way that their PythagoraSwitch segment uses everyday mundane objects to create intricate, overly-engineered Rube Goldberg machines, design ah (ah is the first letter in the Japanese alphabet) aims to rethink everyday objects from a design perspective in order to educate children and adults on the joys of design. Producers of the show invited graphic designer Taku Satoh, musician Cornelius and interface designer Yugo Nakamura to create 10 different segments that span themes of observation and sound to deconstruction and vantage point.
Observation: A unique and visually enticing deep dive into everyday objects like pencils and cake (I wish cake was everyday!)
Deconstruction: a fun look at the parts and pieces of objects like a deck of cards or a stapler.
Design encompasses several categories including industrial design, graphic design, clothing design, character design, architectural design and lighting design. But, at their core, all these disciplines share a common objective of understanding the essence of an object and then making it easier to use, or more beautiful or more soothing. In other words, design is a process of observing, understanding and then acting to enhance our connection between objects and people. This show aims at rethinking everyday objects from a design perspective in order to educate children and adults on the joys of design.
Design ah airs on Saturday from 7:00pm.
source: twitter
June 22, 2011 at 10:46 am
This looks so interesting. Language barriers aside!
March 4, 2013 at 7:18 pm
Very cool. Thanks for this one.