i just got back from a stamp exhibit at tokyo midtown’s design hub gallery – dozens are artists were commissioned to create stamps for the email age, when they become purely objects of art. i am still mesmerized by nagai kentaro’s piece together for peace, a collection of twelve stamps which recreate the chinese zodiac […]
Author Archives: leo
ipods cause cancer
i first saw japan tobacco’s surreal ‘tobacco etiquette‘ advertising campaign five years ago in the tokyo subway, and i thought it was just a unique and japanese way of discouraging smoking by appealing to a sense of communal responsibility. only yesterday did i see that the anti-smoking vignettes are interspersed with totally unrelated advice against […]
Posted in 2d, marketing, possessed products, visualization
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pop-up catalog
i discovered issey miyake‘s haat store in aoyama (tokyo) – a line of clothing that, unlike pleats please and APOC, is totally dependent on hand-craft. the elaborately wrought pieces are made by hand either in india or japan. the line is designed by makiko minagawa, miyake’s long-time textile designer, and the focus is on the […]
font quiz
gabriel blue cira designed font flash cards for graphic designers and other ‘yupsters’ (between yuppies and hipsters). he might even make you a set or sell them one day at yupsta.com.
Posted in 2d, futurecraft, visualization
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company history
visiting DNP headquarters in gotanda (tokyo) this past week i was reminded of the japanese corporate custom of maintaining a prominent exhibit about the company’s history, its roots, regardless of how far they’ve come. at 130 years old the company is commonplace in japan, where there are over 50,000 corporations older than 100 years. beyond […]
Posted in marketing, open objects, product design, soft/glowing
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font building blocks
yesterday i stopped by the bruno munari show in shiodome-italia and among all of the design classics one design stood out for me: alfabeto e fantasia, a set of tiles for children to write, but instead of using already-made letters, it relies on geometric primitives from which to compose – and invent – characters. of […]
Posted in 2d, children, fabrication, futurecraft, open objects, product design, tangible
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museum lab
yesterday i visited dai nippon printing’s exhibit in gotanda (tokyo) called louvre museum lab – a series of interactive installations built around titian’s madonna of the rabbit. the interfaces are big and beautiful, so even though most of the curatorial content in available on-line, experiencing the museum lab in person is completely necessary. one interface […]
Posted in animation, art, exhibit design, open objects, tangible, visualization
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dinner demons
do you ever feel like things are out of control? the virtual reality laboratory at tokyo institute of technology (no acronym) have discovered one reason: tiny ‘brownies’ called kobito are pushing stuff around. you can finally see them at work through the newly developed “kobito window,” a screen that shows them pushing your tea around […]
Posted in evil robots, furniture, livingbreathing, possessed products, product design, tangible
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