This month’s edition of my “On Design” column for THE JAPAN TIMES was in today’s paper, and can also be read online here. Instead of the usual round-up of products, I take a look at the upcoming Tokyo Design Week, and then finish up with a few comments on the recently announced Good Design Award.

The site for Creative GBG — the event we will be hosting at Cafe Pause this year in collaboration with Swedish Style — is now up. More info will be added over the next week or so, but for now you’ll already find details on participating creators.

REC YOU is a new online campaign for the latest SONY Walkman — it uses the One Seg function, popular these days on mobile phones. It looks like you can send a portrait — you’ll find more details at the REC YOU site — which will then be used later on as the project progresses. The video I’ve included in this post is a viral CM that’s part of the campaign.

CINA are a Tokyo-based New Zealand design collective, and they send me word that they’ll be a part of this year’s Designboom Mart at 100% Design Tokyo, selling tote bags like the one pictured in this post — nine designs will be available.

Remember those SpeakerDog papercrafts I obsessed over back in August? It seems like Josh McKible — friend of PauseTalk — also really liked the idea, and so he decided to do something with it, incorporating his own obsession with birds. The result? PaperBirds, which you download, print, and cut! He already has a few designs he did himself, but he’s also on the lookout for contributing artists. You can be sure that the ones already available will soon be joining my Speakerdog posse at Cafe Pause.

If you haven’t already, you still have time to cast your vote (until October 24) for your favorite t-shirt design at the UT Grand Prix 08.

I’ve just been through one of the worse weekends ever. A trip to Osaka mixed with a nasty cold — my first cold of the year though — means that I’m behind on my mail correspondence, promised posts, etc. I’m getting better, but still not back to normal, so it’s going to take time to get back on track. If I’m to try and find a positive in this, it’s that at least it happened now instead of during Tokyo Design Week!

Bianca Beuttel continues her series on Japanese packaging design over at PingMag, this time covering Good Design Award winners for functionality and eco concerns.

A reader sent me a link to this article, and I’m having trouble believing THE NEW YORK TIMES would publish something like this. Camouflage vending machine costumes? Come on, this is fodder for tabloids or even THE ONION.

PingMag interviews designer Hironao Tsuboi, of the 100% unit.

Designboom has started previewing their Designboom Mart, presented again this year as part of 100% Design Tokyo (October 31 to November 5). First up, Kouichi Okamoto and his Umbrella Pot.

Today marks the 5th anniversary of Chin Music Press! Congrats to all those involved, and here’s hoping for many, many more birthdays. How to celebrate? Why not purchase one (or more) of their books!

Alin Huma has jumped aboard the podcast wagon, and things are looking good with a third episode of his Radio Kabe series now out. I haven’t listened to this new one yet — I’m downloading it right now — but episode 2 was great.

This week’s Tokyo post for MoCo Loco covers Keiji Ashizawa‘s prototype Gravity Light, Jo Nagasaka‘s Kurage light, Yuta Watanabe‘s ceramic remote control, and the upcoming “Deroll” exhibition.

• Soba Kichi
• Billboard Live Tokyo
• The ‘Monocle’ Quality of Life Index
• Timberland Shibuya

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