Category: Art & Design

  • Vegeo Vegeco

    I absolutely love the simple design of the new Vegeo Vegeco shop — and no wonder, since it was designed by Masamichi Katayama. The company behind it started by selling produce from the Kyushu region online, and now on top of this physical store (in Tokyo’s Nezu neighborhood), they also offer an app called Vegery…

  • Legoland Japan

    I remember visiting the original Legoland in Denmark as a kid, back in the days where there was only one Legoland, and it was quite the treat. On April 1, Legoland Japan is opening in Nagoya, and as you’d expect, there are quite a few Japan-centric constructed models. Via Spoon & Tamago, and this Sankei…

  • 99+1 Japan

    99+1 Japan is a beautiful new guide produced by the Japan National Tourism Organization that takes the form of a website and book (which is also available as a downloadable PDF). The focus here is on art, design, and architecture, and from the browsing I did on the website, the choices are, well, quite choice. I…

  • This Town

    “Konomachi: This Town,” an illustrated piece by Erica Ward.

  • Corinthians

    Very happy to see my buddy Ian Lynam, along with Renna Okubo, launch Corinthians, “a Tokyo art & design curatorial practice.” I expect great things from these two.

  • Papers, Please

    The latest edition of my old “On: Design” column in the Japan Times is made up of a rather nice selection of paper-related goods.

  • Trademarking Color Palettes

    The blue, white, and black stripes of the Mono plastic eraser are indeed classic, and the Japanese government is now officially recognizing this fact, allowing the first trademarks placed on color palettes — along with the iconic 7-Eleven colors. More in this Spoon & Tamago post.

  • Miyazaki, An Art Show Tribute

    “Miyazaki – An Art Show Tribute” was an exhibition held at San Francisco’s Spoke Art gallery this past month, and luckily we can browse through all of the pieces (and even buy them) on the gallery’s site. Pictured, Justin Hillgrove’s “Miyazaki Totems.” Found via Booooooom.

  • Don’t Go Outside: Tokyo Street Photos

    This is a Kickstarter for a photography book by Sean Bonner that I came to late, but I’m glad to see it got funded. Looks like a rather nice project, and I imagine it may become available again once it gets published.

  • PechaKucha of the Day

    I’m so happy to see this come out, a PechaKucha app! It’s a super simple idea, to have an app that shares a new PechaKucha presentation each day, and having played with it for a bit, it does just as advertised, with minimum fuss. I especially like the portrait images used for that day’s presentation…