My Kami-Robo Birdman figure! This is a plastic version of the paper craft series, but you still get to put it together yourself, and then apply stickers on top (I bought it a few weeks ago at the KDDI Designing Studio). Today, after I catch the “By Design” program at Resfest, I’ll try to drop by Omotesando Hills for the “Kami-Robo Entertainment Expo.” Also, a couple of weeks ago there was a late-night TV show that profiled Kami-Robo creator Tomohiro Yasui, with the hosts visiting his studio, and getting tips on creating paper robot fighters of their own.
Month: November 2006
This Week at Gridskipper
You can read all of my Gridskipper posts here (or even subscribe to a feed).
Well, now I know why the Uniqlo Soho store in NYC has a better t-shirt collection than what we get here:
The long awaited UNIQLO SOHO NY Shop finally opened on November 10th. In the massive 1000㎡ flagship store, the biggest eye catcher product for the opening was the Japanese Pop Culture Project T-shirts displayed at the entrance. Gas As I/F joined this project and had 13 artists with relation with Gas to participate. Participating artists: Adapter, POWER GRAPHIXX, Enlightenment, Katsuki Tanaka, Hiroshi Iguchi, Hideki Inaba, Tomoki Kurokawa, ten_do_ten, Tomoo Gokita, Keiichi Tanaami, KYOTARO, enamel. The opening party turned out to be a fantastic unveiling ceremony with Tomoyuki Tanaka as the DJ and beautiful food by the popular Chef Morimoto. The local media all gathered at the grand opening on the 10th and people lined up before the opening. The T-shirts designed by Japanese artists were very popular with the New Yorkers and many bought 5-6 T-shirts at once. If you have a chance to go to NY, please go and check out the latest T-shirts at UNIQLO. For more detailed info, take a look at UNIQLO’s website. (Atmosphere)
O.Lamm and Marxy
Enjoying nabe at OK Fred HQ with O.Lamm and Marxy.
The first Muji Award results have been announced, with the grand prize going to Yoh Komiyama’s “A Cast-off Skin” (pictured above). All silver and bronze winners get listed on the award site, and you’ll be able to see everything on display at the Yurakucho store’s Atelier Muji exhibition space starting today, until January 9.
I love these illustrations by Shu-Thang Grafix for a Reiku (or Lake, a Japanese loan company) pamphlet, showing “The master of manner Lakeman” in action!
Get ready for some more Kami-Robo fun, as they get ready to invade Omotesando Hills (B3F Multipurpose Space) this coming weekend (November 25-26). Looks like it’s going to be a mix of retail, workshops, and some 40-minute matches (with real pro-wrestlers) held twice each night, at 17:00 and 19:30.
I mentioned the Uniqlo “Designers Invitation Project” the other day in my “An Afternoon in Ikebukuro” post, and pictured above is the tag that comes with the clothes in the collection. The reverse side has info, both in English and Japanese, on the designer (in this case, Scye). Next up is Mint Designs (for women) and Iliad (for men), with collections that will become available December 1 (you can already view them online).
I know how difficult it is to find work in the art and design industries here in Tokyo/Japan — believe me, I get plenty of mail on the subject — especially if you don’t speak Japanese, and now Tokyo Art Beat gets ready to lend a helping hand with the launch of a job board — they’re even offering 20 free listings before the December 1 launch date!
Taking inspiration from a recent trend in the US IT industry, Tokyo Art Beat has debuted a new section: “Jobs.” Jobs is a new job board that will launch on the 1st of December with job offers specially targeted at the dynamic community of Art & Design professionals that read Tokyo Art Beat.
Finding the right job in our industries is a difficult endeavor, with too few tools specifically targeted at us. We want to make TAB Jobs this new tool, where companies can advertise directly to their core target and where we can easily find jobs specific to our skills.
– It will be bilingual and nationwide, where offers can be posted in Japanese or English only, or both.
– It will be easy to post and browse, using the same design that has made TAB so great to use. Categories will include: Art, Print/Photo, Web/IT, Space/Product, Screen/AV, Business, Other.
– It will be affordable: only 20,000 yen for a 30 day job listing. All proceeds support the future of TAB, a non-profit service of GADAGO NPO.So if you are looking for staff, please contact us! We are currently offering 20 free posts! (IN-duce)
PingMag interviews Eiko Tanaka of Studio 4C about the new BLACK & WHITE (TEKKON KINKREET) animated adaptation of Taiyo Matsumoto’s classic manga. Catch the premiere tomorrow night at Resfest Japan!