- Yes, it’s that time of the year again, Tokyo Design Week is just around the corner, this year kicking off on a Friday instead of the traditional Wednesday, running October 30 to November 3. Best way to find out about everything that’s going on is to pick up the guides to the events — they should be popping up around town soon — and of course to check out the official event websites: DesignTide, 100% Design Tokyo, Tokyo Designers Week, Swedish Style, and Design Touch.
- So instead of “Happening in Tokyo” event posts, time to start some “Happening in TDW” ones. I still don’t know how much I’ll be able to take in because of my back (it’s much better, if still painful at times), but I’m still going to try and sample as much as I can.
- Currently I’m most looking forward to the DesignTide opening party on Friday night (although I believe it’s not a public event). It’s always a good opportunity to get a first glimpse at everything, and chat up the attendees.
- More of a pre-TDW event, this month’s PechaKucha Night in Tokyo (Vol. 66) happens this Wednesday (October 28), and it will of course have a TDW flavor to it. This will also be the first PKN I attend in quite a few months, so happy to be able to join up with team PKN again.
- Berlin’s DMY will be participating at DesignTide, with products and prototypes from 14 Berlin-based designers.
- Designboom presents Hermès Paris: “A design adventure from high-quality bags to helicopters and yachts, an online graphic competition for the upcoming tie collection and the world preview in Tokyo of new high-tech suitcases. A presentation of the most recent development inside the Hermès design department, and a Q&A with design director of Hermès Gabriele Pezzini conducted by Birgit Lohmann (Designboom).” It happens at the design conference/forum space at the 100% Design Tokyo venue in Jingu Gaien on October 31 (12:00-13:00).
- And of course, don’t miss the Designboom Mart, again a part of 100% Design Tokyo.
Month: October 2009
Kenya Hara designs the identity for next year’s Setouchi International Art Festival.
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Mobile Dining
Great furniture design by Nobuhiro Teshima dating back to 2006: the Mobile Dining stowaway table. It not only folds away, the height is also adjustable. Via Boing Boing.
Created for Kyouei‘s “Rain” exhibition during the Taiwan Design Expo ’09, the Endless Rain Record does just what its name implies: plays the sound of rain endlessly — the grooves on the vinyl form a circle.
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TiltShift Generator for iPhone
Something else I should have posted ages ago: the release of Takayuki Fukatsu‘s TiltShift Generator for iPhone (it was previously released as a desktop app). I’m a huge fan of all of Fukatsu’s iPhone photo apps, and have been having fun with this one as well.
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iPhone Bicycle Navigation System
Here’s a pretty interesting project in which Tokyo-based Ubiquitous Entertainment put together a navigation system that mounts an iPhone on a cycling helmet, with the display running into an eyepiece. Thanks to the device’s compass — if you have a 3GS that is — everything orients correctly as you move your head around. Via Core77.
A bit late on this — got lost in my “things to post” list — but last month TABlog covered the opening of the new Yuka Contemporary gallery. It’s located in a neighborhood around Waseda University — so just a bike ride away from my house — that used to be known for washi production.
The next exhibition, “Dream Conscious,” is a show curated by Kosuke Tsumura of Monaka, “an experimental unit […] that explores the potential of fashion outside of clothing” (November 6 to December 12).
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New Board from OPEN
A new planned design at OPEN Skateboards, an homage to designer Kiyoshi Awazu, by Ian Lynam.
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Time for Coffee
Some nice minimalist packaging for bottled coffee. Via FFFFOUND!
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More on Kindle in Japan
The Japan Times has an article that takes a good look at the arrival of the Kindle in Japan, and the challenges it will face in getting Japanese publishers to contribute to the device. Via Japan Probe, which also includes a bit on how to avoid the international book price mark-up.