If you’re fond of architecture then Tokyo is a must see. Great architecture is so inspireing to me and it always inspires me whether it’s to fold a brochure differently or to choose a material. In Tokyo you will find so many great buildings, a lot of them heavily inspired by origami. Just check out the Audi bulding on Meiji-dori, a street running through the shopping area in Harajuku, or the Bvulgari building (one of my personal faves) on Omotesando. The Japanese appreciation of shape and simplicity definitely comes through and I love how it is not only huge buildings but also smaller recidential houses that are original. Check out this great selection.
The Audi building on Meiji-dori.
Tod’s building on Omotesando.
Prada building in Aoyama.
Bvlgari building on Omotesando.
Selection of smaller house inTokyo.
Whenever I’m at the airport I love going through the perfumery. It’s not so much that I’m a girlie girl who buys loads of make up and perfume when I travel, I just love to look at the packaging. This time my eye stopped at the new perfume from Paco Rabanne. I also found another great sample in Isetan department store in Tokyo. It’s a collaboration between Monocle (yes, the magazine) and Japanese fashion gurus Comme des Garcons (French name aside they ARE Japanese). Lovely, aren’t they? I also really like the format of the bottle on the Prada smell l’eau Ambrée but I don’t for the life of me understand the placing of the fabric label on top of the logo, one of them is plenty, otherwise they should have made the print on the box more into a pattern or a big crop of the logo. Are you listening Prada people?
Ok, truth be told being an associate professor at a design school doesn’t exactly afford me to stay in a fancy hotel like the Park Hyatt in Tokyo. But I was able to go to the Conran Shop near Tokyo Station and have a glance at what the rich people nibble on in their expensive suites. Because Park Hyatt even has their own line of delicacy products. I love the simplicity of the design, but it does bug me a little that they didn’t follow their concept with strict precission. Why is the label horisontal on some things and vertical on others? Having said that the juice bottle in the hamper was absolutely gorgeous with a thin band running up the thin triangular bottle.
One of my fave shops in Tokyo is a childrens bookstore called Crayonhouse. I am not usually a fan of childrens’ books, I really detest the dull watercoloured illustrations that you see in most of the ones you get in Danish libraries. But you can’t imagine the amount of fantastic childrens’ books in this place, all beautifully illustrated. I always fall for the totally simple and clean ones, they are so well done and I could use each spread as a composition example in my teaching. So here’s just a selection from 3 books I bought.
Yes, I did do quite a bit of shopping in Tokyo, but I also had to see a lot of shops PURELY for their interiors (yes, that is my excuse!) Just look at these fabulous interiors.
Diesel shop in Aoyama.
Godiva shop on Meiji-dori.
Niel Barratt store in Aoyama.
Nike flagship store on Omotesando.
Swarovski store in Ginza.
OK I’m back from a great trip to Japan. My back is litteraly aching from all the good stuff I was carrying home. So I figured I’d share a few Japan related things with you and first up is an ad I saw while standing on an overcrowded train going back to the hotel in Shinjuku after a busy day.
Panasonic made quite a cool website and ads for their new range and I love how the CMYK colourrange is so effectful.
Visit the site (in Japanese): http://panasonic.jp/pp/
Ending the week with an origami poster (perhaps not quite fittingly) from Italian designers Iknoki. I love how it’s very simple and the only motif is the lines that occur from the folding.
See more by Iknoki.
Bovey Lee is a paper artist from Hong Kong currently based in Pittsburgh. She does wonderful intricate cutouts and I just can’t wrap my mind around how much precision and patience this must take. Very impressive! I also love the spatial feel you get from the shades on the wall behind the cutout.
See more: http://www.boveylee.com/
I have a weakness for things executed in totally foreign media. Like this paper guns by Postlerferguson. Somehow it doesn’t seam very threatning anymore when you standing with a gun that weighs close to nothing and which will break if you put pressure on it. They remind me a little of Danish artist Hanne G who knitted all kinds of horrible weapons.
Visit Postlerferguson.
WOW! If you have not yet seen this little number from the New Zealand Book Council then you are in for a treat. Colenso BBDO and Andersen M Studios made this beautiful video to promote books and reading. I think it’s such a clever yet very straight forward way of getting their point across. When you read a book the story really does come alive using you own imagination and I think this movie portrays that perfectly.
Inspiration Lab 