To celebrate our beloved PingMag’s third anniversary, we started shopPingMag two months ago. Why? Because you, cherished readership, have been patiently waiting to finally lay your hands on goods from Japan through our very own online shop! And thanks to the many comments from you, we are constantly trying to improve it to get more cute items in. From today, we will serve you our suggestions to keep you up to date every month. A little hint: Since the holiday season is approaching fast, there are some fancy gadgets…
Written by Ayana
Translated by Kevin Mcgue
MicroWorks: It’s all about playfulness!
Participating in quite a lot of design events around Tokyo, Shunsuke Umiyama works with design label MicroWorks. Their playful products pay a lot of attention to often overlooked details (study the images below a bit.) In shopPingMag, you will find MicroWork’s humorous versions of ordinary items, such as key rings, files, hangers, and chopsticks, of course. And since it’s getting winter, coming in out of the cold and hanging your coat on hanger that greets you with a bird perched on top, cheers you up for sure! Or how about carrying around a paper file shaped like a business bag to spice up the work routine? Check out the new MicroWorks goodies over here !
Tsukikageya: Get your own punk yukata!
Last year, we showed you Tsukikageya’s wild and colourful punk yukata. Now it’s your chance to get them on shopPingMag! Fashion designer Natsuki Shigeta updates these traditional garments with rock ‘n’ roll leopard skin designs, kiss marks and heart designs. Her obi belts are truly original, featuring pictures of Tokyo together with Swarovski crystals, and got her quite some attention internationally. In shopPingMag, you will find not only yukata and obi, but also handkerchiefs in the same designs as the yukata, wooden geta sandals with colourful straps, neon pink earrings, and tons of other funky accessories! Tsukikageya’s shop is here!
NOOKA: Stylish watches over here!
A little while ago, we introduced you to the hypermodern NOOKA watches by New York-based Matthew Waldman who was also exposed at last year’s Design Tide, and in select shops around Japan. Guess what, NOOKA has now a shop on shopPingMag too! These popular watches have colourful, unique ways to show you the time. These watches don’t have hands pointing at numbers, or even digital numbers displaying time! Their displays look like mathematical graphs, really giving you the feeling of time passing visually. So, why not go back to using a good old wristwatch? By the way, this light green watch in the image below was designed for the Japanese market exclusively (in the official colour of the Yokohama Triennale,) in a limited edition of 500. Do we need to say more? The special NOOKA watches are over here!
Notofusai: A cool Tee for the first impression!
Shikisai is a T-shirt brand from design duo Notofusai, and is often found in museum gift shops. But now, you can get these minimalist graphics from us too! How about a motif that features an aesthetically pleasing vacuum cleaner in black ink on a white shirt? At first glance, this might seem a bit simple. However if you look closely, you see the hose seems to be sucking in the hem of the shirt! Another motif depicts an illustration of Venetian blinds with a cord hanging down. If you pull the cord, the blinds actually go up! See more of Notofusai’s Tees here!
Nonaca: More art into your four walls!
Nonaca is a Tokyo-based company that focuses on integrating contemporary art and design into living and commercial spaces, meaning limited edition and original artworks by Japanese artists on your wall. Currently, they feature the Magical Brothers, Jiro Noguchi with ceramics and Kazumasa Noguchi with paintings. Jiro`s most recent series includes hand-made, limited edition ceramic cups, bowls and plates glazed with palladium and gold. Kazumasa has a produced an acrylic on board series, with the first one titled “Cat and Mouse” in a limited edition of 100. Over here, please!
We just showed you Cochae’s utterly artful origami magic. Now, Cochae is selling their paper selections for one month only at shopPingMag, so hurry! There are paper designs for doing the most simple origami, such as cranes and traditional armoured helmets, as well as paper for making complex things such as their sweet matryoshka dolls! Why not try this nice update on traditional origami? We truly recommend the Cochae Set which includes all of the paper varieties. For Cochae, come over here!
Clunky Design: The Ready-To-Assemble Plastic Model Ring!
Design unit Clunky Design was also recently on Ping. They create do-it-yourself plastic ring kits for your unique, changeable jewellery! And it’s so easy, simply snap the plastic parts together! And you can constantly rearrange the color combinations for your eternal satisfaction. For Clunky Design’s futuristic plastic ring kits, come over here!
Ah, we are sure you found something to suit your taste by now! Don’t forget, Xmas is upon us soon…
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