THE BRIDGE

Design

Japan’s Fotofig lets you make a 3D Mini-Me with your smartphone camera

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In recent months there are more and more great 3D printing projects popping up here in Japan. But here’s a fun consumer services that aims to make the process a little but easier. Fotofig lets you create a miniature human figure simply by sending in photos of a somebody taken from different angles. It’s a figure created from photos, hence the clever name ‘Fotofig’. You need to capture every side of your subject, getting a clear image from the front, the back, and from the left and the right. The service then creates a digital composite that can then be printed as a plaster figure. Created by House of Art, the Fotofig process is now in beta, accepting orders from customers who would like to create their own ‘Mini Me’ or perhaps a model of their child. The size of the figures range from 15cm to 25cm, ranging in price from 39,800 yen (about $400) to process the data and print a 15cm figure, to 64,800 for a 25cm size. To process the data only, it will require 29,800 yen. An optional pedestal is also available, as is extra finishing. Given Japan’s fascination with smartphone photo services, I expect we…

fotofig-3d-printing

In recent months there are more and more great 3D printing projects popping up here in Japan. But here’s a fun consumer services that aims to make the process a little but easier. Fotofig lets you create a miniature human figure simply by sending in photos of a somebody taken from different angles. It’s a figure created from photos, hence the clever name ‘Fotofig’.

You need to capture every side of your subject, getting a clear image from the front, the back, and from the left and the right. The service then creates a digital composite that can then be printed as a plaster figure.

Created by House of Art, the Fotofig process is now in beta, accepting orders from customers who would like to create their own ‘Mini Me’ or perhaps a model of their child.

kitchen-3d-printing-figure-japan

The size of the figures range from 15cm to 25cm, ranging in price from 39,800 yen (about $400) to process the data and print a 15cm figure, to 64,800 for a 25cm size. To process the data only, it will require 29,800 yen. An optional pedestal is also available, as is extra finishing.

Given Japan’s fascination with smartphone photo services, I expect we will continue to see even more services like Fotofig that involve 3D printing in the future.

Other places in Japan that have offered similar 3D figure services, such as Omote 3D pop-up store.

(Source: Fotofig, via the always excellent VS Media)

Japanese online learning platform to create a new generation of car designers

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Photo via Car Design Academy Online education platforms are getting a lot of attention these days, and that includes here in Japan. There are platforms like Dot Install or Qiita for programmers, and services like Schoo that use online videos to teach a variety of subjects. But there another online school that has launched in Japan which is a little different from the rest. It’s called Car Design Academy. As the name of the school suggests, this is an online school where students can learn the many methods and techniques for designing cars. In the domestic car industry — and perhaps even outside of Japan too — nurturing the next generation of car designers is a serious challenge. This school was built to address this very problem, and to create new talents with design skills for the car industry. The supervisor and instructor of the class is world famous car designer, Noriyoshi Kurihara. He joined Honda back in 1975 where he began his career designing two-wheel vehicles. He went on to design for Renault, Porche, and many domestic and international manufacturers. He established DCI, his first design company, in 1985, and in 2001, he founded Nori where he designs and…

Car-Design-AcademyPhoto via Car Design Academy

Online education platforms are getting a lot of attention these days, and that includes here in Japan. There are platforms like Dot Install or Qiita for programmers, and services like Schoo that use online videos to teach a variety of subjects. But there another online school that has launched in Japan which is a little different from the rest. It’s called Car Design Academy.

As the name of the school suggests, this is an online school where students can learn the many methods and techniques for designing cars. In the domestic car industry — and perhaps even outside of Japan too — nurturing the next generation of car designers is a serious challenge. This school was built to address this very problem, and to create new talents with design skills for the car industry.

The supervisor and instructor of the class is world famous car designer, Noriyoshi Kurihara. He joined Honda back in 1975 where he began his career designing two-wheel vehicles. He went on to design for Renault, Porche, and many domestic and international manufacturers. He established DCI, his first design company, in 1985, and in 2001, he founded Nori where he designs and works consulting jobs.

cardesign-workAt Car Design Academy, students can learn about sketching techniques and the kind of styling design necessary in designing cars. The class will consist of texts and videos, and there will be assignments given to students in every class. Upon submitting their assignments, students’ work will be evaluated by designers at Nori Inc, including Kurihara.

The program at Car Design Academy will consist of a total of 24 classes beginning on August 5th. The fee is 250,000 yen (or about $2500), but the first 30 students to sign up receive a discounted price of 198,000 yen. For more information about the world’s first online car design school, you can check out its Facebook page. There are lots of great car design photos shared, so it’s definitely worth a look.

Designing for Women: 10 of the Cutest Color Palettes from Japan

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Over the past few months, we have written about what we see as a trend coming from Japanese mobile developers: The country is exceptionally good at creating cute web services and apps that appeal to women [1]. On a visual level, a lot of these cute Japanese services possess many of the same qualities. And when it comes to choosing color schemes, that means lots of pinks, pastels, and other soft tones. I thought it would be good to collect some color palettes from Japanese services that are popular with women. For designers out there who are creating web services or apps for ladies, especially ones in Japan, do take note of the choices here when deciding your own color schemes [2]. Here they are, in no particular order: 1. Fril ¶ Fril is a flea market app for female students in high school or college. It encourages users to sell their unwanted clothes online. It was created by Fablic Inc. More on Fril in our database. Color Sample Color Code #ff899a #ffd2d2 #fef6e4 #e9f7f5 #695d53 2. iQon ¶ iQon is an online fashion coordination service. It allows users to create their favorite looks using photos of accessories and dresses…

japanese-girl-color-palettes

Over the past few months, we have written about what we see as a trend coming from Japanese mobile developers: The country is exceptionally good at creating cute web services and apps that appeal to women [1]. On a visual level, a lot of these cute Japanese services possess many of the same qualities. And when it comes to choosing color schemes, that means lots of pinks, pastels, and other soft tones.

I thought it would be good to collect some color palettes from Japanese services that are popular with women. For designers out there who are creating web services or apps for ladies, especially ones in Japan, do take note of the choices here when deciding your own color schemes [2].

Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Fril

Fril is a flea market app for female students in high school or college. It encourages users to sell their unwanted clothes online. It was created by Fablic Inc.

More on Fril in our database.

Color Sample Color Code
#ff899a
#ffd2d2
#fef6e4
#e9f7f5
#695d53

2. iQon

iQon is an online fashion coordination service. It allows users to create their favorite looks using photos of accessories and dresses available on the website.

More on iQon in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#fa3599
#fff0f4
#f4f4f4
#fdfdfd
#c2b8bb

3. Papelook

Papelook is a mobile photo app that allows users to create their own collages. Users can easily cut out objects by tracing it with their finger, and then rearrange it with other snippets into elaborate photo collages.

More on Papelook in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#adde6b
#ee99aa
#f3ede8
#49bbcc
#d7ccb9

4. CocoPPa

CocoPPa is a cute mobile app that lets you collaboratively create cute iPhone homescreens. It offers a platform where users around the world can share and collaborate on these kind of designs.

More on CocoPPa in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#642E16
#FFA7BF
#F6EBD9
#C79968
#FFE8EB

5. Snapeee

Snapeee is a photo decorating and sharing app for iOS and Android. It allows users to alter and decorate their pictures using over 4000 decoration themes.

More on Snapeee in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#aea08d
#d2c4b0
#9FE0E6
#fdd1c9
#d9d3c9

6. @Cosme

@Cosme (pronounced ‘At Cosme’) is a cosmetics and beauty products internet portal, founded back in 1999. Users can check product reviews and rankings, ask questions about skincare and makeup, and even find out where products are available offline.

More on @Cosme in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#068681
#775555
#e8e5e0
#f9f7f1
#e88d9c

7. Luna Luna

Luna Luna is a tool that helps women be more aware of their menstrual cycles. By recording your menstrual period and body temperature, it predicts suitable timings for pregnancy, or help with contraconception. The service was originally provided on featured phones, but now there are dedicated applications.

Read more on Luna Luna in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#ffbecc
#C4E0EE
#fdf4f5
#181F55
#FFFAF6

7. Decopic

Decopic is a photo application that allows users to decorate their photos with cute stamps, frames, and filters.

More on Decopic in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#723A0E
#FAA69C
#6B5954
#EEF2F0
#B29F6C

8. Nikkei Woman

Nikkei Woman Online is the internet version of a Japanese lifestyle and entertainment magazine for women in their 20s and 30s.

Color Sample Color Code
#cd4a81
#C97F89
#A7A098
#FBFBFB
#CED7E8

9. Benesse Women’s Park

Women’s Park is a review portal for mothers that launched back in 2000. The public company behind the site is Benesse, whose primary business is education.

Color Sample Color Code
#E85369
#FF7B7B
#FFFFE8
#FFECEC
#016DBF

10. Nailbook

Nailbook is Japanese photo sharing service for nail art. User can save photos by pushing “Kawaii” button.

Read more about Nailbook in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#F7342E
#FFC4D0
#FFD674
#F7F7F7
#FEE5EB

  1. Big thanks to Yukari Mitsuhashi who has written about the vast majority of all these services almost single-handedly.  ↩

  2. Another big thanks to Ricky Elrod for his clever little Color Palette Generator Ruby script which I used as a starting point for creating the color palette tables above.  ↩

Japanese design house shows a sense of humor, with fun ‘breasts t-shirt’ and more

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EcoD Works is an interesting Japanese creative design company. Currently there are only a few design works listed on the its website, but they all seem true to the company’s mission: “to create humorous art and design.” Their name, EcoD, can be read backwards as ‘Doke’, which means ‘clowning’ in Japanese. Here are a few funny products from EcoD that we think are great. Hanaga Tap ¶ EcoD Works’ ‘Hanaga Tap’ is an electrical outlet extension shaped like a person’s nose. The company explains that the beauty of the product is that is is unpractical and useless. Hanaga Tap sought 650,000 yen (or about $6,495) on Japanese crowdfunding site Campfire, but fell short of its target raising just 250,000 yen. Moso Mapping ¶ Perhaps the most famous production from EcoD Works is its Moso Mapping project. Moso means delusion in Japanese, and this red bra t-shirt was sold on the Village Vanguard online shop, selling out its first run in just three days. The product was first exibited at Tokyo Designers Week 2012. The Moso Mapping t-shirt is available for 3,600 yen (or about $36) over at Village Vanguard. You can also check out people’s reactions in the video below…

Moso-Mapping-ecoD

EcoD Works is an interesting Japanese creative design company. Currently there are only a few design works listed on the its website, but they all seem true to the company’s mission: “to create humorous art and design.” Their name, EcoD, can be read backwards as ‘Doke’, which means ‘clowning’ in Japanese. Here are a few funny products from EcoD that we think are great.

Hanaga Tap

EcoD Works’ ‘Hanaga Tap’ is an electrical outlet extension shaped like a person’s nose. The company explains that the beauty of the product is that is is unpractical and useless. Hanaga Tap sought 650,000 yen (or about $6,495) on Japanese crowdfunding site Campfire, but fell short of its target raising just 250,000 yen.

Moso Mapping

Perhaps the most famous production from EcoD Works is its Moso Mapping project. Moso means delusion in Japanese, and this red bra t-shirt was sold on the Village Vanguard online shop, selling out its first run in just three days. The product was first exibited at Tokyo Designers Week 2012.

The Moso Mapping t-shirt is available for 3,600 yen (or about $36) over at Village Vanguard. You can also check out people’s reactions in the video below as girls wearing the t-shirt walk around Tokyo’s Ginza district.

Chu-Lip

Chu-Lip is product whose name is coined term from the word ‘tulip’, some clever wordplay considering that ‘chu’ means a kiss in Japanese. You can use Chu-Lip as a vase, or drink from it using a straw. The product comes in glossy red or white, and is available for purchase over on craft website Minne for 3,360 yen (or about $34).

ChuLip-ecoD

Quick and easy DIY furniture that can adapt to your workspace

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Many of my overseas friends who visit Japan for the first time are fascinated when they see multi-story parking lots. The lack of land and the dense population forces Japan to be creative in how space is used. This is also true of housing and office space. Ofon is a kind of self-assembly furniture from Kokuyo Furniture and design studio Nendo, and is a good example of this sort of idea. The concept of Ofon is to “Fully enjoy work in a limited space.” The furniture comes in different parts, such as desks, boxes, and cabinets. Depending on the size and shape of the open space at an office, people can combine the various parts to make furniture that fits and is also functional. The design is sort of similar to Muji in taste, very simple and very minimal. Another neat point about this sort of ‘joiny’ furniture is that the components can be screwed and unscrewed using a regular 500 yen coin. Breaking down the parts is as easy as pushing a button too. It allows office furniture to be moved around and rearraged to modify the work environment, even on a daily basis if you desire. Ofon comes…

Ofon-2300Bitter

Many of my overseas friends who visit Japan for the first time are fascinated when they see multi-story parking lots. The lack of land and the dense population forces Japan to be creative in how space is used. This is also true of housing and office space. Ofon is a kind of self-assembly furniture from Kokuyo Furniture and design studio Nendo, and is a good example of this sort of idea.

The concept of Ofon is to “Fully enjoy work in a limited space.” The furniture comes in different parts, such as desks, boxes, and cabinets. Depending on the size and shape of the open space at an office, people can combine the various parts to make furniture that fits and is also functional. The design is sort of similar to Muji in taste, very simple and very minimal.

Another neat point about this sort of ‘joiny’ furniture is that the components can be screwed and unscrewed using a regular 500 yen coin. Breaking down the parts is as easy as pushing a button too. It allows office furniture to be moved around and rearraged to modify the work environment, even on a daily basis if you desire.

Ofon comes in a range of colors including woody, plain (white), pop, and bitter (black/grey). They are available for purchase over on the official Ofon website.

ofuon-nendo-furniture

Japanese underwear Kickstarter project seeks your support. Don’t expect any support in return.

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One Japanese organization has a pretty awesome Kickstarter project going on right now, trying to put the ‘fun’ back in Fundoshi, a form of traditional Japanese underwear. The effort comes from the Japanese Fundoshi Association, teaming up with Kayac and ShareFun on an initiative to create Manga Fundoshi. The ‘Boom’ and ‘Thud’ designs come courtesy of Kayac, certainly fun underwear for anyone who considers their nether-regions worthy of such descriptors. For backers who give over $80, you’ll receive your Fundoshi award in a beautiful masu box. For more information, do check out the promotional video below. It’s worth watching not only because it tells you all you need to know about the project, but also because the presenter, Keiji Nakagawa, strangely changes his bow-tie multiple times [1]. You can’t help but root for this project to succeed, since it not only helps promote a bit of Japanese culture, but it’s also a healthier option than the briefs that most of us wear [2]. The ‘Manga Fundoshi’ project is seeking a modest sum of $4500 before its August 31st deadline, and has so far raised $860. If you’d like to get behind this effort, drop over to their Kickstarter page and…

manga-fundoshi-japanese-underwear

One Japanese organization has a pretty awesome Kickstarter project going on right now, trying to put the ‘fun’ back in Fundoshi, a form of traditional Japanese underwear. The effort comes from the Japanese Fundoshi Association, teaming up with Kayac and ShareFun on an initiative to create Manga Fundoshi.

The ‘Boom’ and ‘Thud’ designs come courtesy of Kayac, certainly fun underwear for anyone who considers their nether-regions worthy of such descriptors. For backers who give over $80, you’ll receive your Fundoshi award in a beautiful masu box.

fundoshi-masu-box

For more information, do check out the promotional video below. It’s worth watching not only because it tells you all you need to know about the project, but also because the presenter, Keiji Nakagawa, strangely changes his bow-tie multiple times [1].

You can’t help but root for this project to succeed, since it not only helps promote a bit of Japanese culture, but it’s also a healthier option than the briefs that most of us wear [2].

The ‘Manga Fundoshi’ project is seeking a modest sum of $4500 before its August 31st deadline, and has so far raised $860. If you’d like to get behind this effort, drop over to their Kickstarter page and pledge your support. (Big thanks to Tokyo Desu for pointing this one out.


  1. Bow-ties are cool.  ↩

  2. Of course, as a blogger my standard uniform is no pants at all. But that’s another story.  ↩

New lineup of iPhone underwear now available, includes mosaic censor sticker

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Readers may remember that we previously featured Bandai’s wondrous home button protector that comes in the form of smartphone underwear. If you enjoyed that story will be pleased to hear that there is now a second generation of these awesome ‘Smart Pants‘, available in all new styles and colors. With this new lineup of smartphone underwear, a home button seal is also now included in case your underwear happen to come off (see below). And in true Japanese style, it takes on a pixelated/mosaic style – ostensibly a reference to censored Japanese porn [1]. You can see all the underwear and mosaic stickers over on Gashapon.jp. The banana pattern underwear shows a simple banana instead of a mosaic, which is pretty a humorous touch. There’s also Mount Fuji underwear, just in time to commemorate the mountain becoming an official World Heritage site. If you’re in Japan, keep an eye out for these new underwear styles at the many Gashapon vending machines throughout the country! People tell me that Japanese porn is censored in this way, but being completely pure of mind and spirit, I have never actually witnessed this phenomenon first hand.  ↩

smartpants-japan
Photo via Gizmodo.jp

Readers may remember that we previously featured Bandai’s wondrous home button protector that comes in the form of smartphone underwear. If you enjoyed that story will be pleased to hear that there is now a second generation of these awesome ‘Smart Pants‘, available in all new styles and colors.

With this new lineup of smartphone underwear, a home button seal is also now included in case your underwear happen to come off (see below). And in true Japanese style, it takes on a pixelated/mosaic style – ostensibly a reference to censored Japanese porn [1].

smartpants

You can see all the underwear and mosaic stickers over on Gashapon.jp. The banana pattern underwear shows a simple banana instead of a mosaic, which is pretty a humorous touch. There’s also Mount Fuji underwear, just in time to commemorate the mountain becoming an official World Heritage site.

If you’re in Japan, keep an eye out for these new underwear styles at the many Gashapon vending machines throughout the country!


  1. People tell me that Japanese porn is censored in this way, but being completely pure of mind and spirit, I have never actually witnessed this phenomenon first hand.  ↩

Honda’s innovation history in a magical 2-minute video

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Japanese automotive giant Honda is generally considered to be an exceptional company because of its principles and lean manufacturing. From motorcycles to cars to robots — the series of innovations that Honda has produced over the years is pretty astounding. To showcase its past achievements, the company has released a magical two minute video product history. It’s called ‘Hands.’ The video appropriately starts with the line, “Let’s see what a curiosity can do”. The Honda Supercub motorcycle (featured early in the video) was released back in 1958, and has sold a total of over 6o million by 2008. Honda’s Civic started selling back in 1972 and was the first car ever in the world to be accredited under the USA’s Clean Air Act (Muskie Act). And there there is Asimo, Honda’s humanoid robot which debuted in the year 2000. The latest model was released in November of 2011, lighter by 6 kilograms and with an improved walking speed of 9 kilometers per hour. To see more of what Honda engineers have brought to the world, check out the video below.

Honda-Hands

Japanese automotive giant Honda is generally considered to be an exceptional company because of its principles and lean manufacturing. From motorcycles to cars to robots — the series of innovations that Honda has produced over the years is pretty astounding.

To showcase its past achievements, the company has released a magical two minute video product history. It’s called ‘Hands.’ The video appropriately starts with the line, “Let’s see what a curiosity can do”.

The Honda Supercub motorcycle (featured early in the video) was released back in 1958, and has sold a total of over 6o million by 2008. Honda’s Civic started selling back in 1972 and was the first car ever in the world to be accredited under the USA’s Clean Air Act (Muskie Act).

And there there is Asimo, Honda’s humanoid robot which debuted in the year 2000. The latest model was released in November of 2011, lighter by 6 kilograms and with an improved walking speed of 9 kilometers per hour.

To see more of what Honda engineers have brought to the world, check out the video below.

Panasonic’s new electric bicycle for moms combines practicality and design

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Panasonic Cycle Tech announced that it will launch an electric bicyle designed for three people — a parent and two small children. It’s called Gyutto. In Japan, especially in Tokyo where trains dominate as daily transportation, many moms turn to electric bicycles for getting around. If you walk around the streets of Tokyo, you’ll notice many women on bicycles with a child in the front or back. With the Gyutto’s sleek and modern design, moms can look stylish while getting her errands done too. The electric bicycle has an 8.9Ah battery which provides enough power to go for about 26 kilometers. It also has a feature that counts and displays your total calories burned. Gyutto comes in three color variations and is available for 133,000 yen (or about $1,330). The bicycle looks pretty sharp, it would be a great addition to any family — suitable for both moms and dads. In Japan, the very first electric bicycle appeared back in 1993. The market has grown ever since, and in 2010, the number of shipments exceeded 380,000 nationwide — outweighing even motorcycles in popularity. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake had an impact on the market as well. People needed affordable transportation and…

panasonic-gyutto

Panasonic Cycle Tech announced that it will launch an electric bicyle designed for three people — a parent and two small children. It’s called Gyutto. In Japan, especially in Tokyo where trains dominate as daily transportation, many moms turn to electric bicycles for getting around.

If you walk around the streets of Tokyo, you’ll notice many women on bicycles with a child in the front or back. With the Gyutto’s sleek and modern design, moms can look stylish while getting her errands done too.

The electric bicycle has an 8.9Ah battery which provides enough power to go for about 26 kilometers. It also has a feature that counts and displays your total calories burned. Gyutto comes in three color variations and is available for 133,000 yen (or about $1,330). The bicycle looks pretty sharp, it would be a great addition to any family — suitable for both moms and dads.

In Japan, the very first electric bicycle appeared back in 1993. The market has grown ever since, and in 2010, the number of shipments exceeded 380,000 nationwide — outweighing even motorcycles in popularity. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake had an impact on the market as well. People needed affordable transportation and turned to electric bicycles. In 2012, the number of electric bicycles sold grew by 24% in comparison to the year before.

Augmented reality t-shirts stand out in Japan

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Japanese fashion retailer Beams is experimenting with AR technology to create some truly amazing t-shirts. They’re called Asoberu-T (Asoberu means ‘to play with’ in Japanese) and by viewing these shirts with your mobile camera, a very cool, unique design will emerge. The company collaborated with a popular manga Gintama to mark the release of its movie, set to hit theaters on July 6th, and the t-shirt went on sale online for a limited time of less than a week. The shirts have famous quotes from the manga characters, and cost 4,200 yen each (or about $42). In order to play with the t-shirt, you need to download a dedicated app which will be released on July 5th. Users can take photos of the pop-out designs and share them with friends on different social networks. The app will be available for both iOS and Android. You can check out Asoberu-T over on the Beams online shop.

Japanese fashion retailer Beams is experimenting with AR technology to create some truly amazing t-shirts. They’re called Asoberu-T (Asoberu means ‘to play with’ in Japanese) and by viewing these shirts with your mobile camera, a very cool, unique design will emerge.

The company collaborated with a popular manga Gintama to mark the release of its movie, set to hit theaters on July 6th, and the t-shirt went on sale online for a limited time of less than a week. The shirts have famous quotes from the manga characters, and cost 4,200 yen each (or about $42).

In order to play with the t-shirt, you need to download a dedicated app which will be released on July 5th. Users can take photos of the pop-out designs and share them with friends on different social networks. The app will be available for both iOS and Android.

You can check out Asoberu-T over on the Beams online shop.