[lang_en]Living World[lang_en][lang_ja]リビングワールド[/lang_ja]

今日このごろ

LW — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:00:09 +0000

Greetings.
Living World is a small design office based in Tokyo.

Most of our Works now have English descriptions, and more and more will.
Please bear with us.

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New
Visits
visualizes accesses to our site

In this time
sunlight reaches earth (wooden frame)

Live Nature Sounds
from Iriomote Island (Japan)

An article on PingMag
Living World: Fine Tuning Your Perception

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Translated essays:
Senseware
What do we make things for?

Paeonia obovata

tariho — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 19:10:45 +0000

At the village of rhododendron: Gakujin no mori. On the high mountain area in Kamiyama-cho, Tokushima pref.

tariho — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:00:45 +0000

At a night walk, a lovely Haiku was there on a wire netting of the elementary school yard.
It sounds just like a Guidance from mother ocean.
　

” Emulate Ocean’s being

It is just wide and open spaced heart ”

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The five kittens

tariho — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:07:28 +0000

　
After party of the Prizes for Global Citizenship for NPO Green Valley (Tokushima pref. Kamiyama-cho, Shikoku). We had dropped in a small restaurant in downtown Tokyo.

It was a consequently reunion with the five cherish kittens in the restroom. I’ve found you guys!
Almost 30 years ago, when I was a little girl, My father gave me a poser same as this. It was a novelty advertising of KODAK Color Film. (I believe many people loves this poster.)

It was rare one he gave his children as the ‘brand-new’ gift. I was so fascinated by these twinkled five guys and blue background. And how this is glossy paper. I feel I could perfectly remember that detail of the wall paper in our old house.

My father was born in a small village in the heart of a mountain of Kochi Prefecture. He already passed away three yeas ago. I have never been to the village yet and my vivid memory with him was around the days when he gave me this poster. So, I just feel, he also to glad we have delight relations with Shikoku area.

The five kittens has reminds me as timeless message from our loving father was a camera enthusiast. It is coming from upper in the sky to his dearest children.

” I love all my children forever and ever. ”

Though, I also notice about the kitty, far right, his pattern so much alike with LW CEO Tabby’s pattern of between his eyebrows. ;-)
　

Ultramarine

tariho — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:53:33 +0000

海のかなたからの招待... Invitation from ultramarine keep calling....　

EARTH CLOCK in Wakabadai

LW — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:39:54 +0000

Following the installation at Koshigaya LakeTown (2008), we installed yet another edition of EARTH CLOCK, this one in the elevator hall of Inagi Municipal iPlaza, a culture center opened in October in front of the Keio Line Wakabaidai Station.

Soroptimist International Inagi had contacted the city to say they wanted to gift something excellent to this building, and city hall’s introduction led to realizing this project.

As people wait for the elevator, they gaze up at Sun’s light and shadow – day and night – cast on Earth.

Every time we install an edition of EARTH CLOCK I always find the three-dimensional optical illusion intriguing. This globe also protrudes slightly from the wall.

The building stands directly in front of the exit of the station.

Client (Donor): Soroptimist International Inagi
Coordination & panel design: AXS SATOW Inc. (Masanao Katsuyama, Yoko Ochiai)
Planning: Yoshiaki Nishimura (Living World)
System production: Yoshifumi Kamenaga (GK Tech)
Art direction: Tariho Nishimura (Living World)
Special thanks to: Senya Nemoto, Inagi town hall

Beyond our solar system: palmtop version

LW — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:51:26 +0000

Introducing a new, smaller version of the ‘Beyond our solar system’ galaxy in a glass cube made with the aid of 80,000 pieces of star data.

(‘Beyond our solar system’ is a three-dimensional laser-etched rendering of stars in a cube of high-grade transparent optical glass, based on the latest data from Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory. The etching is performed in Japan. See information on the larger version for more detail.)
At 7cm rather than 12cm square this new cube is slightly smaller than the original ‘Beyond our solar system’. It is priced at 15,750 compared to 84,000 for the larger version.

The graphics on the box are laser-etched like the galaxy, rather than printed.
→Package design and production

A serial number is etched in one corner.

Open the box.

Inside you will find a loosely folded cloth. Underneath can be seen a new, updated booklet.

The cover shows a Hubble Ultra Deep Field image showing thousands of distant galaxies.

The compact 24-page guide contains information on galaxies readily available on the Web, with some additional material.
Above is a photo of the Milky Way shot by astral photographer Yutaka Iijima. ‘Beyond our solar system’ is an outside view of the Milky Way we see up in the sky.
　

Just like the larger version already available, this new smaller cube is laid out with our Sun and the Earth in the center, the data from the National Astronomical Observatory used to etch the cube is of the highest international standard, the use of glass rather than acrylic means the cube will not deteriorate over time, and the laser etching is performed by Japan’s most experienced professional in this area.

As might be expected, the rendering is not as precise as that of the larger version, but we’re sure you will find the impression of density and distance more than adequate.(A series of trials led us to conclude that a 5cm-square cube was not large enough, and simply ended up looking like a toy. Seven centimeters provides just the right balance overall.)
Viewed from directly above, the scan lines from the laser head are marginally more obvious than in the larger version.

　
The galaxy reclines slightly, due to it being laid put so the bottom surface of the cube and the solar system’s ecliptic are in parallel (a little extra touch for serious stargazers).

Here too is the immense space extending beyond our solar system, captured inside a small glass cube.
In its center is the sun, and alongside it somewhere, us.

　
Beyond our solar system – palmtop version
Three-dimensional rendering of the Milky Way galaxy

Glass cube: W70×D70×H70mm (about 100,000 light-year length)
Weight: 0.8kg
Cloth: Hymilon (nylon) 22cmΦ
Booklet: 24 pages W:11.8×H:11.8mm
Original data: Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory 4D2U project, Eiichiro Kokubo, Tsunehiko Kato (→Mitaka++)
Data design: Yukio Ando (exa)
Laser marking: L-Tec Inc

Price: 15,000 JPY

All prices in Japanese yen.
Please use your favorite currency conversion website to check values in local currency.
Yahoo! finance

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To order from outside Japan, please send the following via our “Contact” form.

1. Name
2. Email address
3. Address / Telephone
4. Name(s) and number(s) of the product(s) you’d like to order
5. Method of payment (PayPal or Credit Card)
See other products

We will contact you by email, after reviewing your order, with the total price including tax and shipping, and payment methods.
→ How to order

Living World Inc.
4-8-22-1F Eifuku, Suginami-ku, Tokyo JAPAN 168-0064
Fax: +81-3-5930-9823
　

NB:
‘Beyond our solar system’ is beautiful when backlit. The colors in natural light especially create a striking translucent effect. This is what the cube looks like on a window sill when viewed from a dark room.
*This photo shows the 12cm square version.

Package design

LW — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:00:12 +0000

The smaller, palmtop version of ‘Beyond our solar system’ is ready for release, the only remaining task being to update the sales pages on our website. Allow us first to explain a little about how the packaging was made.

‘Beyond our solar system’ consists of a laser-etched galaxy inside a glass cube. For this new version, we tried laser-etching the packaging as well.

To begin with, a plain black craft box.

The laser starts to etch the central image: our solar system.

Shone from above, with a quiet pish-pish-pish sound the laser beam burns a trail.

Smoke is removed to the vacuum on the left. A slight burning smell hangs in the air.

Finished! All ink-free (although it does require electricity). In this sense it resembles processes such as stamping and embossing, but the sharpness is in an entirely different league. At this point both we and the boss of the company doing the etching are feeling rather pleased with our efforts.

　
Something that often strikes us about package design is that all too frequently, packaging suffers from too much design.
Wagging its tail, so to speak… The Shakers would dismiss it all as unnecessary frills, no doubt.

We’re not quite that minimalist, but we do try to remember that if the relationship between maker and buyer (and thus user) is good, in extreme cases you could hand the product over personally, with no packaging at all.
But in these days of complex distribution systems and weak links between craftsman and purchaser, experiences such as taking your container to the local tofu shop to be filled are very rare indeed.

Still, one suspects that getting a kick out of buying something, feeling that warm glow of satisfaction, is more likely when design is absent, than when buying something in a meticulously designed package.

That hot sweet potato wrapped in a piece of newspaper is just right. And when you buy a freshly baked baguette on a Paris street corner, they give it to you as is, or at the most, with a small strip of paper wrapped around the middle.
We want to use just the right degree of design. Not design that makes things ‘look’ tasty or ‘look’ good, but that’s just right for the job.
　

Our galaxy in a cube will be sent by post, and stocked by retailers, so we can’t leave it completely bare.
Still, we were convinced there must be a way to package it that was ‘just right’, and spent six months working to achieve that. We came up with this design in mid-September just before the product was ready to launch, and Mr. K from Eltech made a trial version for us; the result of his, and LW’s experiments and explorations.
So what do you think? Of course we hope you’ll want to see the real thing. :-)

Incidentally, the solar system etched on the box and the galaxy inside are in parallel.

A cup of universe

tariho — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:52:58 +0000

Green butterfly comes out in a cup of universe
Just appeared and fly away
　　
　
　
　
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The Butterfly Nebula, NGC 6302

blue pigeon

tariho — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:55:43 +0000

このごろのタビー会長（10歳）の午睡スポットは…Living World CEO, Tabby(age 10) loves napping on my dream journal.