GLOBAL GRAPHICA

Seeing is believing. In this case the truth is revealed by the appearance of this pair of Nike “lifestyle” performance sneakers (or trainers, as our U.K. friends might say) inspired by SpongeBob Squarepants, the American cartoon mega-hit. The shoes are pink and bubbly in design theme, a reference perhaps toContinue Reading

In a rare feat, a single artwork has managed to simultaneously pay homage to two iconic works of art by two major contemporary art stars. The work is a piece of street art tucked away in an unlikely locale, on the corner of an the exterior wall of public elementaryContinue Reading

Where in the hell have these delightful Yayoi Kusama dog sculptures been hiding? Currently on view at LACMA in Los Angeles, these artworks are part of “The Life of Animals in Japanese Art,” a thematic exhibition that shows how creatures have been depicted in Japan over 17 centuries. Kusama isContinue Reading

There’s a certain European “interiors” publication has made a unique design for the spine of each issue of its magazine. Regular visitors to this site can probably guess the name of that magazine. It’s the Italian-Spanish design and interior decor magazine Apartamento (pictured above). It’s what was called in theContinue Reading

It’s an amusing conceit. In the high-ceilinged foyer of the Barney’s store in Roppongi, Tokyo, an unpotted Japanese bonsai tree hangs in space, framed by a steel cube, suspended like an organic chandelier, the tree roots naked and dangling in air. The tree being de-planted and without soil all butContinue Reading

As you approach Little Darling Coffee Roasters for the first time, you’re not sure you’re in the right place. It’s a little hard to find. The coffee roasters and cafe are on a former industrial campus that’s been converted into a new vision of the urban experience with old warehousesContinue Reading

Along one side of this steep hillside street in Tokyo’s Akasaka neighborhood, there’s a guard rail decorated with cute plastic cut-outs of pink cartoon rabbits. This, we think, is due to the proximity to a press-school at the top of the hill and an effort to make this safety featureContinue Reading

When the graffiti writers rocked up to this spot for the first time, they must have been salivating, drunk on the possibilities of the kind of massive tag they could the throw up on the wall. The infamy would be local and ephemeral, a tiny blip in the annals ofContinue Reading

In what was once an old, small two-story house next to the elevated train tracks in Tokyo’s Naka-Meguro lives Onibus Coffee. The old house has been renovated. The first floor is where they make the coffee, the second floor is small seating area. It’s a contemporary space that retains remnantsContinue Reading

So many choices, so many options, so many variations. Who knew there could be so many nut-based crunchy-delicious Japanese snacks? And all crammed into one tiny shop deep in central Tokyo’s Azabu-Juban neighborhood. Mamegen is a storied traditional Japanese snack shop and brand famous for making incredibly yummy and originalContinue Reading

Iconographic sign in the Azabu Juban neighborhood of Tokyo.

We briefly swung by Japanese cellphone carrier and telecommunications giant DoCoMo’s current design exhibition in Tokyo that shows how the form factor of their smartphones has evolved. The exhibition, called DoCoMo x Design, breaks down the iterative design process with hundreds of examples of colors and shapes. It also pointContinue Reading

Artist Urs Fischer is one of a handful of contemporary artists who have collaborated with Louis Vuitton to create a version of the luxury brand’s Capucines bag with a twist. Fischer’s take on involves a banana hanging from the handbag by a string. See more of Fischer’s work on hisContinue Reading

Another contemporary artist who has collaborated Louis Vuitton on the Capucines Collection handbags is Alex Israel, whose artwork heavily employs cartoon-like depictions of waves and evokes California surf culture. For this handbag, Israel has incorporated resin surfboard fins as part of the bags architecture.

Sometimes it takes a bold yet cognitively dissonant vision to center our thoughts on what’s really important in life, about who we really are, the meaning of life (or whether there’s a larger meaning), and our place in the universe. In other words, sometimes it takes a visually arresting imageContinue Reading