Hasta La Gadget!

Ever reached into your bag to grab a packet of chewing gum to find that it had been squashed? Ever bought a lollypop and wanted to eat it later but couldn’t find any where to put it? Ever wanted to eat that packet of chocolate balls but have been too embarrassed to let people know what you are eating?

With wooden product-specific candy cases from Sweet D Life you’ll be able to keep your snacks intact and eat them in style.

Pocky Case

Designed for classic candy brands like Mentos, Mintia mints, and more the cases protect your sweets and gum from damage and present them as more than just something quick to eat, though that may be more of a Japan-specific need since the whole packet isn’t being consumed at once.

Fits Chewing Gum Wallet Case

Made from African Mahogany using traditional Japanese wood craft techniques Sweet D Life offers a range of cases for smartphones, business cards, coins, wallets and candy.

Chuppa Chup Carry Case

Each wooden candy case has been specially designed to hold the packaging size of specific confectionary brand, and is also designed to work beyond just packaging and accomodate graphics as well.

Case for Morinaga Chocolate Balls

Meiji Choco Baby Case

By working with classic brands that don’t change packaging often, this works with the popularity of a handful of confectionary brands in Japan and assumes a high level of brand loyalty among the buyers of these cases.

Mintia Case

With prices ranging from 3000 to 8000 Yen (US$32 to US$87) for one case they aren’t cheap, but for devotees of a particular product it’s not unreasonable either.

Meiji Chocolate Case

Smarties Case

In a way Sweet D Life are endorsing frequent confectionary consumption and loyalty to a specific brand of sweets, but also the lifestyle of having the products and showing them off. It goes beyond the quick eat and dispose mentality.

Tube Case

Offering such elegant and stylish wooden cases for confectionary that usually costs less than 2oo Yen (US$2.5) is an interesting concept, but perhaps that’s exactly what makes the cases a bit cray to begin with. Protecting your cheap sweets with a $40 case is something you only do for style.

February seemed to be the month of Art and Design exhibitions in Tokyo, after checking out the Japan Media Arts Festival last week we strolled over to the “Design Ah!” Exhibition in 21_21 Design Sight next to Tokyo Midtown Garden in Roppongi.

Based on the NHK Educational TV program with the same name, “Design Ah!” takes the show one step further with this interactive exhibition aimed at encouraging both young people and adults to think about design in their everyday life.

The curators hope to stimulate a ‘design orientated mind’ by showcasing works that reflect Japanese culture and encouraging visitors to experience design through audio and visual stimulus.

We came across some cool exhibits at Design Ah and wanted to share a few of the most interesting:

“Ah! in motion” by tha ltd encourages visitors to dance in front of the ‘ah’ phonetic symbol projected on the wall and watch as the ‘ah’ changes shape to match their movements.

“Furoshiki” or the art of folding cloth was demonstrated using simple instructional videos (produced by Taku Satoh Design and Etsuko Yamada from Musubi) where the visitor can learn and practice folding cloth to carry different items.

“Sushi Break Up!” by Tomohiro Okazaki deconstructs sushi into its various elements; separating each grain of rice, piece of fish and roll of seaweed.

“The many faces of sushi” by the Taku Satoh Design Office presents the diversity of food and objects associated  with Japan’s most famous dish.

Just Right also by Tako Satoh Design Office comments on what portion size is appropriate for sushi.

“Pouring Soy Sauce” is another work by Tako Satoh Design Office showing the mechanics of how soy sauce flows in the perfect way.

“School Break Up!” examines the objects and elements that are connected with the 6th Grade of Akasaka Elementary school in Tokyo and breaks it down into many items such as books, back backs, whiteboards and students.

“Dessin Ah!” also by tha ltd is an interactive design experience where children and adults are invited to finger draw the penguin statue in the middle of the circle on an i-pad. Artists can then see their drawing on the projector and can also understand the process they took to draw the penguin (or anything else they want as pictured above) as it is shown to them.

“Penguin Story” by Taku Satoh Design Office uses projection mapping to demonstrate moving images on the surface of three dimensional packaging as with this example of a packet of chewing gum. Visitors are expected to think about the future prospects of animated packaging designs.

Design Ah! runs from February 8th until June 2nd, 2013. General Admission costs 1000 Yen and 800 Yen for students.

We recommend that you check it out if you are in Tokyo.