I like this. It’s a business card for Japanese model kit manufacturer Tamiya by Creative Juice in Bangkok.

I think I’ve seen this idea a few times over the years, but not done as well as this, and it’s always been some graphic designer shoe-horning the idea into a project willy-nilly. This is the real deal, the perfect idea for the client. It’s won a gold Cannes Lion as well no less.

You can make things with it too:

I used to like making model kits like this when I was younger. In hindsight, the amazingly detailed exploded diagrams of the model construction process were one of the things which awakened my graphic design gene and set me on my chosen career path. They were possibly also responsible for my lack of a girlfriend for some considerable time…

…anyway, don’t worry about me – I’m married now so it all worked out fine.

The exploded digram thingy is also what’s behind these ads by the same company:

So, it wasn’t just me after all.

I can cope with seeing my Supporter typeface disappear from the D&AD judges’ table when lovely things like this survive the cull. Phonetikana by Johnson Banks is a take on the Japanese katakana phonetic alphabet, which actually shows English speakers how to say things. I guess it works in reverse too, helping Japanese people learn the roman alphabet. It’s not new, they did it a while ago, but it did just receive a D&AD nomination last week.

It’s great. I know that because I studied Japanese for two years (an endeavour cruelly crushed by the onset of habitual brand agency overtime) and always loved the phonetic alphabets hiragana and katakana. Japanese has complex symbols, abstract Kanji which are derived from the Chinese language and pretty impenetrable at times, but they also use two phonetic alphabets, mainly for foreign language words or elements of grammar.

It’s funny, because there aren’t all the same sounds in Japanese as there are in English, reading them out forces you to adopt a comedy Japanese accent.

These katakana characters often find their way into technological things, signs and brand names. When you see things like Uniqlo or Wagamama written out in the UK, these are the letters they’re using.

These Kana fascinated me while I was learning Japanese and I still get a kick out of the fact that I can actually read them in things like manga or imported videogames. The Kanji on the other had were an uphill struggle. I’ve always wanted to spend some real time in Japan to get under the skin of it all, but sadly, design is a very hard thing to get into there as a Westerner.

Johnson Banks have quite an interest in Japan, and seem to have made the leap into working over there. The identity they did for the Sendai Observatory was beautiful…

…and the UK-Japan logo feels in hindsight like the genesis of the phonetikana idea…

Lovely. Makes me want to restart my Japanese course again. While I love the idea of alternative alphabets, I did have to pass recently on the frankly terrifying prospect of developing an Arabic version of Supporter.

If you’re looking for a book on the Kana alphabets, I recommend Remembering the Kana which helped me a lot.

Two of my favourite things just got it on.

Lego and Muji have paired up to make sets of blocks which use paper as well as plastic. The paper parts use a special hole punching tool which matches up with the ‘blobs’ on the lego bricks and lets you turn the colourful Danish building blocks Japanese – origami style.

A match made in heaven. Lego are really good at these brand partnership things, but I still don’t see the point of Lego Rock Band, sorry.

Here’s a little oddity, it’s the story of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak’s early Apple days and the creation of the Apple ][, a story we’ve heard many times before, but never in Japanese Manga…

This dates back to 1984 and is the work of Japanese manga artist Mitsuru Sugaya who put the strip on the web on iPhone launch day in Japan. It’s been a while since I studied Japanese so my reading isn’t what it used to be (I think I can still make out some of the kana in there but not much else), but the pictures are pretty special…

Found via 9 to 5 Mac…

I keep finding interesting things on the internet, deciding that I’d like to own one, looking desperately around for the ‘buy me’ button and then realising that it isn’t a product at all, but an inspired idea from a designer which hasn’t found its way into production yet.

The latest case of this syndrome is the Peg Pencil from Japanese designer Yuta Watanabe. There are more equally lovely things on his site.

But no ‘buy me’ button…

Check out this ludicrous disguise from Japan. If you’re a young woman out alone at night and think you might be being followed, you can now instantly turn into a vending machine and foil your would-be attacker.

Unless they’re thirsty of course…

Would also be a winner at fancy dress parties.

Originally found over on Graham Linehan’s blog, always worth a read…