Akamon Desk

I’m very excited to have a chance to work with MONO-LAB Japan, where I helped refine their desk called Akamon Desk.

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The idea was there and they already had prototypes when they called me. So what I did was to rethink the whole concept, make it simple and elegant and add some features based on the concept, which are all introduced on this page.

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http://www.mono-lab-japan-store.com/desk.html

Comically Conical – Door Knob Concepts

I was looong wondering if there’s a good way to let one notice if the door is to push or pull only with the shape of a normal (round/tulip shaped) doorknob. Thinking of a good knob design for pushing is not so difficult but in most cases the shape is also good for pulling and vice versa.

So I thought differently; it might work if I can find a shape that makes it HARD to push/pull. Then a user instinctively notice which way the door should open. (Not sure if this has already been used.)

The above knob is for pulling. It a little hard to turn this knob and push.

Likewise the above knob makes it a little hard to turn and pull.

There are times when you have to push a pull-door and pull a push-door, such as when you release a door stopped with a door-stopper, so I made it “a little” hard to push/pull. Will these doorknobs help many people you think?

For manufacturers, please contact me for development.

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ILLUMIO

The LED-Emotionalize your light! Design Contest is about the creation of new and innovative ideas and designs for LED light solutions with a “Wellness/Wellbeing” focus.
I was invited to the contest and am honored to take part in it. Here’s my idea:

ILLUMIO (illumination + emotion)

Emotion changes in various reasons. ILLUMIO is an abstract model of how a human feels in his/her human relationship and the environment.

ILLUMIO has a base with 16 holes and 4 light bulbs. The main body of the base is made of frosted glass, which reflects ambient light around a light bulb. The curved shape represents the earth and the shape of the light bulb implies a human being.

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ILLUMIO

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According to the position of the light bulbs, the color that the LED in a bulb emits changes. This shows a human feels differently when the surroundings change.
The arrangement of the bulbs means human relationships. There are numerous patterns of the bulb arrangements. Some examples are shown in the next image.

ILLUMIO2

Color Variation Examples
Robert Plutchik’s psychoevolutionary theory of emotion is one of the most influential classification approaches for general emotional responses. The colors that the lights change to are based on his color graph. In addition to color variations, the intensity of the lights also varies according to the lights’ positions. For example, if the “trusted” square is located in the corner, the intensity of the green light becomes weaker because the position implies “united but biased”.

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Sketches

Before going to a new item, I dug a few sketches from my Moleskine.

single plate bookshelf
a bookshelf made of a single wooden board

single plate bookshelf
a desk made of a single wooden board

single plate bookshelf

green green
Mitsubishi and two other Japanese firms invented this foliage plant-like solar cell module by using organic thin-film solar cells. I thought it would be nice if there’s something good to look at and environmentally friendly in your room like this.

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green green

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Future of Mobile Search: Virtual Shopping #1

future mobile search

future mobile search

I’m pretty sure companies like Ikea would quickly start to use this device this way if it became really available.

Also visit the later series of this gadget.


Part1:”Future of Internet Search: Mobile version”


Part2:”Future of Mobile Internet Search: Applications”

future search mobile #3-2
Part3:”Look at What You Don’t See Through Glass”

future mobile search for diet
Part4:”Future of Mobile Search for Diet”

future mobile search
Part5:”Future of Mobile Search- Search Beyond Time”

future of mobile search6
Part6:”Future of Mobile Search- Power of Visualization”

Speech balloons for hearing-impaired
Part8:”Speech Balloons for the Hearing-Impaired”


iPhone with Looking Glass
See also the iPhone version of this concept.

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