minimally minimal (originally designfabulous)

I've moved.

2011-01-21T23:02:00.000-08:00

http://minimallyminimal.com

Little Tokyo

2011-01-15T21:51:00.000-08:00

Went out to Little Tokyo, Los Angeles to work on a school project with some friends.

I've noticed that LA's first language is pretty much Spanish, so it's quite peculiar to see Japanese here.

You can totally tell that this isn't Tokyo. Something very American about this place.

Still, Little Tokyo tries very hard to appear Japanese.

The weather is now very "SoCal" here now. It's amazing how quickly winter ended.

Went to Pinkberry, which is founded in LA.

Pinkberry is eerily similar to the Korean frozen yogurt giant Red Mango. Starting to think it's a copycat - even the naming is done similarly.

Why does everyone around me use a BlackBerry? It's funny though, everyone that uses one is clearly wanting to switch.

Almost a Seoul-like mood here.

Starting to see less and less of America.

Can't miss a shoe shot.

I really want to hate Mini Coopers but I'm starting to slightly warm up to them. A lot of people that ride them are certainly annoying though (you know what I'm saying).

Little Tokyo is really little but the attention to detail is relatively authentic (unlike the ghetto LA Koreatown).

Called "Tokyo Villa". Looks like it would fit right into Ginza.

Heard a lot about Los Angeles' large variety of food trucks. Didn't try this though.

All of Little Tokyo is spotless, so people have created these small oasis of vandalism.

From an art gallery here.

Everything was street art influenced. Wait, is that a Dyson fan in the background?

Lunch was here.

I miss real ramen.

School "officially" starts on Tuesday for me. Won't be able to post as many photos but you'll probably see more sketches and other design work. Thanks for coming back guys.

From Beverly Hills to Pasadena.

2011-01-13T23:57:00.000-08:00

As you guys may be aware, I am finishing my college education in very sunny California.

I've been driving my new Fiesta for nearly 2 weeks now. The car is brilliant so far.

Genuinely European look. Definitely not European environment.

The super thin grill.

Some of the materials in the inside are surprisingly nice. The dash is completely soft to the touch and Ford has intelligently put cushioning on all the areas you rest your arms. "Just slightly short of VW" is what I would call it. Those door handles are nasty plastic though. :(

It's got a 1.6L TI-VCT engine paired with a dual clutch 6 speed transmission which is giving me stunning gas mileage. It says 34.5mpg in this photo but recently, I've been getting 35~37 combined. In comparison, the Honda Fit gets 29 combined.

My only concern is the awkward shifting in lower gears. Ford claims that it "thinks like a manual but shifts like an automatic". I think it's a bit too hesitant and jittery in lower gears.

My favorite feature by far (other than good gas mileage) has got to be Ford Sync. I have it hooked up to my Zune and it's just what I've wanted. When you star up the engine and say, "Play artist, The Doors", and it'll do just that.

Because of Ford Sync's voice commands, these buttons are rendered almost useless.

The cup holders are rather small by the way. I only use them to hold my sunglasses and phone but I can see this being an issue for the American market.

The sunroof is perfect for California.

Yay.

Another neat feature of the Fiesta - a capless fuel filler.

I've been driving through some dusty areas and have noticed that the washer jets weren't functioning properly. Thought they were defective but the dealer just cleaned out the dust and also gave me a free car wash so I was pretty happy.

Gas guzzler vs gas sipper.

Paid a visit to Beverly Hills.

There is nothing I could possibly afford here.

Fun to just wander around though...

... cause you always come across a few surprises.

Holy shit.

Something I would never buy, even if I was filth rich, but still, has a powerful presence.

Best looking store here I think. As you can tell by the photos, it wasn't exactly "sunny" here in SoCal for the past few weeks.

Saw 7 Phantoms this day. This place is pretty crazy.

I'm still not used to seeing palm trees, something I only saw in calendars till now.

The Missoni store reminds me of Garosugil.

Yep, totally.

Went to this Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills called Il Pastaio.

I don't know why they have so many waiters. There were at least 5 more.

Started with a caesar salad.

It was absolutely delicious; I recommend this place. The pricing is not bad too (though not somewhere you'd go daily), especially when you consider how expensive the neighborhood is.

This must be Jurassic Park.

Also went to Hollywood. Whenever I see a Coffee Bean, I'm reminded of Seoul.

I'm sorry but there is nothing to see here.

Was rather disappointed but it's always easy to find small things of interest.

Liking the treatment of the signage at this Urban Outfitters.

Because there was so little to see, I went to got see a movie and randomly found a Le Cordon Bleu.

Hollywood.

This is my new school; Art Center College of Design. Founded in 1930.

The main building of the school is architecturally just a bridge, creating quite an industrial feeling to the school. I'm still in the orientation week and school hasn't started officially though.

Ready to start the year.

First impressions - 2011 Ford Fiesta.

2011-01-04T23:13:00.000-08:00

Because ACCD is lacking in dorms and student residences near the school, I've been forced to look for a car to commute. This proved to be extremely difficult; most compact and economy cars are really bland in both design and driving dynamics. After much research, I ended up choosing from these cars:

Mazda 2: Like the design / driving dynamics but too stripped down with poor fuel economy.

Honda Fit: Good reliability but super dull.

Nissan Cube: Unique but almost ugly.

Kia Soul: Brilliant design but reliability and fuel economy are questionable.

Kia Forte Koup: Same as the Soul.

Ford Fiesta: Good design, good fuel economy, good features, good safety rating. All good?

At the dealer to pick it up. So excited.

Here it is. Starting at $13,320 for the sedan. This is the SE hatchback model with rapid spec 203A. Like the Kia Soul I rented, this car had received a Red Dot Design Award. I've always wanted a white car, and thankfully, the dealer had one in inventory.

Similar, no?

Very compact, very European. This is a new model in the US for 2011 but in Europe/Asia this has been a best seller for many years.

Ford. After many years of producing junk, the American legend is back in action.

LED parking lamps - something that's pretty rare for a car in this class.

15" aluminum wheels and a power moonroof, also rare for a car in this class.

The Fiesta gets 29 city / 38 hwy. I've been driving mostly in the city today and got 30MPG average. Pretty impressive.

I love you.

Ford has been including these blind spot mirrors in their new models. Very useful.

The European Ford models (including the Fiesta) have a design language called "Kinetic design".

Rear spoiler comes standard with rapid spec 203A. Hot.

Absolutely gorgeous.

Welcome.

The Kinetic design is also presented in the interior. I prefer a more minimal approach but this is absolutely outstanding when you start comparing it with cars like the Yaris or Accent.

Very similar to a mobile phone in design.

Extremely attractive. The quality of materials are very high - soft touch materials and nice texturing everywhere.

I've been playing with Ford Sync and it's slightly confusing but still very usable. I've connected my iPod and it instantly recognized all my music.

Mood lighting.

The 1.6L Duratec I4 engine creates a modest 120hp. Plenty for a car that's this compact though.

Cheap, pretty and fuel efficient. Perfect.

Project

2011-01-03T15:47:00.000-08:00

Google Nexus S

2011-01-02T15:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, Mr Apple has bought a Google Nexus S.

The Box is well, come on, it's a complete rip-off of the iPhone 3Gs box. As the readers of this blog may know, the Nexus S is a "With Google" Android phone. This means that you don't get garbage like Samsung's TouchWiz or Motorola's Blur preinstalled. It also means that you'll get the fastest software upgrades directly from Google. The Nexus S is also the first phone to run Gingerbread, the most recent version of Android.

So, why did I get one? Here are the reasons:

- My iPhone is unlocked. I need to sign up with a new carrier anyways, so why not try something new while I'm at it?
- I wanted to go with T-Mobile because of their cheaper plans and iPhone compatibility (despite lack of 3G support with iPhone).
- When I worked at Google last year, I did a bit of Android related stuff. I realized that I knew nothing about Android and felt some shame.
- I don't want people calling me an Apple fanboy any more. ;)

So, here it is. Gingerbread is awesome. I'm not going to do a software review, there are better places for that. Here are some general thoughts on Android though:

- Gingerbread is actually kind of pretty. Can't say that about many of the apps though.
- Despite the Nexus S being one of the fastest phones, Android still feels a bit sluggish compared to iOS.
- You'll have to become close friends with the task manager.
- I love how customizable/open it is.

The Nexus S is essentially the same phone as the Samsung Galaxy S.

The most unique thing about this phone is the "contour" glass display. As far as I can tell, it's a completely superfluous addition.

I've been examining the display for the past few days and as far as I can tell, the display itself isn't actually curved, only the glass is.

The glass isn't of iPhone quality, you can see how the curving has resulted in some imperfections, especially around the earpiece.

As I have said, this phone is very similar to the Galaxy S. This means that the phone is also made of this very nasty plastic. It's especially disturbing when you consider that the Nexus One had brilliant build quality.

Why Samsung why? This photo really shows how plastic this phone is. You remove the bendy backplate by just tearing it off the phone with your fingernails. Not pleasant.

I'm so happy that I went with a "pure" Google experience. Android is pretty spectacular... only if manufacturers stopped messing with it.

It's a bit big.

Make your pick.

Now, this is the biggest annoyance; the display. The internet has been full of complaints saying that the phone has a yellow-tint to it. This is very true. You don't notice it at first but once you do, you'll notice it every time you use the phone. The photo doesn't do a very good job of showing this, the camera just isn't the same as our eyes.

The display is a Super AMOLED. Samsung likes to proudly present it as the greatest display in the world, but it simply isn't. OLEDs were great when LCDs sucked but these days I feel that LCDs (especially IPS displays) offer superior color reproduction and clarity.

The either edges of the display also have this weird color bleeding (green on left, red on right). Strange.

Now, I'm slightly bitter about the phone itself. All of my complaints would be waived if the phone was one of the modern HTC phones. It's strange that Google chose to go with Samsung to replace the Nexus One.

All of my complaints vanish as soon as I use Android though. Excuse my language but it's fucking brilliant. Just try using Google Voice and Navigations and you'll seriously consider switching from iOS.

The 4 buttons on the bottom are touch and are lit very dimly. I constantly press them by accident, would much prefer a tactile button layout like that of the HTC Desire.

It's hard to explain the difference in character between iOS and Android. I think I've found a fine example though; When I load my blog on the iPhone and Nexus S:

iPhone: Loads about 70~80% but is super smooth to scroll and pan.
Nexus S: Loads everything but is jittery and lags.

Kia Soul, Apple LED Cinema Display, IKEA, and Bodum.

2011-01-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

I'm in California to attend Art Center College of Design. I rented the Kia Soul for a few days while I was settling into my new home.

The car is very handsome. Keep in mind that the Soul won a Red Dot Design Award.

It's probably the best executed of the box cars sold in America. The Soul seems to take an Audi/VW like approach like the rest of Kia's products (makes sense since Peter Schreyer is Kia's design head).

Love the somewhat Mini inspired design.

Remember how ugly Kia cars used to be?

The car looks fairly large in photos but is more compact in real life. I think it could still lose a few inches though.

The interior. The 2010 model had some really nasty plastics, the 2011 model is a huge improvement.

Just moved into my new apartment.

My new workspace. The calendar is by MMMG by the way; got it as a gift when I bought their wallet. Whoops, forgot to change it to January.

All lamps and furniture by IKEA.

Humidifier by Cyphics.

These Muji trays are awesome for keeping your electronics together.

More IKEA.

After using a 30" monitor at Google, I decided that I really need more than 15" to work. I chose the LED Cinema Display by Apple.

Size comparison.

The absolutely massive box. And why is that drawer pink? Because they were on sale at IKEA. Trust me, I would have gotten white.

Breathtaking.

It's amazing how Apple is able to make this monitor so much slimmer than their competitors.

Edge-to-edge glass.

Built-in iSight and mic.

3 USB ports.

The monitor also has a 45 watt 2.1 speaker system built in. The subwoofer is located here. Sound quality is "surprisingly decent".

Aluminum.

This is why I love Apple.

The foot.

The air intake is to the right and the exhaust to the left. I'm guessing the tweeters are also built towards the bottom.

Just a single cable (actually 3) and you're all set.

The foot of the speaker is the perfect place to rest your keyboard when you need to use your desk.

The chair I picked up. It's the IKEA Gregor.

Something about the contrast between woven paper and steel frame seduced me.

I think it's pretty sweet.

The casters.

Minimal.

Of course, coffee is one of the necessities I needed to cover.

This is the Bodum New Brazil (1 1/2 US cups).

Yummy. Barely makes 2 cups of coffee. Prefect size for someone living by themselves like me.

Tokyo 4 - (Roppongi, Shibuya, and more)

2010-12-31T22:23:00.000-08:00

More photos I never got to post from my recent trip to Tokyo. Last update of 2010 by the way!

I'm missing this city already.

Super foggy in Roppongi.

Didn't get to take an in-depth look at Roppongi but I did pay a visit to Tokyo Midtown - a mixed-use development with a lot of premium shops.

There will be plenty of things you'll want to buy here.

An aroma humidifier made by Takumi called Chimney 2.

It becomes very obvious why it's named "chimney".

I ended up picking this up at Roppongi. The Y-Com Headset by AIAIAI.

Definitely not your normal earphones.

The either caps of the packaging hold the additional ear pieces.

The only ones I end up using are these foam ones. The silicone ones are too large and fall off too easily.

The cables are super thick and fairly rigid, making them almost impossible to tangle. The earphones are called Y-Com because of the unique Y-shaped splitter and built in mic.

Like. The sound quality is decent but way too bass heavy for my tastes.

These utilitarian, no-BS Japanese cars are pretty admirable. Almost like a bento on wheels.

What the hell is this?!

Took the subway to Shibuya. There are cabs dedicated to women in subways in Tokyo. My first guess is that they've had some harassment issues.

These ads caught my eyes on the subway. Thought they were phones with crazy form factors so I was disappointed when I found out that Pomera is a note taking device and Pitrec is a business card scanner.

Arrived at Shibuya. This is the famous Hachiko exit.

Possibly one of the most iconic intersections in the World?

In memory of Hachiko. To those who don't know Hachiko.

It was raining this day. We all know how annoying it is to carry an umbrella while taking photos.

But it totally paid off.

Of all the places I've been in Tokyo, this is probably the closest looking to Seoul.

The Shibuya Apple Store.

Walked in and thought; Eh, just another Apple Store.

Till I noticed this.

A glass staircase, not as impressive as NY's but still pretty damn awesome.

I didn't know that Muji made so many appliances and electronics till I came to Japan. They apparently even sell refrigerators and washing machines.

They make things so "normal" they're beautiful.

I think I'd describe their design as "cheap" Apple.

My favorite part about Muji is their lack of branding. Really makes you think about branding and how the logo is in some ways more influential than the design of a product itself.

The darkness brings a whole different character out of Shibuya.

There are so many things that make you chuckle in Tokyo.

Man, I love this place.

Found this little guy. One thing's for sure, its very cute but it's not a VW.

Tokyo has very handsome subways,

and bullet trains.

I went up a tower next to the hotel I stayed at to take some photos.

You can really see the Japanese obsession with order, neatness and modernism in these photos.

An incredible color palette,

and incredible density.

Went back up at night and was greeted with this charming scene.

Happy new year guys, I'll see you in 2011.

Happy holidays.

2010-12-23T15:10:00.000-08:00

Seoul - 14 (DIETER RAMS)

2010-12-20T17:45:00.000-08:00

On the 18th, I had the honor to go to a Dieter Rams' seminar.

It was held near the Gyeongbokgung palace.

The weather has been pretty miserable for the past few weeks in Seoul.

It was hosted at Olleh Square. Olleh is a marketing term used by KT, a Korean telecommunications company.

The interior is pretty decent here.

Complimentary pamphlet.

Olleh Square seems to be normally used as a "showroom" for KT. They had all of their phones and tablets on display.

THERE HE IS.

DIETER RAMS. I'm freaking out at this point.

His talk was pretty short - only 20 minutes. He went over his 10 principles of good design.

Dieter Rams' / Braun's influence.

During the intermission I rushed to him and got an autograph. A crowed formed and Mr Rams was promptly escorted away. Only a few people got a chance to get his autograph so I was quite lucky.

The Less and More exhibition was held at Daelim Contemporary Art Museum, located pretty close to Olleh Square. The exhibition is on till the 20th of March. If you're in Seoul, it's totally worth a visit (or two).

As you can see, I've been left speechless.

Seoul - 13 (Yeouido)

2010-12-19T07:03:00.000-08:00

I went to Yeouido to take some panoramas a few days ago. Yeouido is Seoul's (we're back in Korea now) main business and investment banking district and home to some of Seoul's finest skyscrapers.

To be honest, Seoul doesn't exactly have the prettiest architecture.

This one is my favorite.

Also went to take a pano of Samsung's HQ. I've gotta say, Seoul has the most photogenic sunsets of all the cities I've been to.

Here's a preview of my next post. Hopefully everyone recognizes him. If you don't:

Woah, how did this end up here?

Anyways, I'm going back to Vancouver tomorrow. I still have +1000 photos of Tokyo and Seoul, so I'll be slowly rolling them out.

Tokyo - 3 (Ginza Part 2)

2010-12-16T23:28:00.000-08:00

Information signage in Tokyo's subway terminals.

SoftBank's mascot is too adorable.

The subway system in Tokyo is quite complicated and backwards. Almost everything is more organized than Seoul here but this one exception. The main issue is that it's super complicated to transfer from line to line and to find the line you're looking for. Maybe it's because I don't speak Japanese.

Underground station.

And an above ground station.

Nearly identical to Seoul.

Most of the stations don't have sliding doors like Seoul. Prefer this because I can photograph the trains. ;)

Inside the train. A bit gloomy.

That messy one on the right is in pretty much every subway in Tokyo. My guess is that it's the headlines from a tabloid. Anyone know the answer?

Tokyo - 2 (Ginza Part 1)

2010-12-16T06:41:00.000-08:00

Taking off from Seoul, Korea. Seoul has two international airports, Incheon is the larger, newer one and Gimpo (shown here) is the smaller one.

Picking up altitude.

South of the Han River - where I hang out the most. You can see the Tower Palace, Coex and World Trade Center here. As you can see, Seoul is quite mountainous and resulted in a European-messy city layout.

Most of city is captured in this photo. Bye bye.

Mt. Fuji. I fell asleep after taking this photo so I don't have any aerial photos of Tokyo. Yes, I'm an idiot.

I stayed at a hotel in Ginza, Tokyo.

The first thing I saw after checking-in to the hotel. Fell in love with Tokyo this very second.

You can point your camera anywhere and get good photos here.

I love this place.

Now I really love this place.

Wait, that's an Alfa Romeo hiding behind the VW. I really really love this place.

I normally don't eat raw fish. This was so good I did.

The main street of Ginza - a shopping district.

Home to the Swarovski store designed by Tokujin Yoshioka, my favorite Japanese artist/designer.

Tokujin calls this the "crystal forest".

If you ever go to Japan, visit all the cellular companies, they have the best pamphlets ever.

Ginza.

Everything is so clean and neat.

The taste in cars is pretty awesome too.

Of course, they drive on the "right" side here.

I'm sorry I'm too tired to write anything meaningful today.

The grey crossing signals are really attractive. Almost reminds me of Dieter Rams' TV set.

The minimal Japanese characters are quite beautiful.

A must visit location in Ginza. Leica's store.

Of course, everything is superb but is out of budget for the impulse buy.

I get kicked out of stores quite often for taking photos. Wasn't sure if I was allowed here so I kept things discrete.

Upstairs is a small gallery. On the way up, you can see some of their historical models.

The gallery with photos taken using their cameras.

Exploded Leica.

This kind of makes you realize why lenses are so expensive.

Gorgeous. It's my dream to have a Leica as my primary camera.

But for now, Panasonic is the closest I'll ever get to Leica.

Tokyo - 1 (Taster)

2010-12-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a 4 day trip to Tokyo. Here's a sample of photos from the trip (more will follow).

Tokyo is...

... gorgeous

... spotless

... futuristic

... romantic

... surprising

... refreshing

... minimal

... vivid

... savory

... brilliant.

Seoul - 12 (PLATOON KUNSTHALLE)

2010-12-10T06:52:00.000-08:00

Went on a company dinner to a place called Platoon Kunsthalle. Seoul is obsessed about walking on the right, there's labeling on all the crosswalks, stairs and pretty much every public space.

Platoon Kunsthalle. It's built from iso cargo containers and has won a Red Dot design award too. There's a bar and restaurant here but they also showcase underground artists and in exhibitions and performances. Something odd though, they close at 1AM. Pretty early for a place like this.

Platoon Kunsthalle was apparently built by Germans. Their website is very confusing and I can't seem to understand why they built this in Seoul though. Also can't seem to find out if these exist outside of Seoul.

Loving the container boxes.

There's a wonderful, industrial appearance. This with electronic music creates a almost sci-fi like atmosphere.

It's hard to express this place with photos though.

Part of an art exhibition. They constantly showcase new art here.

Really enjoying Kunsthalle.

The cargo containers make great private rooms. This place would make an awesome design studio.

There's gorgeous typography everywhere.

How awesome is this place?! Those studios are where a variety of artists do their work. Each artist can rent one of four studios for 6 months at a time.

I want my home to look like this.

The third floor holds their office space.

Most of the food/drinks are priced at around $7. Not bad.

The food is nothing to write home about but it's decent. The atmosphere totally makes up for everything though. And hey, let's be honest, you're here to drink.

Most of the food they sell is "German", including schnitzel, sausages and meatballs.

Free Wi-fi. Really starting to like this place.

They have DJs here on select nights.

These guys were speaking German, I'm guessing they're related to Platoon.

It's official, I love this place.

Seoul - 11

2010-12-09T05:50:00.000-08:00

I saw the Maserati GranTurismo on the way home the other day.

The last time I saw this car was at last year's Detroit Auto show. It was in black and I didn't care for it too much but something about this car in white is spectacular.

I think the contrast between the black and white is what makes it.

This is why I love Maserati.

Perfectly Italian.

Constantly finding things I like.

An observation. None of the taxis in Seoul have partitions between the driver and passengers but all the buses do. Buses also have a security camera above the driver. Isn't the taxi driver usually in more of a danger of assault?

The most common design of vending machines here. Notice how small all the bottles and cans are here. Actually, I find them to be the "right" size.

The space between the platform and train. After a number of accidents, they started adding these rubber extensions to tighten the gap between the train and the platform.

These are the older generations of the subway trains. Guessing these will be put out of operation soon.

The new train with a much more aerodynamic design.

Nice color palette.

Also nice.

On the way to Coex Mall (again). Looks more like London because of the fog.

This is a very typical apartment complex in Seoul. They are mostly monolithic and Orwellian in design.

Coex is now all prepped for Christmas. The lights they installed look really messy at day.

And at night, things get very dizzy.

With friends. My shoes get overexposed too easily. Arg.

They were transforming iPhones into white ones at Coex. Costs about $250 for the front + back. Wasn't sure if these were the genuine OEM parts.

Ahhhh want... Why does it have to be so costly.

Pascucci.

I met up with another friend from Twitter. She had the A8s, which were ridiculously popular in Seoul. I've never seen a white one in real life though. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous.

Being a Bang & Olufsen product, the A8s have unbelievably tight tolerances. They're probably the only company that matches/surpasses Apple's build quality.

There's a surprisingly vibrant BlackBerry user base in Korea. Not as big of a customization as the one in my last post but this one has a pink track ball.

I found this at Paris Baguette and bought it because of the unique design. Conclusion: Don't, there's like three gulps in there.

Korean cakes are some of the best I've ever had. If you ever visit Seoul, eat some cake.

I snuck up to the top floor of Coex. I had to go through a bunch of blocked out areas, this is probably not allowed. ;)

The neighborhood around Coex.

Though nobody really uses this entrance, this is the main entrance to the mall/convention center.

Why did it have to be so foggy? You can get a glimpse of the stadiums used during the 88' Olympics.

That building in the background is called IPark and is one of the newer landmarks of Seoul.

So happy with both. I wish they sold these outside of Korea, more people need to experience Tridea.

My backpack is also serving me very well. It's the perfect size to hold my main gear and has a pretty slim profile, which is good for slipping through rush-hour crowds.

Seoul - 10 (Insadong)

2010-12-06T05:46:00.000-08:00

Insadong *was* the largest market of Korean antiques and artworks. It symbolized Korean culture, history and art but has been completely changed by capitalism. Instead of truly showing Korea's history, it's now almost becoming more representative of modern Korean culture. Nevertheless, it's still one of the main tourist locations in Seoul.

The neighborhood.

I actually went to Insadong to go see an art exhibition by an artist named Hyunchul Kim - who taught me the beauty of traditional Korean art.

Part of his new series of paintings. Check out his work here.

I quite liked the atmosphere of the gallery. Neoclassical?

Though Insadong is not what it was, there's still a charm to this place. This is Ssamzie, a place for contemporary artists to show their work.

This photo pretty much sums up Ssamzie's ambience.

Feels very analogue and delicate.

Korean is such a beautiful and minimal language, wish Koreans would utilize it more.

When Insadong started to lose its traditional background, there were protests by people trying to preserve its historical essence. In many ways, the protests have failed. To offend people less, stores have signs written in Korea. "The FaceShop".

"Aritaum". All of these stores would normally have an English only sign.

"Misha".

And no historical neighborhood is complete without a Starbucks. Don't get me wrong, I'm a bit of a Libertarian but I feel that this is entering territory of a "social" issue.

The iPad is finally available in Korea. Apple's North American slogan for the iPad - "A magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price" - has been trashed. The Korean slogan is something like "Charming and innovative thinking is here".

Found this coffee shop called Terracotta Coffee and really liked the interior.

Like.

Coffee wasn't that great though...

Streets near the City Hall.

Street markets.

Street food.

One of the workers at the office put a black faceplate on his white blackberry. iPhone 3G?

I met up with a friend I met on Twitter. Of course, he has good taste in phones.

Very HTC.

Dinner on a friend's birthday.

Seoul - 9

2010-12-05T06:15:00.000-08:00

Had a few beautiful days in the past week.

However, Seoul is more often covered by a layer of fog and smog.

Garosugil again. Something very photogenic about this place, everything is just placed perfectly.

I used to love the Soul, then hated it and am starting to understand the car again. There's a reason why it won a Red Dot design award.

The Peugeot 3008 is quite common here. So perfectly awkwardly French.

This is one of the most premium neighborhoods in Seoul called Dogok. At first sight, it looks more like a business district because of the clean and professional look.

It's home to the apartment complex called Samsung Tower Palace. The tallest one is the picture is named tower 3 and is currently the tallest building in Seoul. It's under a 100 floors though, unimpressive considering the scale of the city.

Not the biggest fan of Tower Palace's architecture. Reminds me of downtown Vancouver, which bores me greatly.

More photos from around the neighborhood. Seems like a nice place to live - Tower Palace, not necessarily Seoul.

A newly opened mall in Seoul called "Times Square".

Watched a movie there and of course, the preroll included a Galaxy Tab ad. I'm getting quite sick of all the marketing.

In Korea they always go through a safety briefing (like on the plane) before a movie. Find it quite peculiar.

Am I the only one that thought Burt's Bees was a small company? Well I must be greatly mistaken.

There's an unbelievable number of books on the iPhone 4. These aren't guides on the SDK, these are books on the iPhone itself. What's there to write so many books about?!

Times Square from the outside. I also have no idea on why the mall is called Times Square.

Koreans have also adopted North America's "prepare for holidays a month early to get people to shop more".

One of my favorite buildings in Seoul - reminds me of the Mac Pro.

Gangnam Street (literally means South of the river). I should point out that Seoul is separated in half by the "Han River", very much like London. The South of the river is generally more upscale and is where all the heavy development is occurring.

This is the headquarters of Samsung. It was a foggy night and I was going to give up on taking photos when I realized how cool the lighting ended up looking.

Unique Subway entrance of Gangnam station.

Yes, lime green. I think it's fly - in a Nike runners kind of way.

This is the "sport" version of the Morning. Looks totally like Pikachu.

Approaching gaudy territory but I think those alloys look great.

I'm not sure on the laws here but I'm being led to believe that it's not an issue to park on sidewalks. The sidewalk can't be this wide for no reason right?

It's after sunset when the city comes alive. The artificial lighting allows me to shoot at ISO400 at night. Sweet.

Shot of a back alley on the way home. Blade Runner?

By the way, my opinion on these cases is unchanged - they're great.

Tridea Scene Stealer

2010-11-30T05:30:00.000-08:00

I have recently discovered a small Korean case maker called, "Tridea". Their premium lineup is called "Scene Stealer" and certainly does steal the scene.

Because someone will ask: I don't know if they sell these cases outside of Korea.

I picked up two cases, the iPhone 4 and iPad sleeves. The iPhone sleeve is about $33 and the iPad one around $105. The prices may seem a bit hight but both cases are sewn by hand using Korean cow hide and tanned using natural dyes.

The packaging. The company is so small that their few employees package these cases by hand at their tiny office in Garosugil.

Here's the iPad case. What really makes this case is the quality of the leather and stitching. There is nothing superfluous to be seen.

Many people have asked me on what I think the ideal form factor for the iPad is. I have been using Apple's official case and it's great for watching movies and typing. What it's bad for is reading. I find that the sharp edges and the flap just doesn't make it ideal for long periods of reading books and magazines. What I do most on the iPad is read - making the sleeve form factor ideal for me.

The back.

The inside is lined with suede which will not only protect your device but clean the screen.

Though there's no stand built into the case but, you get a nice platform for typing.

The iPhone sleeve. Once again, gorgeously minimal. The contrasting suede interior is eye catching.

Comes in a variety of colors. Went with the orange tone to match my GF1's case.

There's a bit of space on either sides of the case for the buttons. Squeezing the case allows for easier removal of the phone.

The back. Labeled "Designed by Tridea - Made in Korea".

Closeup of the suede lining.

Perfect harmony with the iPhone.

I went to the head office to buy both of the cases. On my second visit to buy the iPad case, the owner of the company gave me this snap-on case for free. The quality is really nice, on par with Incase's products.

However, the back is the ugliest thing ever.

Look at the other variations of the same case; so much better. I guess I shouldn't complain about something that's free.

Completely unrelated but, isn't this the cutest puppy ever?!

An old man was walking with him and he was so cute that I had to take some photos. The owner was so proud of this little fellow and kept bragging about how smart he is. :)

SO CUTE.

Seoul - 8 (Coex, Galaxy Tab, and more)

2010-11-29T05:53:00.000-08:00

It's quite interesting to see how monochromatic cars are in Korea. You can go back to my previous posts and you'll find that 90% of cars are either white, silver or black. This is especially backward considering how colorful Koreans like everything else.

Seoul has some crazy wide roads. This will become completely packed during rush hour.

The subways are just as packed as the roads.

Not sure on the exact number but there are a number of different companies that take part in Seoul's subway network. Therefore there are slight variations on the trains and stations. Whomever does line 2 is doing a good job; I find this the most intuitive way to figure out what station you're on (and where you're going).

You saw the Social Network poster in Korean, now it's TRON. I need to see this movie.

Coex. It's Asia's largest underground mall and holds a mall and also museums, an aquarium, and an exhibition/convention center. Makes sense that the G20 was held here.

Like.

The new accent on display. Ignore that creepy backdrop.

The thing you'll first notice is that the ceilings aren't that high considering the size of the mall. I guess the fact that it's underground had an influence.

Cafe Pascucci is awesome. Go there now.

There's plenty of these "experience centers" to promote products. Samsung went a bit crazy:

This is Galaxy Zone - where you can experience the two flagship products from Samsung; the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab.

I'm not a fan of the "Galaxy" products but I must admit, Samsung did a good job here.

Here it is. I really don't understand why Samsung constantly makes a huge effort to make Android look like iOS.

The hardware is well done. About the size of the kindle?

There's a Samsung version of every Apple accessory.

With my iPad. Here is my thought on the 7" display:

- The perfect size for reading a book. But if reading books is your key need, get a Kindle.
- Too small for comfortable web browsing and reading magazines.
- It's too large to carry without a bag and if you're going to carry it in a bag, wouldn't you want something larger?
- Some people say that the 9.7" display is too large on the iPad. However 7" definitely not the right size. Maybe 9" is.

Also, the fact that Samsung forced Android to become a tablet OS is not helping. Here are my two cents: Wait for the next version of Android if the iPad is not for you.

Aluminum vs plastic.

Thicker than the iPad but that's expected considering its size.

In addition to the Galaxy Zone, these kiosks are all over the mall - and Seoul.

iriver has many of these stores throughout Seoul.

The iriver Domino (a flash drive) is in MoMA, quite a feat.

Interesting building.

Gyeongbok palace. The palace was built in 1394 and burnt down by the Japanese when they invaded Korea. It was partly reconstructed in 1867.

The entrance.

The palace was closed recently for more reconstruction and reopened last year. Now, nearly half of the palace has been revived.

Intricate craftsmanship.

The Motorola Motoroi. It's a nice device (almost stock Android, woot!) but never got released on any of the major US carriers. In terms of specs, I believe it's similar to something like the Nexus One.

Really strange design but nevertheless cool - in a Matrix sort of way.

This is the phone I'm using right now. Why is it so bad? It's my grandmother's. There's nothing to see here but if people want, I'll post more on it.

It's strange that pay phones still exist in a country with 97.2% mobile phone penetration. Well, it's got a color screen and uses your transit card for payment so I guess this one is excused.

Typical sidewalk in Seoul.

Like Europe, orange signal lights aren't required. This is way more attractive, especially with blacked out (proper term?) headlights like the Avante (Elantra) here.

That Mustang is parked in that spot everyday. It looks so out of place in this city for some reason.

More to come (as usual). I don't know why I say this every post.

Seoul - 7 (Garosugil)

2010-11-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

I don't know exactly when but a few years ago, Korea switched to the Euro-style license plates; an excellent choice. The minimal design looks great on white cars.

It's hard to believe that such a vibrant city has been living with the possibility of war for over 50 years.

There are no Apple Stores in Korea so there are a selection of Apple resellers. Frisbee and a#shop are the two most common.

It's the small things that makes Seoul interesting.

I find the design of Samsung's smart phones very dull and copycat. They have a lot of fun dumb phones though.

Nothing I would buy but at least it's different.

I guess "cute" is the right word here.

There aren't many but they do sell Peugeot in Korea. It's always a pleasure to see them.

Fall is coming to an end.

I've recently found a small gem in Seoul, a street called "Garosugil" - literally means "tree-lined street". The street feels very "European". Everything is way overpriced and most people will have a hard time finding anything worth spending money on. It's worth a quick visit as the street is quite photogenic.

Faux-Paris.

There's plenty of expensive coffee on this street. Found the Cafe Nescafe reasonably priced and tasty.

Liking the interior.

Of course, you need a few Vespas to complete the European look.

Any of you guys know of AIAIAI? They are a company from Copenhagen and make headphones and lifestyle products. They had a store here but it's gone out of business. :(

To be honest, there's not enough to see here to call it a tourist location or anything.

MMMG is a Korean company that makes small stationary and accessories. They have a playful and minimal approach to design that I've come to love.

Kinda Bauhaus?

I picked up a wallet from them.

Super minimal.

They come in a range of random colors and you pick out the color combination you like the most.

"MMMG" stands for Millimeter Milligram. It apparently means that they want to find joy in the most minuscule things in life - very fitting for their design language.

I'm increasingly not liking Hyundai's design language, it's just too much. On the other hand, Kia is doing great. The K7 has a very restrained yet well proportioned design, not unlike VW. Take a look at those headlights.

Peter Schreyer has really transformed Kia.

The Sportage is another well resolved design. Compare it to the CRV and RAV4, there's no comparison.

The rear possibly better looking than the front. This is a $20,000 vehicle. Looks closer to $40,000.

Kia is quickly becoming one of my favorite mainstream auto companies.

Definitely photogenic.

Seoul - 6 (Yeonpyeong Island)

2010-11-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

Most people have probably heard of the recent artillery attack from North Korea.

Things are peaceful in Seoul, let's keep it that way.

Seoul - 5 (iida)

2010-11-22T06:16:00.000-08:00

As I have promised, here are some photos of the awesome Japanese phones at the studio I'm working at. These are all none functioning units though they are virtually unnoticeable from actual units. I would have loved to play with the software though.

The first one is called Infobar. It's designed by Naoto Fukasawa, the legendary Japanese designer. It's kind of unpractical but the proportions are so awesomely unusual.

The phone on the left is the Infobar 2, also designed by Naoto Fukasawa.

It's breathtakingly gorgeous.

It's hard to believe that they actually sell a phone like this. The electronics market is so unadventurous outside of Japan.

I love the way light plays off of the rounded surfaces.

Fukasawa always picks really harmonious colors; no different here.

Comes in a variety of colors. The color highlight is completely nonfunctional and is purely design for sake of design. Though I love the colors choices, I'd probably stick with the silver phone for this reason.

Also comes in green which is matte in texture unlike the other models.

"Infobar" is such an appropriate name.

Although it seems like the phone will be uncomfortable, the rounded design makes it feel pretty nice: similar effect to the iPhone 3G(s).

The phones from here are by a brand called "iida" - a design centric brand under the cellular company, KDDI au. This one is called Media Skin, and is by Tokujin Yoshioka, a designer I'm increasingly becoming fond of.

Tasty. The Japanese phones seem to have a universally complicated design but somehow organized overall appearance.

Has one of those protective flip covers that was common in Ericsson phones.

Tokujin Yoshioka does some nice work.

Called the Ply, this is one of iida's most iconic products.

The phone is called "Ply" because it was inspired by plywood. The layers here are meant to imitate the layers visible in the wood (the brown one is a complete metaphor).

Also comes in black.

"Japanese" is the best way to describe this phone.

I'm starting to wish I lived in Japan.

Ply looks surprisingly at home next to iPhone.

Feels a bit uncomfortable.

Lastly, we have the G9 - a more "professional" phone.

This is the least well executed out of all these phones. The problem is that the phone tries to look premium but just doesn't feel that way. If it was built like the iPhone 4, I'd be all over it.

I love the design of the buttons.

The silver one is the best looking. It also has a more attractive matte silver framing unlike the chrome one on the other phones.

Fairly thick.

That handle seems to be largely a superfluous addition.

The G9 is actually the longest phone here. Way too long to be held comfortably.

I sometimes take the subway to work.

The (newer) subway stations have pretty attractive typography. Similar to Windows Phone 7's Metro UI actually.

My headphones, the Phiaton MS400s, had a broken headband and a worn out cable so I took them to their office to get them repaired. Phiaton is a sub-brand of Cresyn for those wondering.

They had their products on display and this caught my eye. Square ear cups and flat cables, that's pretty rare.

The new Avante (Elantra) is a huge improvement from the old one. It has a nasty interior design though. As far as I can see, the 2012 Focus seems like the winner in this space.

Gas stations in Seoul have pumps located off the ground and offer only over full service. Strange.

Seoul - 4 (Cyphics)

2010-11-21T03:38:00.000-08:00

The last few days has been quite foggy/misty.

Mix that with pollution and a sunrise and you get some compelling photos.

On the way to work.

Does anyone else recognize this? I've been seeing these metal plates in place of roads during construction. Maybe they're there as a placeholder before the tarmac is laid down. Not sure, I've never seen this back in North America.

Please Chevrolet, release the Spark back at home. I'd much rather see these on the road than all those nasty Yaris.

Morning traffic I'm dealing with every day.

For the next month, I'm doing an internship at a design studio called "Cyphics". Website here.

Inside the building.

And inside the office.

Lots of awesome toys on display for inspiration. I'll most some of the Japanese phones in a later post they're mind blowingly awesome.

The office is largely monochromatic with little splashes of color.

Juicy Salif. It's so iconic it's almost cliche.

There are so many interesting things everywhere. A total candy shop for your eyes.

Jasper Morrison's air chair and Mr Starck's stool in the background. Not sure about that table.

Flooring inside the office.

My favorite corner in the office.

Another super iconic design piece - by Naoto Fukasawa.

Very Japanese?

Talking about icons, one of the most popular designs by Cyphics is probably this humidifier designed for Loofen. It's awfully cute and is how I discovered the studio.

Comes in a range of colors.

Vapor output.

View from the deck of the office.

Isn't this the best looking milk carton you've ever seen? They sell these at a bakery called Paris Baguette here. I have never seen a milk carton with even a sliver of attractiveness so this surprised me.

I'm not a fan of milk but it almost makes me want some.

All works by this studio. If you're Korean you'll definitely recognize some of these.

A limited edition Soul. There's something about the city that doesn't make this car look awkward.

K5 taxi in motion. I'm starting to think that the car is too "big", especially in the overhangs.

The neighborhood where Cyphics is located.

I took a few videos too:

Seoul - 3

2010-11-16T04:15:00.000-08:00

More photos from Seoul - these were taken on the same day as the last post.

There are small reminiscences of the past throughout the city.

They've started giving people carriage rides to tour the city. Quite bizarre to see a horse in the middle of busy traffic.

While there are plenty of Starbucks in Korea, there seems to be just as many A Twosome Place, Coffee Bean and Pascucci.

A Twosome Place has a slightly more muted and generic feeling compared to its counterparts. It also has a pretty unmemorable name.

Affogato.

The most popular chain of bookstores in Korea - Kyobo. They also sell many other things like electronics and stationary.

One of the emails I get the most is: What camera do you use?

The answer is the Panasonic GF1; the white camera in this picture.

Unbelievably gorgeous and unbelievably over priced.

An Ebook reader from iriver called Cover Story. iriver used to be incredibly influential but now that the mp3 player market has collapsed (thanks to the smartphone), they are entering different markets.

The keyboardless form factor is actually quite interesting. The biggest issue is that it runs for around $250. The Amazon Kindle is $140.

This Samsung point-and-shoot caught my eye - the build quality is outclasses the camera.

The Samsung NX100 is Samsung's new micro-four-thirds camera.

It's really way too big.

Some interesting design cues though; I quite like the fluid look of the camera - something quite differentiating.

The leather case doesn't really work with cameras with an "SLR-like" design. Looks awesome on the Olympus PEN and mine though.

MUJI. You guys probably know these guys.

Minimal.

Awesome stuff.

I think I might have to get one of these - designed by Naoto Fukasawa.

If Naoto and Jasper ruled the World.

What most of the city "feels" like.

Many people don't know this but Samsung actually sells cars in Korea - a partnership with Renault and Nissan. I'm not to knowledgable in this relationship but I believe that they also do some development and manufacturing. The brand is literally called "Samsung Renault".

If you know Renault, these cars will look familiar. These two are their high-volume sedans - on the left is the SM3 and on the right, the SM5.

Showrooms are so compact here.

The new Grand Cherokee is out here too now. This looks pretty decent in white.

I always find translated posters very interesting. The poster says something completely different from the original - pretty much just describes the synopsis. Odd. That thing to the left is a touch screen with various information and maps.

Well, that's it for now!