On the opening day, the centre of attention was the announcement of the Fujitsu Design Award, taking place in conjunction with Designboom. With a total prize pool of around €60,000 euro, it was the talk amongst designers.

On Saturday, due to the typhoon and cancelation of the main event, design enthusiasts attended the Design Tide Tokyo and Tokyo-Midtown Design Touch events situated in Roppongi.

Umbrella's were the order of the day at the opening of TDW 2010

Here several stores, galleries and exhibits are on display throughout the week in partnership with TDW. On Saturday, this allowed visitors a chance to escape the storm and to checkout some amazing product design. ‘au by KDDI’, a Japanese mobile phone design, manufacture and service provider previously featured on Design Droplets was amongst the action. Vibrantly displaying their latest ‘iida’ product range and feature phone ‘X-Ray’ along side their latest concept phones developed in collaboration with Alessi. These new concepts are yet to appear on the net, but the designs look hot.

iida x-ray by Tokujin Yoshioka

iide-Allesi collaboration by Stefano Giovannoni - A Design Droplets Exclusive

Similar to the ‘iida’ product and concept range, boutique product design was abundant. Tech gadgets designed for functionality along side a playful aesthetics seemed to be a re-accruing theme.

Tokyo-Midtown Design Touch was an unexpected surprise and a highlight of the weekend. Viewers can visit an interactive exhibition on the first floor, the Good Design Awards industrial design museum on the fifth floor and abundant design shops and displays on the floors in-between.

Sunday saw better weather and provided the opportunity to properly explore the main exhibition grounds. As you enter the grounds and walk down the ‘Love Blue’ themed carpet, the shipping container displays provide a great and diverse introduction to TDW. Favourite containers include the intriguing Fujitsu Design Limited and Smile Park & Sunnyside Garage containers.

The student exhibition was varied in quality but provided some great furniture with top craftsman ship. Musashino University have produced a stand out performance with its furniture display.

In the centre of the grounds is a golf ball like tent in which the ‘Cool Japan Tokyo Conference’ is taking place. Various presentations and films are on display here throughout the week (mostly in Japanese with drinks and nibbles provided).

This is all just a precursor however to the main designer exhibits, which I will write about in the next article (coming soon).

If you happen to be in the largest metropolitan city in the world, Tokyo Designers Week, starting this Friday (today) is not to be missed. Succeeding last year’s theme of ‘Green’, 2010’s theme is ‘Love Blue- Environmental Design’ and will entail the wider living environment. Situated in the fashionable area of Shibuya, the festival will see thousands of designers display their work in the following instillations:

• Professional Exhibition – Leading professional designers and corporations
• Student Exhibition – The future leaders of the design industry
• Container Exhibition – Shipping containers transformed into mini exhibition space
• Tent Exhibition – Vast structure to house thousands of designer works
• Tent Shop – Products available to buy directly from creators
• Cube Exhibition – Aspiring designers showing their work in a cubic meter
• Shop Partnership – Hundreds of shops, cafes and galleries across Tokyo

TDW will expose the recent design culture of this very design savvy city. If you can’t be there, stay tuned online for the latest happenings.

If you’re an industrial designer, tech buff or simply love consumer electronics and don’t know of ‘au’ phones or the ‘au design project’ I urge you to read on.

‘au’ is the mobile phone subsidiary of the Japanese telecommunication company KDDI and ‘au design project’ is the design subsidiary of AU, also know since 2009 by the branding ‘iida’.

At the start of the 21st century mobile phones were uniform and rather boring. Japanese phone manufacturer ‘au’ recognised the possible market opportunities in placing the power with designers; more specifically the world’s most emotionally engaging designers. As a result, since 2001 ‘au’ has been collaborating with renowned designers, such as Australia’s Marc Newson and Japan’s Naoto Fukasawa, to design its product range. Their phones are strong design statements; unique amalgamations of leading technology and design that is unequalled by any other phone manufacturer. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, as with most phones in Japan, they are exclusive to Japan and unavailable in other countries, so I don’t blame you if haven’t heard of ‘au’.

You’ve probably already seen the pictures and passed judgement, but like any tangible product, the tactile experience is also a part of product aesthetics that the internet can’t provide. When you pick up one of these phones, putting it down is like waking from a wonderful dream on a Sunday morning, you’ll want to pick it up again. The tactile aesthetics are as strong, if not stronger than the visual aesthetics of these phones, a quality that is under represented in product design.

Featuring thin slick designs, hidden and integrated buttons, magnesium alloys, rubber and plastics encasing world class technology, these phones are a testament to the power of industrial design. You get the impression that this time around, the designers got everything they wanted. It seems like the marketing, management, engineering and manufacturing departments were the ones that had to follow the designers rather than the reverse.

Any company can appoint a big name designer for their latest product range; however the success of the ‘au design project’ is not due to the names behind the designs but rather the designs themselves. The ‘au design project’ was born with three concept phones, one of which, INFOBAR, went into production and not only became an instant success for ‘au’, but an icon of Japanese industrial design. Designed by Naoto Fukasawa, the INFOBAR became the backbone of the ‘au design project’ and proved the value of focusing on a daring and strong design vision, lead by an individual rather than a design team. Nine years later the product iconography is still as strong and the design will no doubt withstand the test of time. The elegance and fundamental emotional appeal of Fukazawa’s designs often possess this timeless quality. His infamous wall hanging CD player for MUJI immediately comes to mind.

Talby by Marc Newson was released in 2004 as the third phone of the ‘au design project’. Once again, by empowering and giving free reign to the designer without the corporate constraints that in-house designers have to deal with, saw wonderful results. Although Newson mostly avoids drawing from external influence in his designs, he took cues from INFOBAR’s geometry and produced a unique yet fitting design. Newson’s retro-futuristic style married with leading technology produced a product perfect for the Japanese market.

Japanese consumers use products as a way of individualisation in a society based around group mentality and conformity. One example is how they personalise phones with stickers, skins and keychain ornaments. ‘au’ phones are focused on this savvy market segment that is specific to Japan. It’s the ideal market culture that allows for the development of bold and individual design. As to why so many of Japans products and especially Japanese phones are exclusive to Japan is off the topic and something I’ll discuss in a future article.

‘au’ is now the second biggest mobile provider in Japan and much of its success is due to its approach to design. The last decade has seen many Japanese product companies restructuring their design departments in similar ways. By creating separate design subsidiaries, companies are allowing designers more space and freedom from corporate constraints. Previously, Japanese designers worked in-house as part of an anonymous system. Japan’s group mentality has many strengths, however in the past it weakened the potency of design. The restructuring has now given rise to individual leadership and stronger design influence in corporations.

Arriving in Korea instantly impresses anyone in-tune with architecture and design. As you walk through the impressive Inchon airport for the first time and into the subway system, the flow is as natural as routine. However, as you arrive in Seoul your first impressions may not last. Like many over-developed cities, it’s abundant with selfish development. Don’t get me wrong, Seoul definitely has soul in the youth savvy and traditional areas, but these small pockets are few and far between. Whilst spending a week in Seoul, I felt it’s a city in desperate need of an injection of creativity straight to its veins and the timing couldn’t be better.

Designated by the ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) as the World Design Capital 2010, Seoul is no doubt a city that’s trying to make a name for itself on the design world stage. But how will it measure up to its assumed title? As is often the case, is this an attempt to simply raise public profile or a true commitment to progress through design? Adopting the cliché slogan “Design for All”, the government is also using the opportunity to develop Seoul for the benefit of its people.

Seoul has some big things planned in all disciplines of design, with over one hundred events happening over the year. Despite the fact that the tile of “World Design Capital 2010” was awarded by the ICSID, there is no emphasis on industrial design. For the event list and specific details, check out the 200 page guide book.

Whilst festivals and events will come and go throughout the year, for me the most significant undertaking will be the Dongdaemun World Design Plaza designed by Zaha Hadid. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the World Design Plaza “will not only become the landmark of the creative industry in the heart of Seoul, but will also become the hub of Asia’s design industry”. Whist it’s easy enough for a city with money to appoint the current fashionable architect to build a landmark, the ultimate design impact will depend on the utilization of this building. Scheduled for completion later this year, the building will foster the design industry by providing public and corporate facilities and act as a place for international exchange.

A point worth noticing is the governments serious agenda in revitalising the city. The new president, Lee Myung-bak was appointed after his success as mayor in recovering a previously built over river in the centre of Seoul. Myung-bak has recognised the need to rejuvenate Seoul and through design he is implementing change. The government has the right intent by trying to cater to its citizens as well as national and international design communities. As the year plays out expect to see some interesting design and developments coming from Korea.

Design Droplets welcome’s our newest writer Liam Mugavin. Liam is an Australian Industrial Design graduate currently residing in Japan. Below Liam outlines his initial thoughts on Design in Asia. I hope you enjoy his posts and insights on Design in Asia. ~ Raph Goldsworthy, Editor.

Australia’s geographic and economic proximity to the rest of the world sometimes places us in an ambiguous position in many industries, especially in industrial design. We tend to associate mostly with American and Western European countries due to having similar consumer culture and language. Although South East Asia is at our doorstep, I believe our relationship at times is weak due to a lack of understanding of this region. Asia obviously plays a predominant role in the design world; however it is often overlooked by Australian designers. Sure, we’re aware of Asia’s engineering, technology and manufacturing capabilities and most Australian products are manufactured in Asia. However, there is far greater depth to the industry that we aren’t so aware of. Take for example Japan’s deeply rooted culture of craftsmanship, the design research taking place in Singapore, Seoul’s recent activity as the World Design Capital 2010 and the principles of Zen aesthetics evolved through Buddhism that many Asian designers observe.

Historically much of Asia had been detached from the rest of the world, looking inwardly by fostering traditions over globalisation and external influence. In the late nineteenth century however, this started to change and even reverse. Asian countries went though a period of learning and emulating the specific strengths of foreign countries particularly from America. Some Asian countries are still following this mindset whilst others have surpassed the countries they learned from and are now leading in many fields. This period of Americanisation saw the birth of the consumer electronic industry in Asia, which at the time saw Japan develop into the biggest economy in the world.

Over the last few decades there has been a swing of dominance in product development towards Asia. Britain was once at the forefront of innovation during the industrial revolution. Post-war America took the lead through factory-line mass production. Japan’s endeavours towards technological research and development paid dividends and saw the rest of the world following them. However, the field evened out as Japan’s bubble burst. While each country has its strengths, as we come to an end of the latest economic crisis, it appears China will emerge at the forefront of product development. The swing of influence into our region of the world provides great opportunity for Australia, however better awareness is needed.

For me, writing about design in Asia is not just about sharing my views, experiences and news from Asia, but it’s a learning process. After being here in Japan for one year, I’m still fresh and have much to uncover about the intricacies of design culture in Japan and Asia. Despite how widely Asian design is published, the ethos behind product design remains generally unknown in Australia. Furthermore, when observed from the outside things that are taken for granted in their local context are often misinterpreted. By writing for Design Droplets I’m going to endeavour to share my experiences in Asia and shed a bit of light on things to inform myself as well as you. I have a bunch of topics in mind that I’ll be writing on, but if anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear from you.