Creativity reports that JWT Japan and Kit Kat have won the Media Grand Prix in Cannes with a product/marketing concept called Kit Kat Mail. JWT was struck by the Japanese translation of Kit Kat—Kitto Katso means “surely win”—and the tradition of sending students good luck wishes before tough higher education entrance exams.
So they teamed Kit Kat with the Japan post to create Kit Kat Mail: A post-card like product sold only at the post office that could be mailed to students as an edible good luck charm. Its success was so impressive that Kit Kat Mail soon became part of [...]

Some people accept the demise of the physical album as an inevitability, others embrace it. Like Mos Def: He’s releasing his latest album, The Ecstatic, as a T-shirt. How does that work? The T-shirt has The Ecstatic Killer of Sheep-interpolating cover art printed on the front, song titles on the back, and a download code for the album on the hang tag.
While some fans were disappointed by his last couple of showings (True Magic 2007, The New Danger 2004), The Ecstatic is getting good reviews. Pitchfork gives it an 8.0. We’re excited to see the man returning to his [...]

Japan’s visual and technologically-focused culture sets it up for creating killer interactive work. When Projector, a small unknown digital shop in Tokyo, won last year’s Cannes Titanium for Uniqlock, people started taking notice. Iain Tait, a co-founder of Poke, recently posted a list of “9 reasons why Japanese interactive work is awesome” on his blog, Crackunit.com. The list is based on his experience judging this year’s One Show Interactive Awards and observing that the most outstanding work seems to be coming from Japan. Although he makes the disclaimer that his observations are based on assumptions and generalizations, he [...]

If you’re in Tokyo between March 25th and April 5th, here are two events worth checking out. The first is “Light-light in Tokyo,” a magical installation of Lights floating in the air. (And if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to eat light, the exhibition also includes an edible “Light-food.” Yum…) The second is “Sakura Story,” an installation to present the beauty of sakura from when the annual cherry blossoms appear to when they fall. In this, a row of Sakura (cherry) trees will be illuminated at night using fiber optics. Both events are the work of Curiosity, a Tokyo-based [...]

Location-based mobile services have yet to reach a tipping point… Perhaps until now, with Google fully entering the fold. The search engine giant has quietly launched its latest product, Latitude, a new feature on Google Maps for mobile that allows you to share your location with friends and to see their approximate location.
Latitude’s differentiating feature is its ability to track your location in real time without requiring a manual update. The stalker potential is awe-inspiring. Although users can also opt to hide their location, we’re curious to see how many people will actually choose to display their locations 24-7.
Currently, Google [...]

Last June, we confessed our fascination with Warrior brand, China’s first hip sneakers. Now it looks like another “made in China” sneaker brand is fast making advances to claim the spotlight.
TianLangs sneaker-footwear of choice for many miners, farmers, and factory workers-have been produced by the same rural factory in China for more than 50 years. Instead of simply ripping the iconic design, Ospop worked closely with the factory to produce a remastered version that maintains the same silhouette but employs better materials to create a more durable and comfortable shoe. The result is a shoe that looks like the lovechild [...]

Behance & Cool Hunting are teaming together to host a conference that “focuses less on idea-generation, and more on how inspiration and organization come together to make ideas happen.” More often than not, the realities of bringing ideas to life cause even the best ones to die a mediocre death. As Director/Curator Aaron Rose admits, “Managing budgets is the hardest part of any creative project.” While we don’t expect The 99% to get into the finer details of project management, we’re glad to finally see a conference that explores a side of the creative process that always gets overlooked — [...]

Ocarina is one of the most inventive iphone apps we’ve seen yet. Its makers claim it’s the “first true musical instrument created for the iPhone. Ocarina is sensitive to your breath, touch and movements, making it even more versatile than the original [instrument]. Unlike other musical applications, there are no pre-compiled riffs so musicians will find unlimited opportunities for self-expression. Advanced options allow you to choose between diatonic, minor and harmonic scales.”
The genius thing is how it utilizes all the unique features of the iphone: Multi-touch, the integrated microphone, even using the internal gyroscope to control vibrato rate and depth. [...]

While Gwen Stefani continues promoting her Harajuku Lovers perfumes in the US, The Japan Times reports on some local concerns that Harajuku’s reputation for being the coolest district in Tokyo is on the decline.
The latest addition to the Harajuku landscape comes in the form of a 1,500 sq meter H&M store. Isn’t it interesting how in some parts of the world, the arrival of an H&M might be deemed a gift from the fashion gods. In Harajuku, here’s what one shopkeeper had to say:
“What concerns us about big chains coming to Harajuku is that the special atmosphere of this place [...]

It’s annoying to have to google keyboard shortcuts or html code for special characters. This simple site ingeniously solves that problem. It’s basically a list of special characters that you can copy as text or html. I’ve been using it a lot lately. Like Umbrella Today, Copypaste Character underscores a need for simple, functional websites that make your life easier or better in some way.

Staple Design and Lomography have collaborated on a new pigeon-inspired Color Splash camera and book project. Dubbed “Colorsplash Chakras,” the concept was to invite user-submitted lomo photos from around the world around relating to seven different spiritual chakas. The idea sounded pretty good when Jeff Staple pitched it on his blog awhile back, but it looks even better having come to fruition.
The book itself contains over 1,000 images submitted by regular people, intermixed with professional images from all-stars such as: Adam Scott, Atsuko Tanaka, Boogie, Brian Milo, Kareem Black, Kreg Holt, Maureen Hufnagel Michael Wong, Nick Rhodes, Wei-I Lee and [...]

One could compare how Marc and Sara Schiller are using the internet to propel street art to the masses with how Charlie Ahearn helped popularize hip hop in the ’80s. Both were outsiders who documented youth subcultures around them. In doing so, they brought the street to a global audience: Ahearn with Wildstyle, the movie, and the Schiller’s with the Wooster Collective.
Thirsty online magazine has a new interview with the couple where they talk about the reasons why they think street art is much more dynamic and intriguing than gallery art. Mainly, the illegal, ephemeral, and accessible nature of street [...]

Group blogs have proven popular within the street culture community. Since Honeyee, we’ve seen a slew of others come and go. The latest group blog to launch is called “Fire walk With me” and comes courtesy of Black Lodges, Steven Vogel’s online editorial project.
Having quite literally written the book on the subject, Vogel has amassed a network of industry heavy hitters.With perspectives from people like Brian Siswojo (852), Bob Kronbauer (Mumble Magazine), Dave Ortiz (DQM), Erik Brunetti (Fuct), and many more, “Fire walk with me” broadcasts the creatively diverse and global voice of the streetwear community. While content is a [...]

Sooner or later some of the creativity, energy and talent that’s driving the currently booming chinese art market was bound to spill into the more commercial territory of graphic design. With the impending Olympics, a global ubiquity of knowledge, and a greater emphasis on art and design as a legal means of illegal political expression, Chinese graphic designers are rising to the occasion. Ping Mag has posted a Q&A with Javin Mo, of the HK-based Milkxhake design collective, about what’s happening now in the country and which designers are leading the pack. The resulting piece is an excellent snapshot [...]

It’s been four months since Google launched Open Social last November, but we’re still waiting. The initiative, which allows people to create applications that can be used on any of Open Social’s partnering social networks, has yet to bear real fruit, let alone rise to its preconception of being the ultimate Facebook Killer. Paid Content noticed too that things have been relatively quiet on the Open Social front, so they sat down with Google Engineer, Kevin Marks, at SXSW to get an update: