Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch

Its hard to not get excited about the olympics. There is so much happening, and the build up to each event grows as the years go by.

I remember being super excited for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, because I was in high school, and we would get extended holidays. But thinking back on it, there was a buzz in the air for a long time leading up to the Olympics. These days I prefer the Winter Olympics, but with the addition of the Skateboarding to the Tokyo 2020 sports list, I felt like I would be excited for these games for a whole new reason.

But it is not the skateboarding that is getting me excited. It wasn’t the massive works being undertaken to the infrastructure in Japan when I was living there. Its not even the fact that the Olympics are in Japan. Its the design. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are the first games in as long as I can remember where the design components that we are seeing are very exciting, and seemingly well thought out.

I do remember there was some controversy revolving around the original logo being plagiarised. I won’t go into it, but you can read about it here. It does seem though that following the feedback from that initial unveiling, every part of the design for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has been explored to its fullest, and the results I am seeing are super rad. The pictograms for the sports were released a few weeks ago, I have a better look at them here – Tokyo 2020 Pictograms.

Recently though, whooo weee, the Olympic Torch was unveiled, and I have to say that it is an object that I now hope to own one day.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch

It looks luxurious. It looks light. It looks futuristic. It looks like it is supposed to.

Designed by Tokujin Yoshioka, who also designed some of my favourite mobile phones ever, which often use translucent materials to show the inner workings of the phones.

I designed the TOKYO 2020 Olympic Torch in the wishes for peace and healing of hearts in the disaster-hit area. 

The cherry blossom emblems I drew with children in the recovering area inspired me. Those cherry blossoms were all vibrant, as if they symbolize the spirit of the people trying to overcome and restart from the disaster. I aimed to convey this power to the world through my design. 

What I designed is not merely the form of the TOKYO 2020 Olympic Torch, but the form of Olympic flame itself. The five flames surrounded by the petals become one Olympic flame to give hope to all the people in the world to live in peace. 

In 2020, the Olympic flame will traverse throughout Japan like cherry blossoms blooming, and lights our way to hope. 

Tokujin Yoshioka

It is inspired by the Sakura, the Japanese carry blossom that is synonymous for both beauty and fragility. The sakura is one of the most beautiful things you can experience in Japan, when you are in an area that is in Full Bloom, there is a buzz in the air. People stop in their tracks to admire the beauty of the blossoms. Busy salarymen pause on the way to the office to breathe deep the sweet air circling the city. Its an amazing time, and I’m very glad for the Sakura to feature so prominently in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Aesthetic.

Sakura Mon that inspired the olympic torch.

Its interesting to note that the body of the torch is made from some recycled materials, including aluminium from temporary shelters that were used after the 2011 Tsunami. The recycled materials of the torch are mirrored in the medals, which will be including electronic waste materials that have been upcycled in the various medals.

Torch Specifications:

Length: 710mm
Total weight: 1.2kg (the torch weighs 1kg, while the combustion component weighs 0.2kg).
Colours: Sakura and gold
Main materials: aluminium (approx. 30% of the torch is made from recycled aluminium originally used in temporary housing units after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster that devastated Japan’s Tohoku region)

You can see more of the torch on the Tokyo 2020 website or on the Tokujin Yoshioka website.

Live Projection Mapping

I have an idea for something using protection mapping interacting with live… things.

this demo from Panasonic shows some of the tech in action back in 2017!

IMAGEdump – 190328

pretty sure this was research for one of the Art Wank shows. looking at erotica through different mediums. I thought this one was really well executed. (source)
I’m no iPhone fanboy. but they make for very delightful devices to hold. what I really want is a 4G NOKIA 8850 with an excellent camera… /src/
someones kit. for a while I was obsessed with knolling, still am really. I had a regular blog post on the CLOUDmountain blog where I would get people to empty their pickets or bags, lay it all out and photograph it from above…. I might bring that back /src/
I love clouds. any kind of cloud can look lovely. I don’t like destruction though. (source)
I was going to do a series of microscopic bug drawings, but the more I looked at these close up images the more it made my skin crawl. it never happened. (source)
James Jirat Patradoon. he was my fave illustrator throughout my university, and was even a large part of my honours thesis. (I hate to say it, but I prefer his earlier work)
Mike Giant is a living legend. I got to meet him a few years ago, super chill and lovely dude. He posted this shot on his blog a few years ago, and I just loved that he embraced who he was. it think this may have been a senior portrait or something. (source)
design can be so boring these days. I love this kin d of repeat that was prolific in the 80s and early 90s. from memory, this is a modern day repro of the style, but the way those letters stack towards the bottom is super pleasing. (source)
Japanese design is always interesting, and the way in which the Japanese aesthetic has been adopted by the west, and then readopted back into Japan. I have a couple of long form thesis style ideas I want to explore in this area… watch this space. /src/
I love a good business card. some people hate the super flashy ones, but are you kidding me. its an awesome little art print that people will offer up for free. why not make it something super memorable. /src/

Video Game Kicks

Since tumblr’s war on nipples has dropped the once prolifically nsfw microblogging hub’s overall traffic by approximately 30%, a lot of people are wondering why even bother logging in anymore. If there isn’t even a chance of seeing a tiddy then I may as well stay on Instagram…

But, Tumblr has also been a haven for niche blogs and photo streams that had no where else to go. One such blog it Video Game Kicks by by R23X aka VHS Stills (who I have been following on Instagram for years also, just learnt it was their blog as I write this).

Over the past 2 years, Video Game Kicks has been collecting and cataloguing various Kicks from all sorts of videos games, including a shot of the shoes, some commentary, the game name, character name and even video game publisher with release date.

There isn’t a lot of content, VHS Stills runs a number of projects so seems to be a very busy individual, but here are a couple of my faves.

from Video Game Kicks – These hi-tops tho… Citan a.k.a. Hyuga… from Xenogears (Squaresoft, 1998).
from Video Game Kicks – Sakura (春日野 さくら) from Rival Schools.
This is some hype beast type shit.

There seems to be some new posts from the last month or so as well. so if you still remember your tumblr login, give them a follow. OR if you don’t have access to your hotmail account for that forgot password email (lel, its a joke) just bookmark the site and check it every so often. Gems like these don’t come around everyday…

Also VHS Stills sells some awesome flight/field bags. Im working on my own for TOKYObodega, but in the meantime, check these out.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvXWj8Ln7DT/
available here – https://video20xx.com/shophttps://video20xx.com/shop

IMAGEdump – 190326

this was some of the inspiration I was using when I was getting into pixel art. the colours are almost perfect. /src/
I’ve always been a fan of publishing, haven’t spent years making books full of local artists work, but I love when a book mixed the stock used, or does something unexpected. /src/
an awesome example of Japanese stab binding, where you pierce holes through the pages and then sew them together. I trained in this method while at uni, and even though I don’t use it often with my zines now, it used to be all I would do to bind them. /src/
I love these space suit examples will the full glass dome helmets. so futuristic /src/
speaking of publication, here are a bunch of books I published as well as some zines and stickers at the Print and Staple zine fair at The Tate Gallery a few years back. His Happy spread by yours truly, Demon Spread by Teens on Acid /src/
I know this is a dragon ball reference, I have just started watching the original series from the beginning, but I just loved the illustration style, and this is something I want to try and emulate. /src/
crystal castles. what is there to say. I love the music, I hate the allegations of abuse. I don’t listen much anymore, but I used to listen to them on repeat so much. /src/
an photo from the opening of CUPCO‘s Art Wank 2 show. my work is the nude shibari illustration, bottom centre of frame. /src/
font sample of Cartograph, which I bought on sight. I love a sexy monospace font. for years I have been using Space Mono (cos its free and one of the more interesting fonts around). this blog is set in space mono. but I keep this sexy Cartograph monospace for publications and zines. /src/
this is just some glue for the Nintendo labo kits. you spray it all over to give them more durability, but the simple packaging really caught my eye. and anyone who uses separated CMYK is a friend of mine… /src/

I’m Listening… Joji

Ive been listening to Joji for a while now, but this video came across my youtube the other week and I must have watched it at leat 33 times.

Its a video by Colours, they do these paired back videos for all sorts of songs, just on a colour field background with a floor plate. I had never heard of them before, but now I’m a huge fan.

This track is the opener for Ballads 1, the Joji’s latest album, which is a whole lot of chill music. Excellent to listen to while illustrating. When I first put on the vinyl for the album, I totally passed over this song waiting for Yeah Right to come on, but I’m glad this was brought to my attention again.

Thanks Colors.

Listen for more Joji when I tear apart my monthly playlist, MARCHbangers, at the end of the month…

Sleeping with Giants…

Im a bit slow to the game these days. I have been laying low in the Australian creative sphere after spending almost a decade hosting art exhibitions and publishing books filled to the brim with local talent.

But today, when I had some extra time to go around and see what other Australian creative websites have been up to, I found that 2 of my favourite, longest living design blogs have closed down.

Design is Kinky shut up shop back in 2018, and Australian Infront has just closed in the last month or so.

Admittedly, since living in Japan I haven’t really participated in the local creative sphere (I am working on that again, and thats why you are reading this now), but this is super sad for me. Having worked personally with the founders of both of these sites, its hard to think of a time where I can’t just log in and see whats been happening.

Best of luck to all.

(this reminds me that I might have an archive of WATIM around somewhere… I will see if I can dig it out)

TOKYO 2020 (not Akira) Pictograms

The Pictograms for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have been officially released, and they are some of the most dynamic and interesting pictograms of recent times.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Pictograms

Its a nice full circle as the Pictograms to represent different sports were most broadly used first at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

It is generally agreed that Olympic Games pictograms were really first introduced in 1964, in Tokyo. But Osterwalder explains: “Creating symbols which are not letters but graphic illustrations that everyone can understand goes back much further than that. I’ve found small pictograms that were at the Games in Stockholm in 1912, Paris in 1924, and other Games after that; but they did not yet offer that very simple and clear view that we know today. They were complicated illustrations, but not verbal elements, describing sports, art competitions or other things. For example, for the art competitions in Paris in 1924, there was a symbol, an illustration, which may be considered a pictogram.”

MARKUS OSTERWALDER – THE OLYMPIC PICTOGRAMS, A LONG AND FASCINATING STORY
Pictograms used in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics Games
Pictograms in use at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics Games
Pictograms for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games

Created by Japanese designer Masaaki Hiromura, the pictograms embody the uniqueness and athleticism of each sport, and highlight the dynamism of athletes.

They were designed in line with Tokyo 2020’s theme, “Innovation from Harmony”, while drawing inspiration from the Olympic Games Tokyo 1964, when pictograms were first introduced at the Olympics.

TOKYO 2020 UNVEILS GAMES PICTOGRAMS

Its cool to see more sports being added to the Olympics that will broaden the events appeal. I know I was stoked when snowboarding was added to the Winter Olympics, and though I haven’t snowboarded in years, I still watch every snowboarding event I can manage (as well as the curling).

The pictograms for Surfing and Skateboarding, two other board sports, are being added to the Olympic Games this year, and it is so rad to see their pictograms amongst some of the most dynamic and exciting in the line up.

Im excited for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. It will open up Tokyo and broader Japan to a whole host of tourists from all over the world. When I was living in Japan a couple of years ago, you could already see the changes happening for the Olympics. Stations were getting upgraded, signage was getting English additions, airports and tourist centres were becoming even more tourist friendly. Its going to be great to be able to share my love of Japan with so many more people.

You can see more work from Hiromura at the website www.hiromuradesign.com