Most are probably aware of how important packaging design is in Japan, and while it’s often gorgeous it can feel a little wasteful in these times. But PingMag has a How-to-Reduce-Packaging Journal up today, showing examples of things going in greener and more bio-degradable directions.

Shown above is Tofu packed in a balloon. Not only does it seem material efficient, but also easy to open since you only have to prick it to have the material shrink away and leave a perfectly round ball. I wouldn’t mind seeing Mozarella and other similar European cheeses packaged like this either.

As I see it, the only benefit is dramatic effect. The opening (or closing) makes a statement that you are about to make a call, or just have finished one. Maybe that’s a good function if you’re a soap opera character who needs to emphasize your anger about having found out about your husband’s mistress by snapping the phone shut, and if you’re a Jack Bauer-type agent you might want to be able to flip open your phone and spend a moment in thoughtful hesitation before making that call that will save the West Coast, the president and your family at the cost of an evil terrorist getting free…

But for anyone else? I can’t really see the point. But there seems to be something, since there’s a lot of such phones on the market. Feel free to enlighten me.

I also mentioned that when the iPhone type all-touchscreen design becomes available in all price ranges, the need should clear for foldable and otherwise compactable designs… but who knows?

I’ll have plenty of time this summer, and unless I get too bogged down with attention defiency and house moving I’m going to get a portfolio site up during the summer. Until then, I might post something here while I consolidate my work.

But what if we add a bit of sci-fi to the concept, along with a splash of water? Then we’d have one neat natural resource on our hands because, as anyone with basic knoledge of chemistry might know, with carbon, hydrogen and a handful of other elements you can make a lot of stuff. Broken down into atoms, not many percent of what we eat is anything other than carbon and hydrogen. The same goes for many of the plastics that much of our stuff consists of. And a lot of construction can be done with fullerenes made out of carbon itself.

It would take some major advances in nanotechnology (which might be on the way…), but the thought of turning global warming into stuff is kind of neat. Especially if you’d end up with a magic fabricating box that anyone could own and use to tap into this resource. I believe this civilization thing we have going won’t work properly before the means of production are in the hands of the individual – but that’s an entirely different story.

I found one that for some reason had been stuck in a drawer for years, maybe because while it felt great to write with, the ink would smear a bit too much on glossier paper qualities which caused some ugly results on forms and envelopes of such paper (which is what I usually use pens for – when it comes to writing and note taking by hand I’m a pencil user).

But anyway, I found the Bic and I realized it had an excellent use as an instrument for sketching and doodling – with very smooth action, a bit of variation and vividity in the lines and a flow that allowed filling larger areas.

Then, when it ran out, I found that Bic had discontinued it while my pen was gathering dust in a drawer. Apparently I’m not the only one missing them, for example an Amazon commenter claimed to have seen a box auctioned off for $60 on eBay. A bit of searching last time I thought of it found a mail-order company in Australia or New Zealand with some left, but ordering pens across the globe felt a bit too geeky…

So, while it’s a long shot, I ask this question to the internets on the odd chance that someone who shares this conundrum, but has found a suitable replacement, stumbles on this post before I go to the stationery store and buy a dozen liquid ink rollerballs to see if I find something that works…

Unless the Swedish potato chip commercial above was shot back in the day, on the actual Western frontier, which I doubt, there must be some stock of Longhorse left in the world. Maybe there is an obscure fellowship of breeders that have kept these noble beasts alive, awaiting a time when they can serve us again – and now, at the eve of the petroleum age, have decided that their long, powerful are needed to carry us away from our dependence on SUVs and other gas guzzlers.

(Don’t ask me about the short horse, though. Maybe something for urban traffic.)

Found this couple of days ago. Eerie but nice short, directed by Christian Simmons for a project of the Savanna College of Art and Design. It has a feel that I can only describe as, well, very slipstream.

Check their SCADshorts site for more info, high quality version and links to their earlier monthly releases of short films.

Now for that request: I’m looking for the title of an animated short, and I haven’t been able to feed Google with the right combination of words. It’s probably best described as a cut-out/stop-motion hybrid centered on a train, made by folding and cutting printouts from classic live action films (which then play on the created objects). It was made by a German group.

I got to see it during the two week introduction course to traditional animation which was one of many things I got to do at art school this last year, and it would be fun to see it again.

I can’t believe I haven’t posted about Basic Instructions though it has been in my feeds for a year and a half. Twice a week Scott Meyer gives four panels of wisdon on everthing from How to Maintain a Healthy Diet to How to Deal with Visions and How to Travel Back in Time. Now, go learn!

I just bought a pair of new shoes, and came to think of these. I seem to have very tender feet, or maybe awkwardly shaped heels, or both… but whatever the reason, almost every new pair of shoes is an exercise in excruciating pain until they are worn in. So these Compeed patches have become a bit of a staple for me. They are ridiculously expensive (about SEK50 for a pack of five, and directly converted that’s about €5.50 or US$8.50), but I haven’t found anything that works half as well. They stick well, staying on for a couple of days, and they cushion really well.  They are thick and gel-ish, and seem to work by absorbing moisture from the blister since the part of the patch covering it swells up (that’s even if the blister has been punctured and the outer skin has fallen off). Don’t know what more they do, but something makes them unsuitable for diabetics.

Anyway… they have the ability to take me from a grimacing zombie stagger to walking more or less normally in a matter of minutes, so I try to always keep a pack at hand.

Now I’ll stop unless Johonson and Johnson offer me money to be their spokesperson…