This past weekend, Burton made the hordes of Japanese Shaun White fans jump for joy when they opened their first Japan store in Harajuku (known to be a swanky, trendy area of Tokyo). They issued this standard t-shirt/sticker gift ensemble to those in attendance of the grand opening, but what we really want to see are some photos of the inside of the store. Was anyone there with a camera willing to share the love? The Gravis store in Harajuku is great, and the Burton store in SoHo has some impressive traits (although they failed to follow their ingenious trade show merchandising strategy of pairing together all of the gear from each ‘collection’). I am guessing that– given the popularity of snowboarding in Japan — Burton probably threw some serious Yen at this one.

Via High Snobiety

We at JoshSpear.com are — like the rest of you — addicted to YouTube, and not ashamed to admit it. This whole YouTube craze is definitely adding fun to millions of people’s workdays, and probably simultaneously taking its toll on worker productivity. But that’s not our problem to fix; it is our problem to perpetuate. This video comes to you from Rinpa Eshidan out of Japan (as far as I can decipher from the foreign font on the YouTube page). It is pretty long, but it’s worth a watch. Viewing this video is basically like clicking your mouse and watching city blocks full of mural art flash before you. For you–no accelerated heart rate, no untied shoe laces, no blisters on the feet, no getting mugged–just time lapse viewing pleasure.

Art Lebdev Studio, the largest design company in Russia (we covered them back in May of ‘05), just released a fun poke at statistical charts and space saving with the Vector Stuff Holder. The office employee turns [the] Vector depending on how much success he or she is having [as] of late. Vector is an ideal present for a medium level manager and an excellent self-motvation tool. Via Gizmodo

I am a big fan of the culinary arts, and always try to keep an eye out for gadgets to use in my kitchen. I especially like when I find a contraption that adds something special from a design standpoint– no one wants to see poorly-designed, ugly appliances in the kitchen. Well, after holding out for the past two months to find a worthy set, my $1 grocery store salt and pepper shakers are going to have to move aside for Magnetic. They are designed by Indian designer Anuj Dixit, and employ the concept of ‘relational harmony.’ In simple terms, we always think of salt and pepper as being joined at the hip, but always get them separately– this design fixes that disconnect, and at the same time basks in its sleek and attractive design glory.

Via Design Spotter

We’re huge fans of Barcelona based freelance artist Pietari Posti’s work. Originally from Helsinki, Finland, Pietari says during his childhood other kids would ask him to play, but he preferred to stay inside and draw. Sooner than later they stopped asking and he was able to focus and develop his now signature style. He has already worked for an impressive list of clients like American Airlines, National Geographic, Nokia, and even our friends over at ROJO Magazine. Check out his illustration work, and don’t miss those sketchbooks– so great!

The Espace Louis Vuitton in Paris extended invitations to a wide range of talented individuals across a variety of artistic disciplines to interpret the Louis Vuitton Icons. From architects to writers, sculptors and scenographers– the collection turned out (no surprise) to be gorgeous. Nine designers like Zaha Hadid, interpreting the Bucket (top right) and Sylvie Fleury, interpreting the keepall (top middle) reinterpreted these classic iconic bags. Check out the fun flash site and if you’re in Paris, stop by the Espace Louis Vuitton gallery.

PingPongPixel is an amazing art experiment. It’s an output device for a computer consisting of 8100 ping pong balls in 6 different grey tones. The machine interprets images, building them out of shaded ping pong balls at a larger than life, 2 by 3 meters size– taking up to 3 hours for each picture build. Rather then try to explain the whole process–I suggest you go watch the (amazing) video after the jump.
READ MORE…

ShuffleArt, originally the makers of the cute vinyl stickers used to decorate your iPod collection, recently released what they’re calling Koobniks: Soft vinyl film to protect against scratches on the wrist area of the Macbook, Macbook Pro, Powerbook G4 and ibook G4. There are currently 6 designs to choose from, each going for $20. Also, be sure to check out the creators Flickr gallery, some of the work (not for sale) is really quite awesome.