A Design Exhibition “The World of Interior Toy”

Exhibition: 12 Aug – 09 Sep 2012
Opening & Designer’s talk: Sat 11 Aug, 4 pm
Workshops: Sat 11 Aug, 3 pm & 4.30 pm
The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam

From The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam:
The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, in cooperation with Koto Co., Ltd, shares the delight of introducing cute and charming toys created by “twelvetone” (Designer: Takashi Tsunoda) through the design exhibition “The World of Interior Toy” from August to September 2012 in Hanoi.

Music is composed only with 12 (twelve) tones but the combination of the tones is almost infinite. It implies that there are a lot of complicated things in the world, but the essence within the things is very simple, just like twelve-tone in music.

Go back to the origin of the simplicity and create things. This is the design philosophy of Takashi Tsunoda (twelvetone) who has won the Good Design Awards of Japan twice for his interior toys. His products are all simple but cute and adorable with a variety of characters.

Piperoid (Good Design Award 2007) is a paper robot craft kit for both kids and adults. All you need is a pair of scissors. No glue, no tape. Just cut, fold, and connect the pipes to build your own robot with movable joints in less than 30 minutes! Each character has a unique background story, and after assembly it can be used as an accent for home or office décor and even as a memo holder.

Play-deco (Good Design Award 2011) is a unique craft for home décor that combines wooden “bone” with paper “skin.” Each package includes paper texture sheet and wooden bone sheet that is perforated and precut so there are no tools required – not even scissors!

Apart from such award-winning toys as Piperoid and Play-deco, Monster Cube which Tsunoda created by the inspiration from traditional Japanese handicrafts, will be all displayed.

The opening of the exhibition starts at 14:00 on Saturday 11 August with the designer’s talk “How to design kawaii (cute) characters” at the Japan Foundation Exhibition Hall (27 Quang Trung, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi). The workshops to make interior toys will be also held at 15:00 and 16:30 on the same day at the same place.

We hope that this exhibition will be a good showcase of excellent design from Japan and you will enjoy the world of interior toys by twelvetone.

Free of admission but registration is required for the workshops.

About designer Mr. Takashi Tsunoda

Born in 1975. Graduated from Faculty of Design, Kyoto City University of Arts, Japan. During working as a game designer at KOTO Co., ltd, he created Piperoid series and received Good Design Award of Japan in 2007. In 2009, he left KOTO Co., ltd. and became an independent designer as “twelvetone.” In 2011, he designed Play-deco which is made of paper and wood, and received Good Design Award of Japan in 2011.

See some of selected artworks here:

Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam 27 Quang Trung Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội Tel: 3944 7419 www.jpf.org.vn