japan: iremonya design labo

though i was quite effusive about muji, there are definitely some instances where having a little more personality in product design wouldn't hurt. an example ... if you're going to have filing boxes sitting out, which would you choose: a) the box on the left or b) the box on the right?

a ... or ... b?

a ... or ... b?

i'm not saying there's a right answer here, but you can probably guess which i'd pick. the b options are from the child box line of iremonya design labo based in kyoto, designed by masaki tokuda who started at iremonya in 2000. in addition to storage, they also design less cutesy furniture, rugs, lighting and tableware. and they also design interiors. my favorite being this one.

definitely check out the iremonya site. there's enough english there to easily navigate it.