I read on the blog of Fusion bureau a few months ago about a nice restaurant in our neighbourhood. We went there today for lunch and were both pleasantly surprised. AtoZ cafe doesn't only have a very nice vegetarian curry, they also have a special interior designed by artist Yoshitomo Nara & design unit graf. The wooden shed and drawings of evil girls make the atmosphere of the AtoZ cafe quite playful and unique.

Hi, this is Silas. Kodansha just published a new novel by David Karashima and threewhite made the flyer for this book-launching event. The past few weeks I worked on this project. I was involved in every step of the process, from idea-shaping to client meetings to the actual printing process. I especially liked the meeting with the printer (who is a walking printing dictionary). It was a great experience and I'm quite happy with the final result - we decided to make the flyer in the shape of a bookmark - Right now threewhite is working on some typographic movies for this event. Please come over to super-deluxe Roppongi on the 13th of march and take a look at our work!

The building, in which threewhite's office is located, has several graphic design studio's and other creative companies. One of those designers - Mizuki-san - recommended a restaurant in our neighbourhood (called Papier Doré). We've been going there for quite some time now and it's a shame we didn't write about it before. Because it actually became one of our most favorite places to have lunch. Papier Doré serves mainly french dishes like "Croque Madame" (Tanaka-san's favorite), but they cook a very delicious vegetarian pasta for me as a special menu. They also have a good selection of Belgian beer. So if you are in our neighbourhood and you are hungry (or thirsty), you know where to go!

Hi, this is Silas. As you may have read before, I was interviewed last week. This interview was a part of MdN's monthly blog update. Every third week of the month they follow a young graphic designer who's working in Japan. And this month, that young designer is me. From monday on, you'll be able to follow me for a week. So far, all of MdN's featured designers are native japanese, so it was quite new for them to interview a foreigner. And of course it's new for me to, to be interviewed. It was a very nice experience so far and I'm looking forward to see the result. Please take a look on their website. I hope you'll enjoy.

Tanaka's design works are now on 'MdN Designers File 2010' as last year. This year, it's introduced the art direction such as 'Children's Cancer Research Station' for Seiiku-Medical Center and marinebell MOKU. If you happened to see this bright yellow book at the store, please take a look in the 'Ta' section.

Hi, it’s Miho. I had a surprising offer of ‘interview Silas’ from a web magazine editor I know. She works on a column that interviews a new designer for a week but he was interested in Silas as he was ‘an intern’ and ‘a foreigner’. In England, it is common to have an intern in design studio (as well as any other industries) but it doesn’t seem like that system will come to Japan. I was once an intern myself while I was studying in England which gave me great experience so I’ve been having the intern system for five years. I hope Silas’s interview will be a good opportunity to let people know that there are many ways to be ‘a designer’.

Hi, this is Silas. Last year, I made some interviews with several graphic design studios for my master project in school. One of those graphic design collectives I interviewed was Åbäke. Now, half of the Åbäke team is doing a creator in residence, just a few minutes from our office. And it turns out that they (Maki and Kajsa) are old friends from Tanaka-san. The world is smaller than I thought! Today we had lunch with them at Beacon and Yuri Suzuki joined us as well. They are working on a secret project, which will be revealed on their Open Studio Day, 13th of February. I'm looking forward to find out what that project might be!

Hi, this is Miho. We had quite a few visitors on a week before the last week and everyone liked about this tea with great scent called ‘Marco Polo’ from Mariage Frères. I am a bit particular about tea because I’m from Shizuoka where it is famous for producing green tea and I lived in England for a while, but I can say ‘Marco Polo’ is a great tea to relax. It is a little expensive to drink on everyday base, but it helps us to have a good meeting.

Hi this is Miho. We had a photo shoot of Valentine's day chocolates for M Company at our office today. I always wanted to set up photo studio with a table and the lighting in the office so finally, it became real. All of the sudden, the meeting space became photography studio. Everyone thought they mistook the room for a few seconds as they came in. We put black paper only on the closest window to the table and we worked as usual while checking the pictures and talking with the photographers so there was no waiting time and it was really convenient. It was great! I would like to try photo shoot in this way again.

Hi, this is Silas. I just got back from Benesse's art site after a 14 hour train ride. Benesse's art site is currently located on two islands; Naoshima and Inujima. Naoshima is the biggest one of the two and has around 3500 inhabitants. Most of them live in old wooden houses, surrounded by big green mountains. It's a pretty impressive landscape to see and quite different from the fast Tokyo life I've been experiencing the last few months. It's in this setting that Benesse created one of the most interesting art sites I've seen so far. You can see a small but strong selection of artworks by both Japanese and international artists. Some of them can be seen in impressive museums designed by Tadao Ando, while others can be found on the beach or in one of those old wooden houses. I especially enjoyed James Turrell's and Hiroshi Sugimoto's artworks. But the Monet room in the Chichu museum was really nice as well. If you ever have the change to visit this place, you should!