Zakka Corp.

:: ZAKKA & EDUCATED COMMUNITY ::

Educated Community is a English/Japanese bilingual magazine focusing on what's happening in the street scenes of New York City and Tokyo. Launched in 1999, EC devotes its pages to covering creative and forward-thinking personalities, places, and things that impact and inspire the unique urban cultures in these two cities and beyond. ZAKKA has contributed to the publication since issue three, discussing various aspects of design and culture.

:: BACK ISSUES FROM EDUCATED COMMUNITY :: EC

EC 7

T-Shirt
As a Medium

Super design team Club King, based in Japan, recently collaborated with artists. Photographers, and musicians for their latest project: the "T-Shirt as a Medium." The products are exhibited/for sale in Club King's free zine, Dictionary.

EC 6

Issue 6

Motion
Graphic

As the new generation of graphic cesigners gets more innovative, aggressive and creative with their work, they've started to branch out into making videos. Venues to view these videos have existed in counterculture events like Rezfest and the One Dot Zero Motion Graphics Festival, or in products such as Gasbook and flips (a design package including a CD-Rom, T-shirts and DVDs). Now you can check them out right down on Grand Street, at Zakka.

EC 5

Issue 5

Zakka Vs.The Regular Book Shop

We at Zakka are trying to redefine the definition of a bookstore. We're trying to break the tradition and create a whole different environment. Of course we carry books, but we specialize in hard to find art books, toys, gadgets, and we also feature many artist's works. This "outside the box" thinking is also becoming very popular to our peers and in the art world in general. Futura, Kaws, and Michael Lau are good examples. This holds especially true in street culture. On the streets, you have more freedom to explore new ideas. It's now becoming difficult to categorize us and artists like we mentioned above. Takeshi Murakami and Phillipe Starck are also good examples.For instance, Starck is designing products for convenience store delis now. >>

EC 4

Issue 4

Recently, I have formed an interest in design with an industrial flavor; everything from carpentry lap-joining techniques to assembly line robots. True "industrial" design-for example, design that is specifically geared toward professionals and specialist, asopposed to the common person. Why? I love the attention paid to technical details in the design of these things. The aesthetic is one of functionality, not meaningless decoration. Like the early computer our parents had when we were kids--real no-nonsense design. Lamentably, recent designs in Japan seem childishly user-friendly, although they're made for adults. Even simple items are designed to look cute and easy-to-operate. But I hope that future designs will be more no-nonsense.

>> This is far from the 5 star hotel clients he is used to having but it allows him to think in a whole different mind frame. The exposures many of these artists and creators are gaining have caught the eyes of many large corporations as well. Companies will sponsor or commission artists to make and create more things. This can be dangerous as large companies are generally concerned with the bottom line dollars and cents and this can affect the way artists create in their own spirit. The direction and motivation become clouded. It's vital that the artists have complete creative control when dealing with large corporations. What we want to ultimately achieve here at a Zakka is a showcase space for artists to explore different dimensions of their creativity...without any limits. We support the artists and creators that think outside of the box, and although we'll always be categorized as a "book shop," we will strive to be "the shop and space for creators."

EDUCATED COMMUNITY
NEW YORK, USA TOKYO, JAPAN

158 Grand Street, #203
NEW YORK, NY 10013
Phone & Fax: 212.941.6263

newyork@ecnyc.org