A new book "Special Printing-Technique Graphics " from the Graphic Sha publishers features one of cocoroé's designs. The featured work is a yearly project that cocoroé designs for the Ezoe Scholarship Foundation. It is a commemorative book with a silkscreened cover. The silkscreen illustration is made by artist Ai Miyoshi. By using silkscreen printing, as opposed to traditional offset printing, an interesting handmade and tactile look was achieved. The book goes into more details about this project, as well as many other great specially-printed works, so please take a look! It's a great resource, especially for graphic designers.

It's Miho here. Last month, my beloved grandmother passed away at the age of 89. My grandmother stitched and tailored kimonos as a profession, so she has left behind many beautiful yukatas, furisode-kimonos, houmongi-kimonos, tomesode-kimonos, and many other articles, some which have yet to be worn. My grandmother created these kimonos on the second story of her home, while my grandfather carved parts to be used in YAMAHA grand pianos. It was a home of handmade creations. Since the time I was small, I loved receiving beautiful patterned fabric scraps from my grandmother and small bamboo carved toys handmade by my grandfather. Even now, I keep my grandparents' spirit of creating things by hand close to my heart.

Hi it's Noriko here. The other day everyone at cocoroé put together a farewell dinner for me! In my short internship of half a year, I learned a lot and it was a good stepping stone towards my career. My art and design skills still need more work, but I want to do my best to get better. There are many possibilities, and I want to challenge myself to try new things with an open mind. Though I am not sure what the future holds, design is important to me, so I want to keep that up, in some way or another. Today is my last day as an intern. Thank you very much for a fun and valuable six months!

Hi it's Karin here. The last weeks have been very busy at the office. It feels like a long time since the last blog entry! Today I want to share something we have been working on lately. For one of our projects, we created 3D paper stars to use for a concert's promotional tools. After choosing appropriate papers, trying out different shapes, folding, and gluing, the papers stars were ready to be photographed and used in design layouts. The photo shows some of the finished stars. The papers feature music notes from the concert repertoire. 7 stars will be featured on the flyer, poster, and program to represent the 7 musicians in the concert. Though making paper sculptures takes some time, we are happy with how the main visual is coming along.

Hi it’s Azusa here. Today I want to share about what I am currently learning. Recently, Tanaka-san signed me up to attend a paper seminar where I learned about eco papers. I have also been busy working on projects for my portfolio. What I am realizing through this is how much knowledge and resources one needs for design. Figuratively speaking, one needs a large personal cabinet of curiosities. To build up the cabinet, one needs to poke out their head to to collect several points, and then draw lines and connections between them. But the points cannot be glued into the cabinet. The connections need to be flexible to fit different needs. How can we effectively collect, organize, and place these points? That question is the essence of communication. "Designers have good people skills." This was what Tanaka-san told me. I also believe this greatly. So everything is a opportunity for learning, and anything becomes food for thought. Everyday, by absorbing new information and new experiences, I want to build up my own cabinet. Spring is approaching, and with it comes new feeling of excitement.

Hi it's Karin here. On last Saturday's rainy morning, Miho and I attended a box-making workshop at the Box & Needle Store in Futako-Tamagawa. We learned how to curve and shape boards into round boxes, and how to glue paper onto the boards to hold everything together. The paper was special William Morris wallpaper!! The photo shows some of our finished boxes. It was much harder than it looks. Glue ends up everywhere if you are not careful. We worked alongside other visitors and learned from talented teachers. Thank you for the lovely workshop!

Vercley CoC (Heiwa Paper, 90-170kg, normal finish) The first carbon offset paper has made its debut! Currently, this is the only paper-type available on the market to reduce carbon emissions. Ideally, for true carbon emissions reduction and the ultimate "eco design production," one would use Vercley CoC paper, soy inks and bring everything together through a green-energy printing factory. One is then entitled to use special Eco Production marks on the design. The "CoC" at the end of the paper name refers to Chain-of-Custody paper market and indicates that the paper is made from sustainable forests.

Hi-Menow (Heiwa Paper, 64.5kg, plain and pearl finishes) This is an interesting paper made from thickened medicine-wrapping paper. It looks like tracing paper but acts differently due to its manufacturing process (like normal paper, the air particles between the paper pulp layers are pressed out by rollers, creating an even transparent consistency.) Whereas tracing paper leaves a white line when folded, Hi-Menow stays transparent. Silver leaf printing, as well as glossy UV printing fits beautifully with this paper. With offset printing, it has relatively fast drying time.

Snow Crystal CoC (Heiwa Paper, 64-209kg) Snow Crystal brags that it is the whitest paper available in the current market. Mrs.B paper in superwhite used to hold the title of whitest paper, but when you compare the two, it is amazing how MUCH whiter Snow Crystal is. When we say white, we mean that it is almost a blue-white. This paper is perfect for typography-based designs, illuminating beautiful B&W contrasts, as well as for designs using vivid and bright colors. It is a crisp and elegant kind of paper.

Hi, it's Azusa here. Something unexpected happened today. The heater in the office has been weak lately, but today- when we turned it on, the opening flap started moving irregularly up and down, as if talking nonsense! Broken. When switched to air conditioning, dry mode, or cleaning mode, the machine blew out air, albeit weakly. Why does it have to break during the cold season? So therefore we trekked to Shibuya to buy a new electric heater. The photo shows our new heater friend, shaped a little bit like fan. Actually, it was the very last heater in the store! This new heater is now taking over for the old air-con, keeping us warm from ground level. And now work can continue!