studio visit: limité magazine

this wednesday i finally met up with the brains behind limité magazine, adrian farquharson in my nyc studio. we had a great chat and found out that we both graduated from the same high school [but no joke, different centuries!]. you can check out his tastemaker site here. note to self: green makes me look very very very pale!

i also noticed that he has a great post on the nookanooka today. thanks adrian!

the nooka adrian wears is available at fine stores and here. remember, you get a free copy of deastro's keepers with every online watch order on this link.

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some music nooz

some music news for the weekend and beyond.

michna michna michna: i can't believe michna is still on tour, but nice to see the orange zub peaking out under his signature santa claus streetwear [foto by angela dawn photography] while playing tombone. you can still catch him playing, so look for shows the following dates and cities.
Michna with Raw Paw live
3/27 Orlando, FL @ Will's Pub*
3/28 Tampa, FL @ The Honey Pot*
3/29 Jacksonville, FL @ Freebird Live*
3/30 Knoxville, TN @ World Grotto*
3/31 Nashville, TN @ Exit/In*
4/1 Tuscaloosa, AL @ Mellow Mushroom*
4/2 Birmingham, AL @ Zydeco*
4/3 Athens, GA @ Tasty World*
4/4 Brooklyn, NY (DJ Set) @ Brooklyn Museum
5/23 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
6/18 Barcelona, Spain @ Sonar Festival
*with Eliot Lipp

deastro deastro deastro: deastro plays his very first NYC date this weekend, tonight and tomorrow night at cake shop and will release his new album. moondagger soon. news on that here. remember, you get a free copy of deastro's keepers when you buy a nooka on our e-store here.

nooka michna/adrian wears available at fine stores in your town and here. join nooka and love nooka on facebook and nooka_ on twitter.

a nooka on style dot com

a nooka on style dot com. original post here. click through all the watches in the feature to get to ours.

nooka featured available at fine stores in your town and here. join nooka and love nooka on facebook and nooka_ on twitter.

nooka creative x-change: james liu

recognizing that creative people find inspiration from multiple sources, matthew waldman conducts mini interviews to hopefully gain insight into the creative processes of the artists he meets.

this installment is with james liu of veggiesomething! thanks james!

please provide a small bio on yourself?
Born in Pingtung, Taiwan and based out of Chicago, Illinois, Veggiesomething has loved art and design for as long as he can remember. His artworks have been seen throughout the world via numerous art shows and exhibits and have been featured in various publications and media outlets.

Thus far, Veggiesomething has created four character lines (FIZZIEFUZZIE, House of Liu, United by Destruction!, and Sugar Bandits) and one lifestyle concept label (Killerslayer). These creative endeavors often highlight his love for modular designs that are bold, clean, clear, and concise.

can you tell me what motivates you to create your products?
Like other designers, my initial motivation for creating a product is to solve a problem. The problem can be big, or it can be small. Regardless, there is usually at least a general purpose to what we do. And in the process of that problem solving, challenges will pop up. The potential of overcoming those challenges and seeing the final product in use are usually my biggest motivators.

what are some of your influences and inspirations?
I'm heavily influenced and inspired by everyday life. There are a lot of different "scenes" that I'm interested in, and I love to take elements of inspiration from one scene and apply them to another scene. For instance, I'm heavily influenced by the punk scene after having been involved in it via things like doing a zine, being in bands, etc. for so many years. I carried that punk DIY ethic and that energy into almost every design that I do. The influence may not be prominent due to the demands of the design, but it's always there.

what does nooka mean to you?
To me, Nooka means living the independent spirit. Everything from the design to the concept to the entrepreneurship of the watch exemplify that spirit. Every time that I look down at my Nooka watch, I'm reminded of that spirit and it makes me want to pursue it in my own way.

the nooka james is wearing in this foto available at fine stores and here. join "nooka" and "love nooka" on facebook. nooka_ on twitter.

tokyo toy report

as my apartment and office in nyc is full of stuff, every trip to tokyo i make an internal promise not to buy anymore toys. well...i bought just a few last week and i have a justification for each of them. here is a short summary:

1. rilakkuma hang toy: rilakkuma [a contraction of relax+kuma (kuma=bear)] is the latest hit character from san-x, the studio that brought the world my all-time fave, afro-ken. justification: design reference for the nookanooka™ project AND too cute not to spend ¥300 on it.

2. genevieve gauckler bearbrick 400% + 100% set: i love genevieve's work and medicom toy products. justification: found it on-sale for ¥1000 per set, so i bought 2!

3. anna sui bearbrick with mini strap: another in the series of fashion label bearbricks. justification: found it on sale for ¥315! so i bought 4 sets – makes good souvenirs.

4. CP coupling figure vol2: have no idea where this is from, but the box was so small and only ¥200. justification: curiosity. amazing detail in this tiny tiny figure.

5. tsuburaya soko gacha-box toy: original ultraman based toy. these are made by bandai so i knew the quality would be superb. i was lucky to get the totasu-go car. justification: affordable quality. great small display piece for my office desk.

6. ishimori pro X pansonworks collab figures: the cuteness of panson's robin meets the serious crime fighting world of kanmen rider. justification: an excellent example of how interesting a collaboration can go. very cute.

7. petite "minna de gohan" [let's eat together] series: the detail in these doll-house food/meal miniatures is amazing. justification: to study what can be done in terms of detail with a mold and deco for plastic goods.

8. 220 works chara-keshi [character eraser]: these are pencil eraser versions of a famous japanese comic series. justification: materials research.

9. ultraman X touma figure: friend and urban vinyl giant touma re-works classic ultraman characters – the result is amazing for a ¥500 figure. justification: it's good to support the work of your friends AND also an interesting study in collaborative process.

overall...a lot of fun and great design inspiration for me and the whole nooka studio.

nooka including noo spring colors are now available at fine stores and here. join "nooka" and "love nooka" on facebook. nooka_ on twitter.

nooka sightings: towa tei

i am back from a week in tokyo, and that means more blog entries!

towa tei was kind enough to send us a foto sporting his new black zirc night version via mutual friend miho hatori – thanks miho!
i think it matches his style as one can see from the photo. this zirc is available at fine stores all over the world, or here on our own online store. you can get towa tei's newest release from itunes here.

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nooka's all over vogue: april issue!

i'm still in tokyo, but had to blog about this nooz from NYC: wow wow wow! there are 4 different nookas in the april issue of US VOGUE! beyonce on the cover, and the nookas on the top model Daria Weborwy....who can ask for more.

thanks to the editors at vogue, stylist, Edward Ennifu, and photographers Mert & Marcus for the great feature, especially for the zon which is our newest model.

nooka including the zon featured are now available at fine stores and here. join "nooka" and "love nooka" on facebook. nooka_ on twitter.