Been burogging for a few years and recently branched out into TV production but there has always been something else that I've wanted to do and that is to actually go into manufacturing. Today I would like to introduce my first product called "Itamado" [痛窓].
"Ita"[痛] is the same kanji as the one in "Itasha" [痛車]. The term "Ita" is widely used in Japanese Pop Culture to refer to objects which have been plastered with stickers of 2 dimensional girlies.
"Itamado" are huge stickers covered in a special coating that will allow you to stick them on a window. But why window? Folks stick posters on their walls but generally dont stick em on a window for a few reasons - one being that posters cover up the window which blocks out daylight.
Another reason is that when the windows condensate, posters get soaked. Another reason is that posters generally don't look fantastic on windows ^^;
So I thought I would come out with a product to enable folks to make use of what I call "dead space" - space that you cant really do anything with it but is required.
BTW, the Itamado Mirai-chan sheet you see here is illustrated by Choco Chip.
I've been working with Nakamura-san of Moeshaoh [萌車王] who worked on my Mirai Itasha. Together we developed a variation of a special coating which protects the sticker sheet in all sorts of environment from arctic to desert.
An example of an Itamado mirai sheet in action. Unlike a poster, the sheet clings to the window meaning that the window can be opened without any risk of damage to the sticker.
Glass window on cabinet - another example of where you can use Itamado.
If you don't fancy sticking the Itamado sheet on a window, you can always stick it up as it is and use it as a poster.
BTW, this version of Mirai-chan is illustrated by another fave artist of mine - KKO.
Each Itamado sheet comes with another plastic sheet called "Application" which enables you to easily stick the sheet up anywhere and not get parts like hair or lettering jumbled up.
The coating is the same material used for Itasha so you can even stick it on your car if you wish and have yourself a Mirai Itasha. Special ink is used which is strong against sunlight so you need not worry about color fading - not for about 3 years anyway.
All orders of Itamado come with a small plastic device called an ASDF (Application Surface Decoupler Finalizer) which helps you attach the sheet onto any surface even if its curved.
Hope you like the logo ^o^ Itamado will be available for purchase soon at the following stores online.
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/
http://www.amiami.jp/shop/?set=english
http://toylet.net
http://hlj.com
http://archonia.com
http://hobbystock.jp
http://kidnemo.fm
http://jlist.com
Managed to register the patent and trademark for Itamado in Japan, Canada, United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, England, France and is currently pending in Germany and Micronesia.
Had a press conference to announce the release of Itamado at Omotesando earlier on today - thank you to everybody who came!
Guests at the launch were Masayoshi Son (boss of Softbank) and Nobi Hayashi (Digital Advisor). Nobi is managing the team that's developing the Itamado app for the iPhone.
The Itamado app (which Masayoshi-san is showing us here) is for customized orders and uses the camera to measure the size of your window. The app then sends those measurements to our Itamado Mirai Gaia server - your sheet is then printed on demand and shipped out within 30 mins by EMS.
The app should go live in the iTunes store soon and will be a free download. App should work with the iPad 2 but we wont know for sure until we get our hands on one.
Great turn out at the press conference!
Before the press conference started - many folks waiting outside ^^;
Many press folks came along too ^^;
We are still working out full production costs, logistics and wot not and until we do we wont have a fixed price yet. Will let you know very soon.
There is a poll embedded in this article.
As explained, Itamado can be used just about anywhere. Where would you stick your Itamado sheet?
There is a poll embedded in this article.
Also, what sort of size do you need?
Apart from my own Mirai-chan, I will be licensing the use of anime characters initially from my clients like King Records (Starchild) and Kadokawa. What characters are you most interested in having Itamado-rized?
There is a poll embedded in this article.
