In 2010, Takram’s Kinya Tagawa and then-intern Jun Murakoshi collaborated on an internal project making prototype designs for a stationery item. For this project, about ten different stationery prototypes were created and exhibited. “letter opener” is one of the products of this project that was later commercialized.

This item caught the eye of the marketer at the MoMA Store while it was on exhibit, and its matte finish version was sold at MoMA Stores starting in 2015 (currently out of stock).

Product Designer, Service Designer, Project Director

Jun Murakoshi is a graduate of Chiba University (MEng Design Science) and the Royal College of Art (MA Design Products). He has worked on new business, product, and scenario development for Takram and various innovation consulting firms since 2008. He is also assistant professor at Chiba University's Center for International Research and Education and program manager for University of Tokyo's i.school. Before joining Takram in 2020, he founded Jun Murakoshi Design and was an active figure in both the Japanese and international design scene.

Jun Murakoshi

Design Engineer, Project Director

Kinya is an award-winning design engineer experienced in a wide range of products including hardware, software and interactive art. He holds a BEng from the University of Tokyo, an MA from the Royal College of Art in the UK.  His work was selected as a permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He was assigned as a visiting professor the Royal College of Art, from 2015 to 2018. With his contribution to the RCA, he was awarded as an Honorary Fellow, RCA in 2018.  Kinya is also appointed as a member of several design related committees of Japanese Government.

Kinya Tagawa

R&D, design, prototyping of hardware products & experiences

Hardware

“letter opener” is a stainless paper knife shaped with a design shaved out of a hexagonal pencil. Its simple form allows the product to be stored on a pen stand or inside a pen case with other pieces of stationery. “letter opener” is made with a familiar size, and makes opening envelopes and wrappings easy. Although the mass-produced version has a matte finish, its original version has a luxurious mirror finish.

letter opener

Approach: Stationery prototype

Result: Sold at the MoMA Store

Project Information

Team

letter opener

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.css-16wsddp.en.en-ja{font-size:108%;vertical-align:-0.005em;}.css-16wsddp.en.en-zh{font-size:108%;vertical-align:0.005em;}.css-16wsddp.zh{-webkit-font-smoothing:subpixel-antialiased;}Result: Sold at the MoMA Store

Project Information

Team

Approach: Stationery prototype

Result: Sold at the MoMA Store