Images and reporting by Hayden Martis

What do you get when a jewelry and flower designer come together? The answer: Proof of Guild. The Nagoya based duo Minoru & Keiko Takeuchi were at Design Tide Tokyo exhibiting their "Hands and Hand" vase for the first time.

Founded in 2002, Proof of Guild has been cranking out eclectic animal-inspired accessories and ceramics including a clever Giraffe sugar bowl and Penguin salt & pepper shakers. Proof of Guild believes in creating artisan products with a philosophy of traditional handmade craft over mass production.

Like many of the pieces showing at Design Tide Tokyo 2011, "Hands and Hand" is multifunctional, however rather than set that function in stone (yes stone!) themselves, Proof of Guild want you to exercise a little of your own creativity and put it to use as you see fit. Aside from the more typical vase or jewelry holder arrangement on show was a neat desktop option complete with a cute little lampshade—an easy winner!

Not normally a fan of novelty-all-in-one type pieces—particularly those with lights attached, I enjoyed "Hands and Hand" as I felt it struck the right balance of functional-pieces-that-could-be-art without falling too far into the jaws of novelty.

Check out more of their beautiful objects at Proof of Guild.