09.19.11
Japanese illustrator Tatsuro Kiuchi has a nice gritty yet dreamy style that feels hand-rendered. It’s a nice juxtaposition of style and content that makes for a likeable image.
08.26.11
There is some tasty stuff on Takuya Hosogane’s reel. There is a flair for using simple elements to generate a rich and organic visual.
05.09.11
Michael at Ventilate is a very nice person and I had the opportunity to exchange several emails with him in the past few weeks about a project I hoped to initiate but just didn’t have time to pull together. Fortunately, Michael grab the reigns and put together the ‘Ventilate Japan‘ project to help pool some money to put toward the relief effort in Japan. A lot of news has happened since the earthquake in Japan but there are so many still suffering and they really do still need global support in any way we can get it to them.
Ventilate managed to pull together some very talented artists who really put some passion into designing some great posters for the cause.
Thank you so much Michael and Ventilate.
05.05.11
Victo Ngai’s unique cultural heritage is alive and kicking in her illustrations. Her images are simple and accessible in subject but rich in color and movement. They retain a distinctly asian influence that references Japanese and Chinese ink prints. She spent some time on her bio, so as opposed to butchering it in my own words, you can read on below:
“Victo’s real name is Ngai Chuen Ching.
She was born and raised in Hong Kong.
She got her English name, Victoria, when she was in a British kindergarten as Ngai Chuen Ching was too hard to pronounce for the foreign teachers.
However, “Victoria” was too hard for her fellow Chinese classmates, so they started calling her Victo instead. Since “Ngai Chuen Ching” was only called/yelled by teachers or parents when Victo got into troubles, she decided she likes the name “Victo” better.
Victo has been wondering who she really is, where she really belongs to for all these time.
Victo’s cultural background is hard to nail down: she speaks Chinese(Both Cantonese and Mandarin), English and Japanese. She attended Christian schools, but is not Christian. She holds a British National (Overseas) passport but is not truly British. She is a Hong Kong citizen but does not have a Chinese ID card. Her parents live in Hong Kong; her grandparents are Chinese American living in the west coast of the States; and Victo went to Rhode Island School of Design on the east coast.”
03.22.11
Writer John Pavlus has asked a question that has sparked a healthy debate amongst the design community over the creation of postera to spark aid for disasters and has used James White’s (Signlenoise) recent poster which raised $7,000 for charity as the crux for his argument. It’s caused quite a stir if you scroll down the read the comments, and to be honest we have struggled so far with what the right reaction to our concern over Japanese crisis should be as a studio. We thought about creating a poster but immediately felt mixed emotions about doing so for the very reasons Pavlus raises but we also see the positive in creating something that inspires people to give who otherwise would not. It’s an interesting debate. What do you think?
We decided probably the best thing we could do was just post a link to donate to charity which you will now see to the right of the blog until we think it’s the right time to take it down.
Tomer Hanuka has updated with some beautiful new work as always including an amazing but difficult image about the recent Tsunami in Japan art directed for Newsweek. Hanuka details the process of the creation of the image here.
01.24.11
Illustrator Hiroshi Tanabe’s woodcut style illustrations have been exhibited internationally and helped fill two self-published award-winning illustration books. He’s an ambitious figure and his simple work communicates quickly in with an easily absorbed style.
12.27.10
Shohei might not be the best at English but it really makes no difference because the downright fantastic black and white illustrations speak louder and clearer than any language could ever communicate.
06.26.10
Niky Roehreke is a german/japanese illustrator who graduated from the Central Saint Martins with a major in Graphic Design. She currently splits time between Tokyo and New York and has completed an internship at Mike Perry’s studio.
06.13.10
There is some slick vector work happening in the portfolio of Japanese (now based in the U.S.) designer/illustrator Junichi Tsuneoka whose studio name is Stubborn Sideburn. You can see a slight influence of Japanese prints in his very ornate illustration work.
05.17.10
“Born in Tokyo in 1931. After graduation from Tokyo University of Education, joined Ajinomoto in 1956. Went freelance in 1961. In addition to engaging in the full spectrum of graphic design, served as art director of the Japan World Exposition in Osaka (1970), International Ocean Exposition in Okinawa (1975), and International Exposition of Science and Technology in Tsukuba (1985). Also created the symbol for the International Garden and Greenery Exposition in Osaka (1990). Pioneered new forms of communicative expression enabled by new technologies. Professor Emeritus at Musashino Art University and Director of Chameleon Project. Member of Board of Directors of JAGDA and of Japan Display Association. Member of Tokyo ADC and AGI. Recipient of numerous awards, including: Tokyo ADC Members Award, Mainichi Design Award, Kodansha Publishing Cultural Award, Katzumie Masaru Award, Minister of Education Art Incentive Award, Japanese Government Medal with Purple Ribbon, N.Y. ADC Gold Prize, Gold Prize at Lahti International Poster Biennial, Gold Prize at Brno Biennial of Book Design, Grand Prix at Poster Biennial of Mexico, and Gold Prize at Warsaw International Poster Biennial.”
Mitsuo Katsui was a true master of graphic design. His entire body of work is incredibly inspiring. I suggest taking your time while combing through his site.
05.07.10
I wish I could tell you more about Sosososo, but all I can really say is that I think they are Japanese and I really like some of their rather crisp minimal work.
04.12.10
I can’t really tell you much about Japanese illustrator Zain 7 except for that she is a she and she is Japanese. What I can tell you with certainty is that some of her work is mind-bendingly awesome. Pure pop art candy.
03.29.10
Kenichi Tanaka completed this amazing motion graphics piece highlighting some of the unique features of his home country Japan. He says his objective was to remind his fellow countrymen that all that is happening in Japan isn’t necessarily normal.
01.19.10
Minchi is a rather inexplicable Japanese artist/illustrator who combines hand crafted illustration techniques like acrylic painting, gouache, oils, etc. with digital production. The subject matter is a bizarre mix of internal organs, food, sadomasochism and ocean life. Like I said, inexplicable.
01.05.10
Digital Mash is a ‘mash’ of work from Australian (now living in Japan) graphic designer Rob Morris who is heavily influence by the ‘modernist school of design’. His sites seems a little heavy-handed in tone, but he has some nice examples of typographical layout happening within his design portfolio.
10.08.09
Wonderwall is an interior design firm that was founded by Masamichi Katayama in 2000. They are responsible for some of the most drop dead gorgeous interiors you have ever seen. They have also just recently launched a new website that features a what could only be described as a wondrous wall full of wonderful work.
