My new review for Tiga's "Gentle Giant" remixes EP is out at Juno. 

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Tiga’s sophomore album Ciao! already boasts impressive names on writing and production duties with the likes of Soulwax, Gonzales, Beck and James Murphy. The latter co-wrote and produced the sincere original “Gentle Giant”, sounding reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys or even more so, Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love”. On this remix EP, three more amazing producers are brought together, each offering very unique reinterpretations.

Loving the first entry by the ever-evolving Dutch producer, Martyn. Pursuing either techno, dubstep, garage, or house, he is always fusing many influences, which making his music harder to categorize with every new release. It also makes his music more interesting with every listen. more>>

So those who don't really know me yet, Little Dragon is one of my favourite bands out there. I just discovered that the father of Yukimi Nagano (the awesome vocalist in the awesome band), also is very talented as an Illustrator. His name is Yusuke Nagano, and he made this brilliant video. Check it out here!

By way I just finished my Intro classes for Flash and After Effects at OCAD...but man, I wonder when I'll be able to create something like this. Can't wait!

Apparently there was an earthquake in Toronto, that was a moderate 5.0. I was totally oblivious to it, as I was riding on my bike to a meeting. I should have felt it, but I didn't. It wasn't until I noticed hoards of people evacuated out of their office buildings, that I assumed something was up. Still, I'm sure it was a good excuse for those workers to hit the pub and watch the soccer games.

Anyhow, on to more important news. I realized my Twitter button had the wrong page link, so it's fixed now. So join my Twitter page, for all your Shingo Shimizu news and updates here! :)

Just uploaded some designs from a few years ago, in the Character Design section. Take a look!

Yes it's another collaboration with myself and designer studio mate, Matt Bilewicz. One of his clients, Mini Mioche, a local organic baby clothing company requested graphics with a vintage feel. MM provided us with the quotes, I did the illustrations and Matt was responsible for the typography. There was also an umbrella graphic done in the same style, but it didn't make the cut unfortunately. The quote for the boots graphic, was originally for the umbrella, but in the end the client felt the boots were more appropriate for the words. So that change was made in the end. I still do think the umbrella graphic is nice. So if anybody needs a vintage umbrella graphic, let me know or let them know that I want to know.

Cover illustration for Pearson Australia's Science book.

Cover illustration for Pearson Australia's Math book.

Just finished off 2 new covers for Pearson Australia's Math and Science books. Just like the English cover, there were quite a few artists that did their own covers as well. Putting them all together like a puzzle, the outside covers would create a giant 'm' for math, 's' for science, and 'e' for english. So of course in order to do this, a portion of the cover is hidden. I'm guessing it's the full cover image somewhere on the inside of the book. Anyhow, designing the layout to work with the template was pretty challenging, but at the same time resulted in some fun compositions I think. Also, flexing my Photoshop skills a bit more this time was kind of fun, exploring a few new textures. Below are some roughs.

Middle of 's'

Left side of 'm'

3/4 alternative.

Just completed this logo for a new line of ready-made Italian foods to be on supermarket shelves some time this year. My studio mate Matt Bilewicz, (yes, he's a brilliant Designer), hired me to add the 'Shimizu-ism!' (illustration touches) for the identity. To go with the 'seal of approval' look, we decided to go with imagery that was familiar. Most importantly it would have to represent tradition and quality.

The most important part of the process of designing for a client is of course, testing their project. We tried some suspicious looking bags of tomato sauce samples marked 'R&D' the other day, and I gotta say it was ridiculously delicious. It really has absolutely nothing to do with tasting this amazing Italian sauce for free. But really, it was quality I'm telling you. I will definitely post it here, once I hear of the product hitting the stores.

On a different note, last Sunday, with my girlfriend we had a craving for veal sandwiches at this Toronto gem of a mom & pop joint, "California Sandwiches". Yes so much of a gem that I actually haven't visited it in eight years. No reason. Just forgot really. I suppose it got lost in my cravings for Mexican tacos or Korean food all the time. But for a day in the park on a boiling hot summer day, this is exactly what I wanted. Anyhow, we discovered it was closed on Sundays, so we headed off down the street towards "Bitondo's" (below). The sandwiches hit the spot (only because we were starving), but no where near as tasty as California. The meat with was very little with too much breading. The best things about this place is the old school Cola fridge and table top Pac-man video game inside. So, if you're ever craving for whatever food in any given moment, go for the real thing. If you can't get it, avoid disappointment by going for something totally different.

Coming to think of it, tacos would have been great too!

I finally came around to putting together another short mix with a little bit of everything. It's sort of different this time around than my usual stuff, because I incorporated some Dubstep. I never considered myself as a 'house head' even though I usually play mostly house. Lately there's been a such a huge surge in musical creativity that it can't be ignored! So I had to incorporate some of those new directions in music that I find pretty exciting, into this mix. Also I couldn't resist tacking on a very 90s breaks-sounding by one of my favourite Dubstep artists, Zomby at the end. It's a bit rough around the edges, as Dubstep is pretty different from House. Anyhow, download it and hit the PLAY button. Let me know what you think! Enjoy.

Hot_Sauce_#2_Mix.mp3 (download here)

Just finished this cover illustration for Pearson (Australia). They loved what I did with the WWW Girl, but more on a superhero-tip, so I created an alternate version. I had a difficult time drawing out the swirl, so I ended up tracing one out from a 10" record by Gotan Project. Below are some roughs. 

It's been a while since my last artwork update. I've been quite busy with a number of varied projects, especially with this character design called 'Pax', which was commissioned by The Hive. Built with a sheet of cardboard, Pax is a peaceful robot hoping to bring peace in the Middle East.

The final version is pretty close to what I envisioned. Except:

1) the original head side flaps were bent (so it could be more expressive), instead of the current stiff flaps-straight-out look, and

2) the original design required no glue for the joints, and it does currently. Other than that, I'm pretty pleased with the finished product.

More photos up of Pax in the Character Design gallery and below!