New Halloween Art

Yes it's that time of the year, where we all get dressed up in some zany costume of a character that's super popular in pop culture, or super obscure that requires a little bit of explanation over a trip to the bar (I prefer the latter). This year however, I'm kind of on the fence about going out, since the deadlines seem to be piling up nicely (a tad crazy). 

Anyhow, a few weeks back I finished a new design for (what was to be) Monster Massive's upcoming Halloween party. Just found out that it has been cancelled. More info here.

I rather like this one, and hope to get more chances to do more of these. Let me know what you think. :)

Scotiabank: New Stickmen

New drawing for Scotiabank's travel insurance, as well as three others for home insurance. 

 

Progress: Art for La Carnita pt. 1

Something I just finished for this upcoming Thursday (LUNCH TIME) @la_carnita!

It's my first 'dia de los muertos' - styled skull. Lots of fun!

It will be available as limited prints (only 150), with 3 of the most delicious tacos you've ever eaten.

Hope to see you this Thursday! Arrive early.

More info here>

Read the article in Toronto Life magazine >

Scion Canada Lifestyle Magazine Issue #2!

Another great experience, art directing on this sophomore issue of Scion magazine. Would like to send a big thank you to my chief editor (Lisa Marie Chen), and talented team of photographers, writers, and designers. Also a big shout out goes to Kimmy Yun for being a huge help with building the lovable Sasquatch costume, and Jack Ngan for advice on building it. (Will upload photos on building that soon.)

Yes we have a Sasquatch in this issue. Not only that, we feature: amazing Scion creations by Troy Sumitomo's Five Axis, an article on professional driver Kenshiro Gushi, some SEMA coverage, a Scion xB customizable paper car pull-out, and trying out some yummy poutine. Hungry?

Check out the cover and a few spreads from Issue #2 below of Scion Canada Lifestyle magazine. Scroll down for the download link from the Scion site, and a direct download link for the xB car template. Don't forget to have your go at customizing your very own Scion xB!

DOWNLOAD full version of Scion Issue #2 (PDF) here!

DOWNLOAD template for paper Scion xB here!

SEE how the Sasquatch was made!

Infographics for Fast Company magazine

Just completed a bunch of infographics for the march issue of Fast Company. The article is about some really new innovative inventions: National Gypsum Thermalcore heat-absorbing walls, Arnold Glas bird-friendly glass, and Nanopool spray-on glass. I know I could use me some of that spray-on glass, on my Ikea desk!

Cover Art For New Puzzle EP

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a great holiday. :)

I know I did over on the west coast, finally getting into snowboarding. Now where to go boarding after Whistler, when you live in Toronto? hmmm.

Being fully relaxed over the holidays, it's nice hit the grind again. Is it me, or is 2011 moving VERY FAST? That being said, there are lots of interesting projects on the horizon. Almost finishing a series off with my photographer friend, Jalani Morgan. So check back soon!

The illustration above was slightly reappropriated from "Full Circle" for Puzzle's new EP, "Polysnacks". You can listen and purchase the EP here.

Limited Edition Hot Sauce Posters & CD Giveaway!

So some of you may know, that I will be throwing a party with my Hot Sauce crew (We're not hardcore connoisseurs of the sauce). For about a year and a half or so, we've been running a music blog about our favourites in the electronic music scene. Obviously we all do it just out of the love for the music and want to share it with you.

We are finally set to launch a 'Hotsauce 2.0' version of the blog. It will feature much more content than before: artist interviews, reviews, videos, our DJ mixes, and exclusive guest DJ mixes. To commemorate this, please join us as we throw down HOT SAUCE 2.0 LAUNCH PARTY at Tequia Bookworm Friday November 12, 2010! Come early for free giveaways!

HOT SAUCE 2.0 LAUNCH PARTY!
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2010

Location:
Tequila Bookworm (upstairs!)
512 Queen St. West (map)

Djs:
DJ Shingo (listen)
MissRuckus (listen)
urbansteve (listen)

Free Giveaway!
First 27 people in will receive:
1. NEW HOTSAUCE MIX CD! (this was a lot of fun to record)
2. LIMITED EDITION PRINTS (11 x 17")! Only 9 copies of 3 different prints available. (see below) 

Drink Special!
If you were one of the lucky people who got one of the Hot Sauce buttons (see below) from Tequila, Slinky Music, or Magic Pony, then you'll get $4 shots all night!

Hope to see you all there!
:)

#Tracksfor.com buttons!

New artwork for buttons I did for #tracksfor. I've got to learn to take better photographs. Anyhow if I see you soon, remind me beforehand to bring some for you!

Photos: Scion Issue #1

New Logo for Hamilton Yoga Studio.

This is a logo I created months ago, for a Bikram yoga studio opening up in Hamilton in October. If you're in the area please check it out!

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BIKRAM YOGA HAMILTON DUNDAS - Opening Saturday October 2nd 2010!

The very first certified Bikram Yoga studio in all of Hamilton is about to open its doors to the public! Bikram Yoga, also known as The Original Hot Yoga, is a 90 minute Hatha Yoga routine, consisting of 26 postures, and 2 breathing exercises, performed in a room heated to 105 degrees with 40% humidity. It was created by the world famous yogi, Bikram Choudhury in Calcutta India over 40 years ago. Students of Bikram Yoga include: Demi Moore, Jessica Simpson, Price Harry, and Lady Gaga.

The heat is helps to promote perspiration and to warm the muscles, allowing for a deeper stretch, a thorough detox, and a fantastic workout!

Benefits of Bikram Yoga include:
-detoxification
-enhanced cardio workout, which in turn promotes weight loss (you can burn up to 1000 calories per class!)
-improved immune sytem functioning
-and relaxation, to name just a few.

Location:
1 East Street North, Dundas, Ontario.

Opening weekend schedule (October 2 & 3):
10am, 12pm and 4pm.

Visit their website for more details!

Scion Canada Lifestyle Magazine Issue #1!

It's been a very awesome experience with this project, as I was not only responsible for the front and back cover illustration, but the Art Direction and a lot of the design of the magazine as well. This 6 colour, 40 page, little magazine measures 5.5" x 7.125", and will be inserted into the back of Scion's car catalogue brochure. It is printed on a rather nice recycled stock as well. Look forward to pushing the design a lot further in Issue #2 which should be ready by early next year, 2011.

Check out the cover and a few spreads from Issue #1 below of Scion Canada Lifestyle magazine.

Feature on NXNE festival in Toronto. Awesome illustration by Ryan Lake.Feature on Troy Sumitomo of Five Axis.

One of my favourite spreads.

The original design featured a Mountie, instead of the lumber jack. It is actually quite difficult to get an image of the mountie approved, as it has to be approved. So always have a plan B. FSC logo to be inserted into the bottom right corner.

Download full version (PDF) of Issue #1 here!

New Illustrations for Puma!

Just came off a big wave of busy: completed work on some pit crew illustrations for Puma (displayed right now at SportChek), wrapped up the first issue of Scion Canada Lifestyle magazine, and was involved in an awesome creative pitch for Scotiabank.

Also some of you may know, I was on a search for the next shared studio space. After a month of searching and stressing out, I finally found the perfect space! Just waiting for the keys…

For the time being, I’ve moved all of my old studio belongings and furniture to my home, and it’s forced me to purge (craigslist, donating, etc.) a lot of records, books, awkward photographs, and old technologies (cassette tapes, vhs player and tapes). Anybody need a VHS player or looking for “Enter the Dragon” or “Leon” (the Professional) on VHS? Anyhow, for those who are pack rats living in small space like me, I highly recommend you trim your “fat” (junk), or it will weigh you down. Trust me. You'll feel instantly better, and have more space ready for new beautiful junk. Maybe I'm just feeling ancient lately. I need to join a gym!

See below for the new illustrations for Puma at SportChek, and placed in the final layout (put together by Matt Bilewicz). More on Scion and Scotiabank soon!

Below: SportCheck (Yonge & Queen St. W)

Play the 'Puma Motor Sport Bingo' game here!

New Images up in Character Designs!

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

Vintage graphics for Mini Mioche T-Shirts

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.

2 New Pearson Covers!

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.

Papa Franco!

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!

New Cover Illo for Pearson (Australia)

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. 

NEW! T-Shirt section is up!

Finally I've got around to compiling T-shirt designs I did over the last few years. It really takes a long time to compile, and it is adding a bit of weight to the site. Got to trim down the fat some time soon! Anyhow, please take a look, and let me know what you think! I will be posting some of my artwork onto T-shirts probably sometime in the near future, so check back soon. :)

Check it!

Web Girl (2010 mix) print for sale!

I've remixed one of my previous works called 'WWW girl' originally commissioned for WEB magazine in Korea. Lately I've started experimenting a bit with patterns and colours a bit, and wanted to see what this image would look like if I had done it nowadays. I like the result a lot. This will be offered as a giclee print as well over at Inprnt.com, very soon.

BUY!

Popular Mechanics

Just finished a batch of infographics for the April 2010 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine. I approached the colour with a more retro feel, and with the line work kept it bold and simple. I love doing these because I've always loved the aesthetic of them. Although, I haven't seen any lately, when flying, that I've liked. Would love to redo Air Canada's...

Check it!