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!

Review: Diskjokke – En Fin Tid review

Our first encounter with the sounds of Joachim Dyrdahl (aka Diskjokke) was his brilliant breezy disco injection to Lykke Li’s “Everybody But Me”, then later with another impressive remix for the xx’s “Basic Space”. Dyrdahl, much like his Norwegians counterparts Prins Thomas and Lindstrom, keeps disco interesting by exploring new avenues, while still retaining a style very much his own.

His second album, En Fin Tid (“A Happy Time” in Norwegian) on Smalltown Supersound, is a brilliant space opera soundtrack. Weaving inspirations of Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream and Arthur Russell throughout his spacesuit, Dyrdahl creates cosmic sounds that are incredibly full and vibrant, pushing it further with tinges of Italo and afro here and there.

Stroll into zero gravity with its lush openers ...more >>

Review: Tiga – Gentle Giant remixes review

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>>

Awesome Little Dragon video.

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!

Join the Twitter Page!

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! :)

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!