As 2008’s JUICE Cool Lister, designer and artist Stephen Lau has got big names like Nike, Guinness, Tiger Beer, Zouk and IdN magazine under his belt of achievements. Not one to subscribe to fancy ad agency protocol, his rock-inspired designs under his Minor Player Studio and Jam Division label has seen him exhibit his work in Tokyo. We got behind the mind of this talented artist and uncovered the source behind his design inspiration, which he calls “the alternative to alternative expression”. [more »]

The word “toy” is a tricky subject. Although toys in general are technically sold in places like Toys“R”Us, the toys available in H5 are anything but. Coveted by serious collectors, these limited edition pieces are sold at high prices in galleries around the world, with their value continuing to skyrocket even after purchase.

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Duo Sam Lanyon Jones and Andrew Cope of UK design studio Tokyoplastic are recognised in the industry as brave risk-takers. Inspired by Takashi Murakami, Miyazaki and Mike Judge, the pair have a passion for all things - you guessed it - Japanese and plastic. Through their eye-catching animation, Tokyoplastic have aced several marketing campaigns for clients like MTV, Nike and Motorola. From the moment their first animation clip Drum Machine dropped, we knew it was going to be something extraordinary. JUICE had a few laughs with Sam, who was in town recently for a workshop organised by the British Council, about “durian boobies”, being design rockstars and the future. [more »]

If you don’t know who Michael Chuah is, then maybe you’d recognise him as C2V, the creator of comic book Gengkey (part of local cult comic publisher Gempak). Michael is famous for his cute yet feisty characters and in total, has created more than 300 of them. His creativity has seen him conceptualise the Gilamon Studio, specialising in graphic storytelling, character design and graphic design; and the Roots Studio, a creative branding company. Always eager to work with musicians, Michael recently created a robot mascot for electro proponent Jonvu (Eclectic Botz). JUICE hit up the comic-flippin’ artist for a chat. [more »]

Douglas Young, a trained architect based in HK is the creator of Goods Of Desire (GOD) - one of the most well known furniture/lifestyle brands - a Shanghai Tang with a pinch of tongue in cheek humour. Its inventory includes contemporary furniture, homeware and lifestyle accessories with a contemporary Chinese twist. This year Douglas will be flying down to KL to make a special appearance at KL Design Week10 as one of the speakers for the Typographic Conference. Back in 4 September 2009 when Reebok invited us to HK to experience the Reebok Global Freestyle Stylist Series Party we managed to have a chat the man himself about the Reebok exhibition, GOD and having dinner with Damian Hirst and Matt Damon.

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So Saturday arvo saw me revisiting old clan haunts and heading to where my historical homies used to hang out - in the wilds of Kampung Datuk Keramat. If you grew up here, you’d know Bukit Keramat where Taksu Gallery is located was the posh bit, where the rich folks stayed in big bungalows. The gallery’s latest exhibition Boleh! however is far from elitist and non-inclusive. We got a sneak peak.

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A few weeks back, we at JUICE announced the amazing exhibitions and conferences that will be happening at KLDW this year from 1 to 16 May 2010. As the official magazine for this event we’re thrilled to finally announce the speakers that will be attending our own world renowned design festival, and it’s mighty impressive!

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Something unheard of took place in Melaka in February: 8 groups of artists and 1 graffiti artist got together to repaint a whole row of historical shophouses along the river in Jalan Kampung Hulu.

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God works in mysterious ways. Most of the time beyond our feeble comprehension, like in the case of graffiti artist Mohammed Ali (aka Aerosol Arabic), who after rediscovering his faith, began to fuse street art with the eloquence of Islamic script and patterns. Describing his work as “taking the best of both worlds”, this highly-charged, charismatic aerosol-slinger has travelled across the globe challenging the oft-heard term “clash of civilizations”. In full spirit, JUICE hooked up with the man who was brave enough to spray light on some of the darkest streets in the world. [more »]

Feeling alienated? Or in this case robo-tracised? We don’t blame you but maybe this will help. Today, Spike Jonze’s highly anticipated short film I’m Here was released on www.imheremovie.com. This 30-minute robot love story is a creative collaboration between Spike and Absolut Vodka. Well, bleep! [more »]