New website for the recently-founded Waseda International School.

One of my absolute favorite clients is the bag- and accessory-maker Joshu + Vela, a small shop based in San Francisco. Noah Guy, the man behind the magic, and his group of cohorts make amazing crafted leather goods by hand in their San Francisco workshop.

They’ve been having a fair amount of success as of late, their wares having been picked up by the Banana Republic for distribution, as well as having won over a number of new stockists. It’s all the well-earned result of years of hard labor, day jobs and having friends pitch in. It’s a hard-won success, but one that I am proud to have been a part of.

Joshu+Vela’s products are things that I not only “believe in” (“believe in” is the term trotted out by marketing types at the drop of a hat), but use every single damn day. One of their belts holds my pants up day-in and day-out and one of their wallets houses my cash.

The point? Rad stuff. Go check out their new collection.

New poster for PechaKucha Night Tokyo‘s upcoming event.

New identity for Portland-based filmmaker Trevor Fife, director of the opening sequence for the TV show True Blood.

Early 1980s American family television show-inspired identity for Georgia/American architecture/education practice Maybe One More.

I edited the interview and massive retrospective of the work of legendary Swiss graphic designer Bruno Monguzzi for the latest issue of Idea Magazine #351.

Available internationally from Wordshape.

I edited the interview and massive sixty-page retrospective of the work of legendary Swiss graphic designer Bruno Monguzzi for the latest issue of Idea. Available internationally from Wordshape.

Better late than never, I just gave Viewers Like You a little graphic facelift. Max Erdenberger and I started VLU in 2006. 50,000 viewers strong…

As mentioned recently, I served as a judge and on the editorial committee for this year’s Asia Pacific Design Awards. The books that serve as the repository of all of the winning work came in the other day and are currently being distributed to the prospective winners.

These books are massively heavy- if dropped from shoulder height, you could very easily crush a small mammal. If you were to do this, however, you’d stain the beautiful embossed fabric-bound hardcover binding and potentially mar the gleaming gold-leafed docked edges of the pages. This is decidedly not a modest book – it is a celebration of the best that Asian graphic design has to offer at present, and via page count, bespoke material choices and the sheer quality of work within, celebrates it in style.

The official blurb about the Awards:

As a top representative of graphic design in Asia-Pacific region, APD collects excellent graphic designs from Asian countries or regions and those along Pacific Ocean. APD aims at promoting design in Asia-Pacific Region and providing good opportunities for excellent designers to stand out. It is the seventh volume this year in 2011. APD No. 7 continuously follows the publishing concept of original design and collects more excellent graphic designs. Putting outstanding designs on display, APD forges an interactive platform for exchanges and communication within the circles. It covers seven categories, respectively, visual identity, orientation system, type, poster, packaging, print, logo and graphics & extended product.

My choices for some of the top Japanese graphic design projects of the year included work by:

AQ
Benjamin Thomas / Bentographics
HeiQuiti Harata
Yoshihisa Shirai

Congratulations to the Award winners this year. You all do such beautiful, thoughtful work.

You can read more about the awards and order the book here.

I co-edited two small essays in issue #350 of Idea- one on the history of the Japanese fashion and lifestyle magazine An-An and another on former Idea editor Toshiaki Koga’s recent event “Approaches to What?”.