The last time I went to Paris I was only interested in Euro Disney, which indicates how long ago that was! So this time I was determined to check out all the cultural and artsy stuff, especially after seeing this video earlier this year: http://vimeo.com/groups/1769/videos/18886355 . I'm also working on a big project at the moment with a partially French theme so I really wanted to do some research and collect inspiration.

( Pictures under cut! )

This was a piece I did a few weeks for the Japanese National Tourism Agency. It was right before and during the earthquake which made it quite poignant and sad for all involved. For manga artists, and all those related to the scene, it's terrible to witness the tragedy in a country that we love and owe our careers and livelihoods to. I'm sure everyone reading this has already participated in charitable donations or events, and now more than ever, Japan also needs to rebuild tourism as part of a long term recovery. It would be great if you could like JNTO's facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Visit-Japan-from-the-UK/142618929107586 and create awareness that life in Japan really does go on. The most productive solution now is to continue planning your holidays and focus on the best things the country has to offer instead of viewing it as a ground zero of disaster. 

It also made me very angry to read the shameless media hype of the nuclear panic, specifically the way they tried to made it sound threatening to western countries ("radioactive particles detected in the USA!") Seriously, STFU. There are tens of thousands of people homeless, grieving or injured and the press are trying to drive paranoid narrow-minded people living halfway across the world to selfishly worry about their own safety. Needless to say, if people feel that are not safe in their own countries, they will view going to Japan as an unspeakable hazard. Many of my friends' parents work in the IAEA which is headquartered in Vienna, and several were actually inspectors at Fukushima. Although the evacuation zone is undoubtedly dangerous, it's taken for granted that there was never ANY sort of risk to other countries as the result of 'radioactive particles'. It is a tragedy in itself if the world turns its back on Japan out of ungrounded paranoia, when the country needs to return to normalcy as soon as possible. 

On an aside, if anyone's interested in a reading some insightful, non-sensationalistic reporting on Japan, I highly recommend the latest issue of Monocle (http://www.monocle.com/Magazine/volume-05/issue-43/). In the UK you can find it in just about any newsagent in the business section, the current cover has red wooden building blocks on it.

So just got back from a slightly crazy weekend in Budapest. We originally just wanted a relaxed break so we went for a good hotel within driving distance rather than spending extra on flights and stuff. By coincidence I found out that a school friend was in town...she works on the set of 47 Ronin and they're filming in Hungary right now. There were tons of film crew people around and we ended up bumping into a lot of her colleagues, including the tallest man in Britain and all of Keanu Reeves' stuntmen. Had a great chinese dinner with the stuntmen and their funny banter. One of the stuntmen was a soft spoken english guy and the others insisted we had to look up his Youtube video. Turns out we actually met Damien Walters, the living epitome of coolness for all 20-30 year-old men. (His name didn't ring a bell for me, but bf was in awe for the rest of trip :P).

( Lots of piccies under cut )

Still kinda new to photography so please appreciate the crispness rather than composition. My dream someday is to create my own archive of street style photography in different cities...to be used as reference images for illustrations or projects. Thinking of getting a special lens that's optimised for taking pictures of people which does an extra blurry depth of field. I follow so many blogs with beautiful photography (eg Wendy's Lookbook or Extra Petite) and have real respect for the skill involved in taking a seemingly simple shot of one person.

I'd say I have a respectable collection of relatively trendy gadgets (Macbook, Blackberry, iPod & co) but the one thing I've always been in the stone age with was my digital camera. My little Samsung S750 had been a worthy companion through many continents, parties and events so I chose to ignore the fact that it was hilariously unsuitable for a professional designer. When I tried taking product pictures, they would turn out something like this:



Yet I managed to somehow scrape by with lots of trickery and extreme Photoshopping. Most of the pictures on my website and blog were the result of ingenious timing to catch the 2 hour window when sun shines into my living room and another hour of CS4 post-production. Eventually, I even started getting grief from my friends for the increasingly inferior quality of party photos on Facebook. (That's when you have a problem...when someone too smashed to remember what happened between hours 00:00 and 5:00 still complains about jpg artefacts on their face).

I was always wary of DSLRs, despite their mind-blowing awesomeness, because I'm physically not strong enough to lug one around. And it's certainly not something that fits into a handbag on a night out. So after some research, I splashed on the Sony Nex 3, a compact camera that takes SLR quality pics. Below some proof of how WINNING it is!



I'm stil getting to grips with lighting as this was taken in poor indoor light without flash. I've never properly explored photography (obvious reason in the first image above) but this toy is giving me tons of inspiration. I'm going to Budapest this weekend, and can't wait to try out some pretty outdoor shots. Results soon :D!

Been underground for a few months as I had so much work and Jan-Feb are generally horrible blah months. So very glad for outdoor cafe brunch & raybans weather again. Been listening to a lot of Swedish House Mafia, taking dance classes (classical and latin, not related to SHM :P) and planning trips to Budapest, Paris and Venice. Feeling extremely Euro this year ;). The pic above shows the final proofs for my first book, YAY! At long last I was finally able to write and illustrate a How to Draw Chibi book. It's set for publication in June/July 2011 so I'll be plugging it with more information closer to the time. There will be plenty of familiar guest artists making an appearance as well ^_~

It's been snowing pretty solidly for a week and I've been in a seriously hermity mode, listening to christmas songs whilst warm and cosy indoors. After those years in London, an apartment that actually stays warm in December is a luxury, and not something to be taken for granted. A few belated updates here before signing off for Christmas break. Work hard play hard, and from next week till 2011 it's time to feel so fly like a G6 XD! 



I have a new Momiji Doll out called Chiyo...but unfortunately Chiyo had to leave quite soon after she arrived =.=". I think the dolls were sold out within a few days of going online so there may only be a few left at Royal/T in LA. They were produced in limited edition for the gallery so congrats to anyone who managed to nab one whilst they were still available :D! Royal/T hosted a Momiji Painting Workshop as part of the launch and I sent them two painted dolls as well:



Quite fond of these two, and was a bit sad to see them off :3. They were painted with acrylics and Eyeko Chi Chi Polish. Nail polish adds a fantastic sparkly glaze that contrasts with the matte surface of regular paint. I started getting into doing customs during KidRobot's Munny contest this summer, and realised Momijis are great fun to paint as well. Be sure to join the Momiji Collective if you want to be notified of upcoming workshops.



And lastly, here's a screenshot from a big project I've been working on for the past few months. Can't say much now except it has been a dream commission of mine for many years, but I'd eventually given it up and moved onto other stuff. Then suddenly in the middle of summer the opportunity just dropped out of the blue so this really has been a labour of love (and caffeine). Look for the official announcement coming in early 2011 ^_^.

So wish you all a very happy holiday, drink lots of Gingerbread Lattes, and go kiss someone on New Years!!

I've greatly neglected the public posts on my blog this year, so it's definitely time to for some updates :). I'm happy to announce the new FlockIt Dolls collection! Flock is the fuzzy material often used to decorate wallpaper, gift wrap or toys. I really loved the idea of having a minimalist, neon collection which fits with a lot of the trends on the high street at the moment. I went to Heals two weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised to discover that they also had a new range of bright flock-covered objets...I bought a hot pink mouse for my flat in Vienna :D. (The three dolls also somehow remind me of this song XD). Also, a reminder for anyone interested in entering the Momiji Couture Contest, you still have 2 months to create a fabric doll and get the chance to be featured in Selvedge Magazine and exhibited at the Royal/T gallery in LA!

In other news, I've just gotten back from a great vacation in Vienna and working hard towards our impending site launch. I've looked back on my NY resolutions and realised one of them was to learn more recipes, so I spent yesterday making different types of cookies. I'm also hoping to use up the last of my holidays this year for a trip to the USA, thus doing some aggressive money-saving these few months (every pound becomes two dollars, there's a heartwarming thought :D). So today I took the bus to St Pauls and walked over the scenic bridge to Tate Modern. Pleased to see that they had a whole room dedicated to a manga character (No Ghost Just A Shell / Pierre Huyghe & Philippe Parreno) but disappointed that they didn't even mention Superflat in the timeline of modern art despite the cheek of the museum shop charging £3 more for Yoshitomo Nara prints.

Earlier today I was in Selfridges and wandering with delight through the Wonder Room, which has the most awesome display of Kidrobot characters facing the main Oxford Street window. There was also a giant Dunny painted by Tado up for auction, and myriad other adorable/expensive things. Seeing art toy-ism enter the mainstream like this was uplifting and kept me in a good mood all day. Then in the  evening I was doing routine checks on my site referrals, and my jaw dropped to realise that Kidrobot is actually stocking my dolls. I know I sound like a gushing fangirl, but I've been in awe of brands like Tokidoki and Kidrobot ever since high school that it's still really surreal to see my work being placed alongside those.

On a tangent, I went to Selfridges looking for a suitcase...only to realise that everything was far too expensive for something that I have to blindly entrust to April weather and Austrian Airlines. So I scooted over to Primark and picked up a hilariously cute cow-print suitcase for the princely sum of £13 XD. At least I'll never miss it on the carousel again.

A quick update on my whereabouts! The past few months have been quite stressful and eventful, and I'm relieved things are starting to settle down.

Home New - I've moved to London again for a new job. This was quite an epic experience in the first week of January, where I managed to find a flat and move house within 5 days, whilst working full time. I love my new flat which is within walking distance to Oxford Circus and just a block away from where I work. The heating isn't up to scratch, furniture sort of run-down, but by London standards it's a decent place. Had a 6-week tussle with BT to get a phone line and internet, but that's finally been sorted so it feels like home!

Home Old - Renovations of Vienna flat went smoothly...excited to see the kitchen in its complete glory when I go back next, and start looking at bathroom fixtures. I wish I had know even a month earlier that I'd be moving away and I would've packed it full of Ikea and rented it out. But after having spent so much time and love and money on interiors, I can't bear the thought of a stranger living there before me :/.

Job - I'm totally in love with my job! I woke up last Saturday and the first thing in my mind was to rush back into the office to continue a manga character I was drawing, only to realise that it was the weekend. It's still early days in the project and I'll be posting a lot more about my work when we are closer to launch.

Momiji - The new Cosplay Collection is out! I know 'cosplay' is used here in the loosest sense since the dolls aren't dressed like existing characters (for obvious copyright reasons). These three dolls feel very personal to me, and I spent a lot of time tweaking the little details...from the imagery to names to likes/dislikes. Ruby's theme is Shinjuku, Donut is Shibuya and Polo is Harajuku. Each doll comes with a little postcard about that area with the backdrop of photos I took when I was in Tokyo.

Other - Been spending a lot of time at Westfield London, in Selfridges, watching Gossip Girl, chatting on Skype, learning stuff from Jamie's Ministry of Food, under an electric blanket during the big freeze, drinking tea and reading Sunday papers.

I had planned to go dinner with friends and watch Quantum of Solace today, but instead I've been struck down by my annual November tonsillitis and stuck home on Friday night feeling quite annoyed at missing out on Daniel Craig's torso. To cheer up, I've been looking at all the cute bits and bobs I got for my apartment from London.

( Joanna's first shot at interior design )