CUSTOMIZE

Sket One is a visual artist with an old school urban background. A Connecticut based graffiti artist who has designed toys for many toy-makers. While now working as an Art Director for one of the leading sports marketing agencies in the world.

Amanda Visell from Los Angeles California, paints cartoony pictures. Her work is seen in many galleries and merchandise is sold at Disney World. She is a suc-cess yet did not go to school for art.

Mad Barbarians was formed in June of 2000 and became active on the street of Osaka, Japan They released variety of products such as post-cards, stickers, original t-shirt designs

MAD (Jeremy Madl) who pre-sides in Missouri has been professionally illustrating and designing toys for over 13 years, recieved his BFA in toy design from Otis College of Art and Design. Over his ca-reer he’s worked with many clients on a variety of todays largest brands.

ilovedust are a multi-disciplinary design shop on the south coast of England, specializing in brand identity, art direction, illustration, motion graphics and interac-tive design. from co-lab vinyl toys and custom-made fixed gear bikes to bespoke web-sites, they’re perfectionists in everything they do.

Frank Kozik, now in San Francisco, retired from poster design and gotten involved with designing and product-ing vinyl toys. He’s the most prolific and popular designers in the genre.

kidrobots

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Reverend ButterDunny Ice Sculpture

unlimited dunnyMany different and amazing customs

events

art basel 09December 3-6th Miami, Florida

multiversal group show features these custom toy artists: KaNO, Sket One, Jeremy Madl (MAD), Buff Monster, Beast Broth-ers, Tony “Nakanari” Shiau, ReddPrime (Mitchell Horn), Josh “f+” Pearce, Besto, Michal Wright-Ward, Mike “m.heisler” Slobot, Okedoki, Jay222, Jon Burgerman, Felt Mistress AKA Louise Evans, Brian Colin, OsirisOrion, Zam, Sara Antoinette Martin, Dave “Outtamymind” Quiles, NREAZON, Kat Brunnegraff, Bryan Collins, Bob Conge (Plaseebo), Phoneti-control, Mylene Tolentino, D-Lux, Mr. Den, Lana “Plushinator” Crooks, Ian Ziobrowski, Lysol, Squink!, Motorbot, Jenna “Scoopajdelux” Colby, Rsin Art, Nerviswr3k, Nasty Neil, Nemo, Keith Poon, Spanky Stokes, Patrick Francisco

Part of the exhibition proceeds will benefit Hands Up Not Handouts [www], an organization that mentors women of the world in the design and pro-duction of unique, one-of-a-kind goods. The initia-tive focuses on women artisans who translate their traditional handicrafts into high-quality and innova-tive products that can be marketed at a premium price, using the profits to support their families and communities.

Contact kazilla.art@gmail.com or www.Multiver-salGroupShow.com for more information about the Multiversal Group.

neon monster was invited to participate in a curated cross-pollination of culture and commerce at this year’s Design Miami. The historic Moore building provided us with an airy atrium (and fancy neighbors) in which to construct our Cave

of Wonders. When you emerge onto the second floor, you’ll be greeted by an effigy of Mitch. Step inside and absorb the world we’ve created: it’s one of stalagmites and stalactites, crystalline patterns, glowing tree stumps and jewel-toned snails (that’s me!). Many of our visitors have likened the limited edition experience to being in a candy store. You’ll find hand-picked art multiples by Michael Lau and Daniel Johnston, origi-nal art toys by Arbito and Buff Monster, exclusive prints and T-shirts by Dalek, Reuben Rude and Josh Cochrane, and so much more. We’ll be at 191 NE 40th Street all month long, so why not come by and say hi.

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small moveKidrobot moves a few blocks

Kidrobot NYC Flagship-118 Prince Street-TEL #: 212-966-6688

On May 1st, Kidrobot opened its brand new flagship store in New York City. Just two doors down from its original location on Prince Street, in the heart of the trendy SoHo district. This is the 3rd incarna-tion of the store and the largest by far. With its 2,200 square-foot space spreading across 2 floors, an oversized 4-foot Dunny painted by Tara McPher-son, and a wall to celling mural created by French graffiti artist Tilt, the new flagship resembles more like a mega emporium for designer figures, collect-ible toys, and apparels with playful graphics. The interior design team made certain that every portion of the new space was utilized. Staircase hand rail doubles as display modules for various MEDICOM TOY collaborations. Above and below what is visible to customers are storage space. Even a full wall of mirrors on the second floor are doorways to hidden dressing rooms. If you’re search is for a gift or for yourself, this is a store that you must visit.

website

lulubelltoys.comItems: Vinyl, Resin, Plush, Apparel, Books, Etc.

dcto ritual brush- Jibun Project - $40

vinyl

the owner’s spielI moved to Taiwan in 97’ it didn’t take me too long to get lost into toys. It started off simple - this little skull figure from Hot Dog Toys called Hal-lowteens. That was pretty much that. Oh sure, at first only bought little figures, but it wasn’t long before I realized I’d spent several hundreds of dollars on $5 toys.

Fast forward a couple years. I ended up getting shipwrecked back home in Tucson. I thought it would be over but it wasn’t long before I was spending $50 bucks at a time on .50 cent Homies. There were tons of trips to Wacko in LA, Toy Tokyo in NY, and all types of random websites. While that was all fine and dandy I wanted more… my needs just weren’t getting met. I had to take matters into my own hands.-Store located in Tucson, AZ

domo-kun- Dark Horse- $30 chumps- Frank Kozik/Kid Robot - $6

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lulubelltoys.comItems: Vinyl, Resin, Plush, Apparel, Books, Etc.

The man credited with single-handedly reviving the concept of rock posters as an art form, Frank Kozik was first exposed to the counterculture world of “designer art toys” on a trip to Japan in 1996. His collecting hobby soon mutated into a new profes-sion, and in 2002 Kozik made the leap from illustra-tor to toy designer. Now considered one of the world’s top three underground toy designers, Kozik shares all the secrets of this arcane and cutting-edge art movement in Plasticland. This deluxe oversized volume, the first collected work of Kozik’s foray into this explosive new phenomenon, offers a fascinating look at the creation and end result of modern toy design. A dazzling photographic record of all Kozik’s production and custom pieces through early 2006, the book also features his new works in serigraphy and oil painting. - $30

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A fantastic sequel to the bestselling Art of Rebel-lion, volume number two features a well presented up to the minute international survey of street art, introducing dozens of new and unknown protagan-ists alongside many well known artists who have been at it for years. The book draws the reader into a lush visual journey through the worldwide explosion of street art within the last two years and features tons of new work with original styles and techniques, all well documented with large scale photographs. Additionally the book features a selec-tion of the best exhibitions and collaborations be-tween artists and apparel and fashion brands from the past couple of years. No book better defines the extent to which street art’s influence on the arts and society has expanded beyond tags, posters and stickers in recent years. Featured artists include Miss Van, Kid Acne, Roadsworth, Faile, Blek le Rat, Dr.D, ElPussycat, Akayism, Jon Burgerman, Heavy-weight, Matt Sewell, L’Atlas, G, Zevs, 56k, Stak, DOMA, Urban Blooz, The Yok, BLU, Dist, Erosie, Thundercut, Skewville, Derrick Hodgson, Eine, DHM, Koralie, Inkunstruction and more are brought to life through photos, interviews, and quotes. - $40

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DOMO’S REIGNhe’s everywhereDOMO’S REIGN(he’s everywhere)

On a winter day, there was an egg rolling into Usaji’s cave from somewhere. It was a brown, mysterious creature, Domo that appeared from inside. A funny and amusing world around a life as a “surprise guest” in Usaji’s cave. Tashanna and many other characters are their friends. This is the first character Goda created, and he is cherished as the first-born son for dwarf. Domo was born on 22nd December in 1998 as a commemorative character for the 10th anniversary of NHK-BS (the satellite channel of Japan’s public broadcaster). He has been appearing in 30 or 4 second spots between programs. The theme of the spots is “a life with TV”. He became a character for NHK from 2004. In 2008, the ten-year anniversary of his birth, Domo’s TV series (2 minute 26 episodes) started to air in 145 regions worldwide. Its broadcast globally on the most watched children’s channel, Nickelodeon, which is watched in 169 regions around the world by about 350 million households. Now there are more characters on the show, which expand his world. In the autumn of 2008, Domo became a Halloween campaign character for a mass U.S. merchandise retailer, Target, which has more than 1600 stores, and was active on the web and in the shops.-Tsuneo Goda / Director and character design

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Sickboy’s temple from Bristol UK

“Ten years from the day I first decided to spray a red and yellow temple instead of my name on walls from here to Bangkok, I have immortalised the temple as a 3D resin hand-painted model.”

Hand-Cast Resin Temple Models which have been produced as a four-strong series representing Love, Peace, Happiness and Death. Each edition is a super-exclusive run of 25 and features an emblem of one of Sickboy’s signature symbols: a heart, a peace sign, an acid face or a skull. The highly-anticipated 3D Temples are produced in the red and yellow Sick-boy colour palette (painted red with a yellow resin), are hand-signed and numbered, and are presented in a special screen-printed box.

Love edition is already sold out, the other 3 are still available for £150.00 at Sickboy’s website, www.thesickboy.com.

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1ST URBANTOY ARTISTMicheal Lau’s 10th Annual Exhibition Interview

For anybody familiar with the designer toy vinyl scene, Hong Kong’s

Michael Lau evokes numerous thoughts of contribution and innova-

tion. Largely considered one of the forefather’s of the designer toy

movement, his work has extended far and beyond the realm of toys

into both art and sneakers. 2009 marks the 10th anniversary of his

ground-breaking Gardener toy franchise. Inspired by his own interest

in street culture, Gardener has taken on many forms since its debut.

We took the opportunity to speak with him regarding this monumental

occasion in addition to the plans behind the celebration of a decade of

Gardener, which includes a multi-day exhibition in association with Los

Angeles’ De La Barracuda and MINDstyle.

Interview with Michael Lau

Hey Michael, first off congratulations on Gardener’s 10th Anniversary.

For those unaware, what exactly is Gardener and how did Gardener

begin?

Thanks a lot… Gardener began back in 1998. I had a friend at Touch

Magazine who asked me if I would be interested in having my own

comic column at the magazine. At the time, I found the whole realm of

street culture pretty fascinating and I was inspired by the likes of LMF

(popular now defunct Hip-Hop group from Hong Kong), tattoo culture

and skateboarders. This essentially formed the basis of Gardener.

What does the 10th Anniversary of Gardener mean to you?

The 10th Anniversary is ultimately very important and meaningful to

me. I don’t think its that easy for any toy franchise to make it to 10

years these days, given that the whole designer toy market is relatively

saturated and many toys out there aren’t doing all that well. On a

personal level, I think it brought light to the vinyl toy

scene. Gardener really helped launch me to that next level,

if it wasn’t for Gardner, I wouldn’t be here today. This 10th

anniversary is something important to me as I can help

educate the younger generation regarding what Gardener

represents as a lot of my first fans have now grown older.

What have you got planned for the 10th anniversary of

Gardener?

For Gardener’s 10th Anniversary, we have a series of things

planned. They include a limited edition shoe with Nike SB,

a skateboard, limited edition figures with entities like The

Hundreds, De La Barracuda and Slam X Hype and a book

which includes sketches, layouts and the whole design

process behind Gardener. The book goes into detail about

many of my projects such as the conceptualization of toys

as well as photography of my previous releases. The Nike

collaboration involves Nike SB and the Zoom Janoski sig-

nature model. If you recall, I did a previous wood-inspired

Nike SB Dunk Low back in 2006 but this time around I

went with a lighter tone and a stronger wood texture. The

concept of the trim was based on that of a skatedeck with

the different wood tones. All in all, the Janoski model is a

nice simple shoe, which was a pleasure to work with.

How did you align yourself with De La Barracuda, for your

upcoming Los Angeles event? How do you feel about

showing in the US for the first time?

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I’ve been involved with my friends over at MINDstyle for

many years, however we’ve never really found the right

venue to present my work and nothing really came to frui-

tion. I’ve waited a long time before presenting my work in

the United States. It’s sort of ironic, I would have figured

upon Gardener’s conceptualization 10 years ago, that I

would present him in the US a lot sooner seeing as so

much of street culture’s roots come from the US.

How did MINDstyle get involved?

Originally MINDstyle was sourcing for factories to make

their own toys, on a similar theme to my personal style,

and they contacted my factory which led to our current

relationship. As well, MINDstyle has a strong US-based

network so it helped me in connecting the dots as I wasn’t

that familiar with the US-market. Going forward, expand-

ing in the US is something I’m definitely interested in

exploring.

How has the toy/art industry changed in the last 10 years,

in your opinion? Do places such as Hong Kong and the

United States have distinctly different toy cultures?

In Hong Kong, the toy culture scene is too fast and lacks

a certain artistic respect. Everything is quite trend-driven

and people will pay these ridiculous sums of money to

get “that toy” when the trend is popular, but as things die

out, all of a sudden they lose that appreciation. The trend

aspect of toys is no different than other things locally such

as cameras and cars. There’s only a small dedicated group

of fans that continue to collect and get excited about

new drops. Conversely, in the United States, the market is

much larger and for the most part people are better edu-

cated about the toy scene. With it comes a greater respect

and admiration for toys. The toy scene is no different than

other product markets, it gets saturated, but quality will

still emerge on top.

What initially attracted you to toys, do any other things

captivate you in the same way? Do you prefer creating

more realistic toys or something more abstract?

My initial love of art came from drawing and sketching. As

a kid, I wasn’t well off so I couldn’t afford any toys. As I grew older, I

really enjoyed designing furniture and things in 3D, as I felt obviously

2D is too flat and lacks a certain perspective. I would trace out the

lines on a piece of paper only to take them and fold them into actual

3D models. After awhile, I would start playing and experimenting with

clay. I still have this great fascination with working in 3D. Eventually,

I would take my work earnings and put them towards things such as

Play Mobil and G.I. Joe. As for real vs. abstract, I would have to side

more with abstract design. It enables you to have a freer reign in terms

of creativity and imagination, when it comes to design.

What has been your most memorable collaboration to date? What is

your favorite toy?

My favorite collaborations are probably T-Garden and Mr. Shoe. With

Mr. Shoe, I was able to see him tour around various parts of the world.

My favorite toys are probably my earliest ones like my G.I. Joes and my

Play Mobil sets.

buffmonster.com

brought forward

August 09-Customize21

Lucha Moola is in the house! DLuX knocks it out the park taking us way back to the old school exciting colorful Lucha Libre wrestlers.

Andrew Bell has designed this amazing sushi toy set, called ‘O-No Sushi’. Show-cased on dozens of toy and design blogs, it was a sell-out success at this year’s Comic-Con. Well for all of you not lucky enough to make it out to San Diego, DKE Toys has them in stock now, so act quick, they’re not gonna last long!

If you’re not clued-in on Mexican-artist Walter Jacott aka Chauskoskis’ custom-work by now, you should. Handy with sculpting and transform-ing a toy-figure into something else, while retaining the character of the original form, is what Walter does, and he does it oh so well, IMHO.

chubsterThe Rounder Toys