Featured design: Cover

March 6, 2013 by Jason Li

Update: It seems that magCulture is no longer selling this from its online store, and the originally linked-to review has gone missing.

Presenting Cover, a new magazine coming out of China by Mazzybox. (Anyone have more information about him/her? magCulture says that Mazzybox works at a studio called Deadline.)

The magazine’s second edition, pictured…

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Trying to cash in on Chinese New Year – Chinese sneakers from Western companies

February 5, 2013 by Jason Li

From Adidas:

adidas-Originals-SS-80s-Chinese-New-Year-Pack-01 Jeremy-Scott-x-Eason-Chan-x-adidas-Originals-JS-Wings-01-630x419

From Nike, and apparently not for sale:

YOTS_by_ZJ_01-500x250

Not very subtle, are they?

(Image sources here, here and here.)

Ethnography of Tech

The Free Lunch case for inefficient, redundant design

January 24, 2013 by Jason Li

In her talk for The Conference 2012, Designing for Trust: How China’s Free Lunch avoided The Curse of Kelvin (embedded above), Tricia Wang makes the case that the inefficient data entry and publishing sequence pictured below is the culturally appropriate and only effective solution available.

The case study she gives is of journalist Deng Fei’s Free Lunch project, which…

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Featured cafe: Mr. Sea Monster

July 9, 2012 by Jason Li

Mr. Sea Monster (海怪先生), a cafe in Gulangyu (鼓浪屿), Xiamen.

Exact address: 鼓浪屿乌埭路2号

Via Samantha Culp. Photo sources: 1, 2.

Featured design: Navel

May 24, 2012 by Jason Li

Text reads:

Down the left: “Give me one too!”
On the right: “Navel is a kid who can’t grow up. He takes his studies, play, love and work seriously and lives seriously around us. He has the heart of someone who can’t grow up, he is every one of us…”

…

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Reinvigorating an old art form: Shadow puppets

February 14, 2012 by Jason Li

Neocha is currently profiling the illustration & graphic design work of a Xiamen-based artist, Lin Xiaozuo. Featured: an interesting play on traditional Chinese shadow puppets.

First though, the original art form looks like this (photo source):

And Lin’s work:

For more samples, head over to NeochaEDGE…

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Housekeeping update

November 7, 2011 by Jason Li

Just wanted to update everyone on our latest round of upgrades.

First, a warm welcome to ethnographer & sociologist Tricia Wang for joining our team here. As you may have noticed below, she’s already started on her first post. You can read more about her on her website or her work over on Bytes of China.…

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Hermès’ China-focused label

August 21, 2011 by Jason Li

From Monday Flying.

Shang Xia（上下）is literally translated to mean ‘Up and Down’ in Chinese. Figuratively, the phrase is used to describe a ‘topsy-turvy’ situation.An interesting move from Hermès, Shang Xia is a rare development from the luxury group, which tends to buy all or part of existing brands.

…

Product…

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Iwan Baan photography: New versus historic Tulou architecture

June 23, 2011 by Jason Li

VANKE Tulou Housing Guangzhou – Affordable housing complex
By URBANUS Architects

Historic Tulou Housing in Yongding – China

More from Iwan Baan on his website. (Via Solid Gap.)

Tuzki

May 4, 2011 by Jason Li

The story goes that Wang Momo (王卯卯), an undergraduate at the Communication University of China, was doodling on her blog one day and came up with a peculiar yet distinct rabbit-like creature. Built with Snoopy proportions, it also had no mouth and only had slits for eyes. Its name was Tuzki (兔斯基). Three months later, Wang made an animated emoticon of it.…

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Tag: design