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June 9, 2008
| HOW TO BE AN ILLUSTRATOR – finally! a missing text book for illustration students and all the aspiring illustrators |
I wish How To Be An Illustrator (by Darrel Rees, published by Laurence King, UK) was around when I was teaching illustration business course for graduating students.
But, it is never too late. Students and aspiring illustrators, this is going to be your bible!
I am so happy to be able to contribute my thoughts and experiences as an interview in this book.
Big thank you goes to Darrel Reese of Heart Agency for putting this long-awaited book together, and inviting me to be a (small) part of it. |
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| bid on my drawing at MICROVISIONS – to benefit Society of Illustrators Student Competitioon |
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MICROVISIONS is an annual exhibit and auction to benefit the Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship. Microvisions is organized and curated by Irene Gallo of TOR Books and illustrator Daniel Dos Santos.
10 illustrators participate every year and create 5"x8" piece just for this show. I have contributed this mini-drawing on the right.
Preview has just started at The Society of Illustrators: 128 East 63rd Street,
New York City.
eBay auction to follow soon.
I will be away for a while, so if I won't able to update the deatils on my site, please check Dan's site and Irene's blog for show schedule and auction details. |
June 5, 2008
May 28, 2008
announcing: VENICE ILLUSTRATION WORKSHOP
Memorial Day is over, that means; summer is officially here!! (sorry to non-US residents who has no idea what I am talking about.)
Aspiring illustrators, what are you planning on doing this summer? If you don't have a plan yet, how about spending a week with me in Venice, one of the most beautiful cities in the world (no joke, I was just there recently), and work on (your) illustrations together, talk about art, and even go to the famous Peggy Guggenheim Museum with Yuko as your guide? |
I am honored to announce a week-long illustration workshop in Venice, Italy this summer organized by Associazione Culturale Teatrio. Teatrio has curated wonderful Fabulous Coloured Pencils show which I took part in.
It will be a very intimate workshop with maximum of 20 students, probably from different parts of the world.
I will try to teach according to each participant's level, experiences and goal-settings. So, it will be custom made just for YOU!
Venice is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I am sure you will be inspired by this environment as well as the workshop itself.
See you there?
download PDF here. |
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May 25, 2008
FUSE TV AD CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF
FUSE TV's new illustrated advertising campaign just kicked off. There are multiple artists involved in this project including Shepard Fairey and Hellovon. Each of us made a poster in theme of "music is __". Mine is "music is escape".
This ad has already appeared in the latest issue of WIRED, as well as posters all over New York City. (I haven't seen the poster yet, but I was told by some friends that they had seen them.)
You may have seen this image already. After going back and forth with multiple sketches, the client ended up liking this image I had created for NPR's 2006 calendar so much so they decided to go with it. (I made some minor changes to the image.)
Thank you NPR for
allowing us to reuse this image. (Yes, I am a member, and I am listening to WNYC as I update my site now.)
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May 22, 2008
So, this news page is getting more and more like a blog. Then, shouldn't I just admit that this is indeed the 21st Century and start a real blog? I am so old-fashioned, I still cannot commit to that new technology. Go ahead laugh at me...
LITTLE BROTHER is a NY TIMES BESTSELLER!
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (TOR Books, AD: Irene Gallo) has debuted last week as #9 on The New York TImes best seller list (Children's chapter books)! Congratulations. And as a contributor to the cover, I am thrilled.
MORIBITO Debuts
Another young adult book I did the cover for just debuted as well. Moribito Guardian of The Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi (Scholastic, AD: Phil Falco) is just hitting the bookstores near you. Cover is a wrap around illustration, with three chapter opener illustrations inside as well. (click right to see more.) |
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May 20, 2008
The last of the three recent visitors from Warsaw, Berlin and Stuttgart went back to Europe today. Life is back to normal and I am already missing Agata, Monika and Thilo. See you in about a month in Europe (hopefully). In the meantime, catching up on some news..
NO GEISHA
New book came from Italy today.
It is a reuse of an illustration I previously made for The Word Magazine (UK)'s supplement CD jacket. When the publisher, Mondadori of Italy, asked for this image to be used on a book, I was not sure how this square image was going to turn out on the rectangular surface. I am, actually, loving this clever treatment they did. Big thank you to graphic designer Manuele Scalia. |
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NEW INTERVIEW
at The Wall. The webzine is edited by and for aspiring artists. Thanks Bryon. |
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May 5, 2008
| I was home last night, and finally, finally, finally, made up my mind to spend a quality time with Dreamweaver. It has been so long, yes. So, 10 images are up on the ILLUSTRATION SECTION. More to come... |
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SKETCHTRAVEL UPDATE
SKETCHTRAVEL sketchbook is now officially in the hands of Mr. Tomer Hanuka. You can see our handover photo and my page on the right. Thank you Tomer for waiting for so long. And thank you Dice Tsutsumi and Gerald Guerlais for being patient with my schedule.
PS96 MURAL UPDATE
Stefan and I are extremely excited that the construction of the library at PS 96 in The Bronx, where our murals are going to be placed, will finally begin. Both the library and murals are due in September for the kids' new school year. |
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May 2, 2008
I am finally coming out of "hermit" schedule which went on from January till...now. School year is over at SVA and my students are off to early "summer" vacation which gives me 4 months of time off as well.
Friends from abroad are flying in on the perfect timing next week. Agata Nowicka from Warsaw, Thilo Rothacker from Stuttgart, and Monika Aichele from Berlin. Looking forward to spending some time with them!
And yes, I will take care of forever neglected Illustration Section of the site. Please don't think I don't have any new work. I have been working a lot, and that is why it hasn't been updated.
COMMUNICATION ARTS FEATURE !
I am so excited that my work is featured in the one and only Communication Arts magazine. Please take a look at a newsstand near you or click the cover on the right for preview. Big thank you goes to Rebecca Bedrossian.
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FORMAT MAGAZINE INTERVIEW
New online interview is up now. I was able to talk about my serious obsessions with WNYC here, which was fun. Thank you Daniel Eckler, editor of Format, and writer Carmel Hagen. |
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April 12, 2008
YUKO "HEART"S PHILADELPHIA
Just got back from a few days stay in Philadelphia. Luckily, weather was perfect and I felt so fortunate having time to explore this beautiful old American city through a kind guide by Gina and Matt . Thank you for introducing me to fantastic chocolate and fantastic food!
Thank you again to everyone at The University of The Arts for a wonderful show (see April 3rd posting for the details), also for great turn out for the lecture and workshop. Talking to seniors one on one was fun as well. I will be back Philadelphia!!
Posted some of the photos from the show.
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April 3, 2008
| SEE YOU IN PHILADELPHIA NEXT WEEK! |
Done with your tax yet? (I finished it this week! Feel sooooo goooood!!!) Then, come spend an afternoon with me in Philadelphia next week.
I will be coming to The University Of The Arts next week for lectures, workshops and a gallery opening.
This event was made possible
though a kind invitation from Paul King, Matt Curtius, and everyone at the Illustration Department of UArts. Thank you thank you thank you.
> studio closing notice >
Because of this business trip, Yuko Shimizu studio will be closed from April 8th to 13th. I will be back to the studio on Monday, April 14th.
Thank you!
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March 28, 2008
TIGER in LONDON updates
Some of my friends in the UK, including Olivier Kugler, I Love Dust, and my British Agent Jules sent me some photos of how Tiger Beer posters and billboards are looking in London, so I wanted to share them with you.
It is exciting to see my drawings blown up that big. At the same time it doesn't seem real, because I am here in New York and I haven't actually seen them.
thank you so much guys for sending me these photos!!
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March 21, 2008
GOOD FRIDAY, ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY
Penelope Dullaghan is a Superwoman! She is a wonderful illustrator who illustrates full time, AND runs ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY on top of that to help young and aspiring illustrators. I am a full time illustrator myself, and trust me, I know how busy and crazy an illustrator's life can be.
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| About a month ago a client told me that Penelope recommended me to them. I had known her work, but we have never met or had any conversations before. How unbelievably nice of her to recommend someone she has never met?? So, I e-mailed to thank her, and we had a few correspondences, and then she asked me to be interviewed for her site. I have to say I am very very honored to be featured on this site run by this wonderful woman!! |
March 20, 2008
| UltimatePC IS AN ULTIMATE DREAM JOB |
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Another project I spent a lot of time on (This one, the whole month of December) has just come out. Please click on the above icon to see the whole project.
These five images were created in collaboration with Microsoft and its' new art and design site UltimatePC.
This was probably a closest to "the dream job" I could get as an illustrator. I was given complete freedom, Microsoft wanted me to create a series of five images, whatever I wanted to create! The only criteria was that I use the high-power Falcon FragBook PC (see the shiny red machine on the right) provided by the client.
I have to admit that there were a bit of initial "hick-ups", because I was completely illiterate in PC (= a long time MAC user). Now, I am a proud "bilingual" ... well, at least working on images on Photoshop. Tiger billboard images (please read below) were created on this machine as well.
This project was made possible with the help of Matt Rota as an assistant (not for too long, he is too talented..) , and LaptopMD. Thank you, thank you, thank you. |
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March 18, 2008
TIGER BEER AD CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF
If you are in London area, you may have seen some of these posters already.
Singaporean Tiger Beer's new advertising campaign kicked off officially on March 10th.
I spent almost all of the first two months of 2008 working on this campaign, often working 15-17 hours a day, 7 days a week, creating as many as 50 sketches. I am glad to see that they are now officially out, and so far, getting good responses.
This campaign will appear in six major UK cities. By June, you will see them blown up into billboards popping up here and there. Ad agency for this project is CHI and Partners.
I will post them to the illustration section soon along with all the other belated postings.
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For now, you can see larger size images and read about the details of the campaign through these links.
ADVERTOLOG
BRANDREPUBLIC
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March 17, 2008
March 16, 2008
HOW INTERNATIONAL DESIGN ANNUAL
HOW MAGAZINE's 2008 International Design Annual just came out.
3x3 MAGAZINE issue in which my work was featured has won Merit in Editorial Category (near right) . Yay!
Congratulations to Editor, Art Director and Designer Charles Hiverly, and everyone who worked on this issue including my dear friend Kai Kiuchi, photographer for my feature article.
To see a part of this issue where Yuko's work is featured, click on far right cover.
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March 10, 2008
BOOK SEASON IS HERE!
On the right are some recenly published books. How exciting, it feels like everything is coming out at the same time! Because of this, I quickly organized PRESS SECTION and added them as well as some old press and sample page spreads as links. Check it out.
YUKO DJ MAT ON SALE NOW
Also from A Nice Set, Yuko DJ mat is finally available for sale!!!! Too bad I don't own any vinyl..
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small SOLO SHOW IN PHILADELPHIA coming up
I am getting ready for a small solo show at The University of Arts in Philadelphia. I am going there for a few days in April for lecture, workshop and show reception. I will post more details about this show very soon. BIG thank you for "hands of gold' Brandon Welti for framing all my pieces PERFECTLY! |
March 7, 2008
I haven't updated illustration section in a while, I know. It is not that I haven't been working, it is just that a lot of the jobs I have been doing recently are not ready to be shown due to the contracts with my clients. So, plese stay tuned...
I posted series of mural images to my top page. They were actually created about two years ago. The library where the mural is supposed to go up is still under construction.
Some jobs just takes a long time to mature like that. I will make a page with all the mural panels very soon. |
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3x3 ANNUAL No.4 is HERE!
In the meantime, check out this cute young ILLUSTRATiON ANNUAL 3x3 (near right). I am loving this unpretentious annual filled with fresh talent, and so are my students at SVA.
I was honored to receive Gold Award (far right top) and Silver Award (far right bottom) this year. Big thank you to the judges and my art directors, Antonio De Luca of The Walrus Magazine and Chie Araki of MTV! |
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| YUKO HAS JOINED SKETCHTRAVEL |
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I have officially joined SKETCHTRAVEL, a traveling sketchbook drawn in by artists from around the world. Please read more about this interesting project on their site and on the blog. I received it from my former roommate James Jean (who lives in LA) when we met up in Atlanta two weeks ago. Tomer is next in the line. I will call you when I am done. |
February 27, 2008
My mail program crashed this morning. I have lost some of the incoming e-mails that were sent between last night and this afternoon. If you are expecting a reply from me but haven't heard back, I may not have gotten your message. Please e-mail me back again.
Big thanks to the guys from LaptopMD, all the data is recovered and my e-mail program is back and running again. Yay! |
February 20, 2008
YUKO IS AWAY
I am on a business trip to Atlanta, Georgia. I will be back to my studio on Monday, February 25th.
Have a good weekend. |
February 17, 2008
I have been working a lot. I mean, I always work a lot, but this is like an exceptionally a lot of a lot. For example, I drew from 9AM to 1:30AM straight in one day last week, which is about 16.5 hours. I don't even know how I did it. I was even sick, lost my voice a few times due to cold, and I am still working on curing my ulcer. Popping pills, spraying propolis. C'est la vie.
So anyway, I had not had chance to update my site since I went to Venice, but I am posting some news before taking off to another business trip this week. In fact, there are a lot of exciting news!! |
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STEFAN SAGMEISTER COLLABORATION IN HIS NEW BOOK
Of course Stefan Sagmeister has been my hero like any designer's dream. We have worked on a mural project together, which is still under construction in a public school in The Bronx here in New York.
Stefan 's latest book Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far (cover on right) features his recent projects as mini-books in a book form. Our mural project Everybody Who Is Honest Is Interesting is featured as one of them.
I will post the actual illustrations on this site soon. |
| SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS EDITORIAL SILVER MEDAL |
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Thank you Society of Illustrators for giving me a Silver Medal on the Editorial Category ( far left).
Also, American Illustration 25 cover has been accepted into the Book category (near left) .
Unfortunately I won't be around for the award ceremony on Friday, February 22nd. The show will be up till March 22nd.
Society of Illustrators is located at 128 East 63rd Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues) New York, NY 10021 |
ATLANTA ART FORUM
So, where would I be while the ceremony in NY is going on? I will be in the South. In Atlanta, Georgia for the fist time.
I will be participating in Savanna College of Art and Design's Atlanta Art Forum. The Thursday evening lecture event is open to public. Please contact SCAD for more details. |
MORE EXCITING NEWS from VENICE
FABULOUS COLORED PENCILS VENICE SHOW PHOTOS |
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Posting photos from Fabulous Colored Pencils show in Venice. (far left). Show was held in a beautiful modern space run by Italian publisher Mondadori, who happens to be my first Italian book cover client. Although I have done many book covers in past, it is always exciting to spot my cover in a book store abroad, especially when it is the cover for one of my favorite writer, Ryu Murakami. So I took a photo (center). |
NEXT SHOW IN ITALY?
The show may travel to another Italian city, beautiful Vicenza, in near future. I will keep you posted. The US illustrator team would love to make it to the opening!
WORKSHOP IN VENICE?
Also, Teatrio and I are working on possible illustration workshop in Venice in August. If it realizes I will post the details and application information. It will be open to anyone who is interested in studying illustration with me. Let's talk and make illustrations in one of the most beautiful cities in the world!!
For a teaser, please click on above right icon to see how beautiful Venice was... |
February 5, 2008
January 24, 2008
YUKO IS CURRENTLY AWAY
I am on a business trip abroad. I will be back to my studio on Monday, February 4th.
To prevent your message from getting lost in the pile of junk, please wait to call/e-mail until I am back. Thank you. |
January 20, 2008
January is already more than half way through! How is everyone? I am fighting a tough ulcer yet again (didn't I have this same time last year??), but otherwise doing OK. Just working a lot before taking off later this week.
As it is in my resolution, I have been working on updating my site more often, a bit at a time. Two new illos are added to ILLUSTRATION section today, and also this NEWS section got reorganized and a link button to Lost At E Minor (where I post random stuff occasionally) was added.
And here are other bigger news.. |
| AN EVENING OF TALK AT FIT on FEBRUARY 7th. come by, come by |
A legendary illustrator and chair of MFA Illustration Department at School of Visual Arts, Marshall Arisman is moderating a panel discussion about illustrators and our personal vision.
Panel members are: Nathan Fox, Eddie Guy, Sam Weber and myself.
This talk is organized by the Society of Publication Designers and held at Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City on February 7th.
For tickets and other info, please click on the on the right.
Please come by!
And.. big thank you to Debra Bishop!! |
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SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS SEQUENTIAL SHOW OPENS on January 29th
Annual Society of Illustrators competition show kicks off with sequential category on Tuesday, January 29th. Reception is open to public, 6PM to 9PM. The Society of Illustrators is located at 128 East 63rd Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues) New York, NY 10021-7303 |
I have two illustration series in this show. Thank you judges.
Thank you Jordan Poirier of Concrete Design of Canada for giving me an assignment that works with my obsession (space travel circa 1967). And thank you Jonathan Sellers of The Word Magazine of UK, and Matthew Ball of Scotland for choosing me for this monthly album cover project.
For other show schedule, see SHOW section.
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January 10, 2008
INTERVIEW IN A SINGAPOREAN MAGAZINE iSh
Singaporean design and architecture magazine iSh (near right) issue 8.5 has four page interview article on my work. Big thank you to all the nice people at iSh: Kelly Cheng, Vivian Toh and Frederic.
>> SHOWS OPENED IN NEW YORK AND VENICE >>
Artists Against War has opened at Society of Illustrators, New York last night. My piece is this.. (far right). I don't want people to think I was making fun.. Because most of the participants are male illustrators, I wanted to make my piece as feminine as possible. It is a fake perfume ad... |
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January 8, 2008
I AM BACK, well at least for next two weeks
Happy new year!
I am back from annual European-North American designers' retreat with Marcos, Thomas, Monika, Isabel, Thilo, Gary, Greg, Valentine, Bart, among others. It was fun, but also glad to be back in the USA.
I am leaving, though, yet again in about two and half weeks. Yikes.
ARTISTS AGAINST WAR OPENING TOMORROW NIGHT
At the Society of Illustrators. 128 East 63rd Street,
New York City 6-8PM.
I will have one new illustration in this show.
for more details, please check out
SHOW SECTION.
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