Posts from — February 2008

Buy a Beijing 2008 Tangram poster. Designed by HDR Visual Communication.

Beijing Tangram poster on BaselineMagazine.com

Technorati Tags: Beijing, Beijing 2008 Tangram poster, China, design, posters, HDR Visual Communication, tangram

Check out Chinese artist Ling Jian’s work. It looks good and deals straight up with issues concerning Communism and the role of women in a changing Chinese society.

“Ling Jian studied painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, moving shortly thereafter to Germany where he still lives and works. He has exhibited extensively in Germany and throughout Europe (FIAC, Art RAI Amsterdam). His work was included in the group exhibition, Scent of a Woman which traveled to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

“Having gained prominence with his series entitled, ‘Communist Sister’, Ling Jian has explored the evolution of Chinese cultural identity as symbolized in many of his fantastical images. The women, depicted in a provocative and highly sexual style, are at odds with the conservative and rational reality of the true Communist female soldier. In creating this hypothetic, and very clearly contradictory set of images, Ling Jian addresses the wider issues at stake for the Chinese people, and in particular, the role of women in this changing society.”

Via Paintalicious

Technorati Tags: China, Chinese artists, Communism, female soldiers, Ling Jian

Here’s a witty pencil concept, if maybe a little too easy to take apart, by Japanese product designer, Yuta Watanabe.

From Yuta’s site: “Peg Pencil is my interpretation of the mechanical pencil. Through intuition and our understanding of objects, we realise its intentions.”

More on Yuta’s website

Via Notebookism

Technorati Tags: design, Japan, peg pencil, product design, Yuta Watanabe

Here are some slightly unnecessary eggs shaped into Hello Kitty faces. Unnecessary unless you’re a fanatical Hello Kitty fan of course.

If these looked really cute like Hello Kitty bento, I can understand, but these?

Via KittyHell.com

Technorati Tags: boiled eggs, cuisine, Hello Kitty, hello kitty eggs

I’m not wanting to promote smoking, but I did find this product, which combines a mobile phone with a cigarette case, a little intriguing. I think its a bizarre combination and am wondering how it came to market! Only in China I guess..

Not only does this look like a pack of cigarettes (the exact size and with the exact warning labels concerning health), it actually holds half a pack of REAL cigarettes on the back.

All you need to do is to slide open the battery cover and you’re set to make new friends. The phone itself runs on dualband GSM, takes microSD cards, plays MP3, has a color screen and a VGA camera on the side.

For $175 you will get a whole luxurious VIP kit with the phone, a pack of Chonghwa branded cigarettes as well as a lighter.

Via Neatorama

Technorati Tags: China, cigarette pack, mobile phone, products

A teenager from Basingstoke has become an overnight pop sensation in the Far East after posting a video of herself singing online.

Rebecca Strachan, 19, from Aster Road, Kempshott, Basingstoke, was catapulted to attention when she uploaded a video of her and a friend singing in Korean on the popular video-sharing website YouTube:

Since it went live in November, the video has received more than 130,000 hits and led to record executives offering the pair the chance to go to the South Korean capital Seoul for a series of gigs.

She said: “I can’t believe the amount of interest we’ve received in Korea and the whole thing seems like a dream. When I posted the video, I was totally unprepared for all the attention.”

Rebecca discovered Asian music in 2003 after searching for the soundtrack to her favourite computer game Final Fantasy.

More on the Basingstoke Gazette

Via Neatorama

Technorati Tags: Korean, music, Rebecca Strachan

Here’s a cool little Lego diorama of Batman vs. Ninjas, courtesy of Flickr user “Big Daddy” Nelson.

From Flickr via Neatorama

Technorati Tags: Batman, Lego, ninjas, toys

For a nostalgic look (depending on where you’re from), get one of these old fashion print Chinese Rice Totes.

It has a cotton outer, leather handle, strong popper mounted on leather and plastic lining with zipped internal pocket. It also measures 44cm (w) x 15cm (d) x 40cm (h) excluding handle and you can get one at Pedlars.

Chinese Rice Tote on Pedlars.co.uk

Via Popwuping

Technorati Tags: Chinese, Chinese Rice Totes, fashion, nostalgic prints