introducing greyscale

Greyscale, our nascent brand of stationery and products, was launched at Kapok’s new store on Thursday night. Press, family, friends and the usual suspects all showed up to drink, eat cupcakes and soak up some of owner Arnault’s rays of retail love on the Sun Street, joining neighbours such Sonjia, Chen Mi Ji and Vilebrequin.

Press walked off with one of our limited edition tote bags, but customers will also get one if they bag more than 200HKD worth of Greyscale goodies! Our current collection of notecards with names such as ‘Dandelion Storm’, ‘Lotus Lilies’ and ‘Sticks and Stones’ are available as assorted boxed sets retailing for 180HKD or single packs for 60HKD. Contact us for more details or join our list for further news, events and updates.

Greyscale now available at Kapok, 3 Sun Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong.

Popularity: 70% [?]

return of polaroid

i love polaroid & can’t be happier to see its return! after it’s discontinuation in 2007 - the pic1000 is the first model that will be reproduced. i collected a few instant cameras that i can’t wait to add 1 more to my collection.

What is more interesting i found related site to polaroid which sells very interesting film such as this one called fade to black! the effect is more than spooky but with a hint of artsy originality.

a bigger vision mission is set behind this polaroid concept - impossible project!
revival - revival!

Popularity: 41% [?]

merci the cool

read from NY Times about a new boutique in paris called merci! this store is quoted: (a) all the rage in Paris; (b) in the ultratrendy Marais district; (c) a “concept store” mixing fashion and design; and (d) one in which the profits go to charity. Like those Northwest pilots who accidentally flew 150 miles past their destination last fall, I was over it before I got there.

this is making my travel planning more exciting & ‘dilematic’ coz i have to struggle amongst where to go next! life is full of choices!

Popularity: 39% [?]

out of this world

These posters for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 by designer Simon Page were designed as self-promotional pieces but ended up being used by the organisation. Link via Creative Review.

Popularity: 64% [?]

enter the brave new world.

Whitespace has been working with CIPHER for the past two years, and the emerging footwear brand is re-launching on December 7. Be prepared to Enter the Brave New World.

Popularity: 66% [?]

You Win Some. You Lose Some.

Yesterday was bittersweet. Whitespace said bye to one of our team mates, Hebee. She joined the studio in 2006, and has seen the company sprout from a tiny shop to where we are now. Throughout the past three years, Hebee’s cheerfulness and resourcefulness helped us grow as a team. Her understanding of web development and motivation was a tremendous asset to a small studio. We will miss her and wish her all the best in her future career path!

In her words, “This is my pleasure that I can work for you and Whitespace, I believe Whitespace can be the best design studio in Hong Kong!! We will keep in touch because we are a big family!!! Even I am not in Whitespace but my SOUL and HEART will be here!!!”

So though it’s a sad day, we also had a bright moment when Whitespace picked up a Bronze Award from the HKDA Asia Design Awards in the New Media category for The Premiere Issues Project. The award presentation was held City Hall, and we were proud to be among some of the best designers in all of Asia, for a project we still love and believe in since we began it in 2002.

Popularity: 57% [?]

The historical significance and the architectural qualities of the Former Married Police Headquarters inspired WHITESPACE to curate an exhibition centered around space — both physical and intangible, and to celebrate the diversity and creativity in Hong Kong’s thriving art and design community. Titled “YOU ARE HERE”, WHITESPACE invited 80 creatives to contribute artwork to a group show about charting journeys, visualizing stories, plotting out dreams and surveying landscapes. Whether real or imaginary, distorted or accurate, descriptive or abstract, these individual maps will be gathered and displayed as one large piece to form a collective plan of creative energies.

Artists include graphic designers from WHITESPACE, graffiti artist and painter L1ES ONE, illustrator Emily Eldridge, designer and artist Kate Barnett, GRAPHICAIRLINES, designer and artist Yuki Holland, painter and sculptural artist, Roy Man and graphic designer and illustrator Sum-Sum Tse, amongst many more.

‘YOU ARE HERE’ explores where you are on a ‘map’. Where you are in time. Where you are at this moment. Where we are, as a group, in Hong Kong.

Popularity: 67% [?]

reebok pump x juice

It’s hard to believe but the Reebok Pump is 20 years old! To celebrate the anniversary, Reebok asked a number of stores around the world to re-interpret the classic including Colette, Atmos, Undefeated and HUF. The shop they chose in Hong Kong is JUICE — which is run by my cousin Kevin who’s also responsible for CLOT Inc, his growing streetwear empire. Their version of the shoe looks like this. Here are some photos of the party at JUICE which included a lot of local stars, Vitamin Water, a lot of neon and a lot of Pumps.

Popularity: 67% [?]

premiere issues on SPD.org

The Society of Publication Designers has posted up our interview about our Premiere Issues Project. It’s a great write-up and we’re grateful to Robert Newman for taking the time to contact me. Here’s the full interview for those who want to read a bit more about the project:-

1) When did you start the site?

The first version of the site went up in 2002. I was living in New York back then, and working as a web designer. With some help, I designed and built a very basic site, and posted around 60 or so covers I had. Then people started contacting me, and submitting their first issues. As a young designer with little experience with the internet, this was a thrill.

2) What was your motivation in starting the site?

I guess I was eager to explore this medium of the web; I was a graphic designer and my first job out of university was in this field. I was working on fairly large and complex websites for financial institutions and record labels, but I was interested in the niche sites that were also sprouting up — the ones that were dedicated to a single passion or focus.

I had already amassed a collection of first issues, and I thought it would be fun to share these with others. I love documenting and clearly I love communication and design. The site is my tribute to all the hard work and energy that goes into the creation of a magazine. The positive feedback and response I’ve received from the site fuels the project and keeps it going.

3) How do you update the site? Do you do all the research yourself?

The site was re-designed in 2008, and developed by Whitespace, the studio I started in 2004. We kept the archive format but added new features such as sort and search functions, and created a CMS platform so that all the submissions and updates are easy to manage. We’ve now got over 217 covers, and continue to get a couple new magazines each month. A lot of our friends and fans know we collect first issues, so every so often we’ll get a package of them, or an email telling us about a launch.

The best part is still the hunt. It’s become a habit now. I can’t walk into a bookshop or an airport newsstand without scanning the racks for an ‘01’ or ‘premiere issue’ or ‘launch issue’. Sometimes I’ll contact the editor or ask friends to look out for a certain magazine. Earlier this year I arrived in London, and finally found Katie Grand’s LOVE magazine after hitting 3 cornershops in Notting Hill.

4) What is your own design background? Are you a magazine designer?

I have always loved magazines, and have worked as a designer and contributor on a few titles, but ultimately I have chosen to pursue design in other ways. I graduated from Parsons School of Design with joint degrees in communication design and writing, and naturally thought I would work in publishing or print. But the internet lulled all of us into the industry, and after 8 years in New York, I moved back to Hong Kong and set up Whitespace. We are now a team of 10 and we design brand identities and websites for clients, both here and abroad. We’re growing steadily but we take time to do our own projects — such as Premiere Issues — because this is where we have the most fun. We exhibited The Premiere Issues Project last year, and hope we can do a few more events or fun things surrounding this idea in the future.

Check out 10 of our personal favourites and highlights from the collection at SPD.org.

Popularity: 61% [?]

twins.

Our friend Tommy from Dita happened to be in town last Wednesday, and Martin from AOC invited the gang to Isola for a birthday dinner — which included Shin from Madhouse Gallery, Suitman & Julia, Davy, Judd & Lindsay from OnPedder and Hanjin. Dinner was great, and it wasn’t until afterwards we realized that Tommy and Suitman looked like identical twins!

Popularity: 49% [?]