//David Carson

David Carson is principal and chief designer of David Carson Design, Inc. He describes his work as subjective, being driven by intution and experimentation in different ways of communication in a variety of mediums. Carson's first book, with Lewis Blackwell, The End of Print, (forward by David Byrne) is the top selling graphic design book of all time, selling over 200,000 copies, and printed in 5 different languages. He has two recently released books, TREK and The Book of Probes with Marshall McLuhan. David is also art director for the Mcluhan estate ("the medium is the message"). Carson lectures extensively throughout the world, as well as at colleges throughout the U.S., including Cranbrook, ARTcenter, Notre dame, RISD and Cal Arts. In the past few years, Carson has branched out into film and television to direct commercials and videos. He directed the launch commercials for Lucent technologies and teamed up with William Burroughs in Carson's short film, "The End of Print". He also collaborated with Harvard Business School professor John Kao on a documentary entitled "The Art and Discipline of Creativity." David designed the worldwide branding campaign for Microsoft in 1998, as well as the worldwide advertising for Giorgio Armani (Milan). He has appeared in advertisements endorsing Apple Computers, Samsung monitors and various paper companies. Carson has art directed and designed Surfer, twSkateboarding, twSnowboarding, Beach Culture, and Ray Gun magazines. He has an extensive list of international clients: Nine Inch nails, Toyota, Microsoft, Quiksilver, Meg Ryan, David Byrne, Bush, Pepsi, and Xerox. He currently serves as Creative Director for the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston.

//Hue Visualab

Hue Visual Lab is a Malaysian broadcast design, animation and effects studio. Specializing in live action compositing, Hue Visual Lab has gotten International attention for their amazingly crafted and dynamic motion graphics. They have been featured in Computer Arts Magazine UK and was recently awarded the world gold in the 2008 PromaxIBDA Design Award. Their clients include Disney Channel Singapore, Panasonic, Pavilion and MTV Asia.

//HExa project

Hexa project is a group of individuals who organize a variety of art and design events. Comprising of 15 members from 4 different organizations: Moving Images, Advertising, Design Planning/Production and an Alternative Art Space, Hexa Project's broad range of interests and design sensibilities have culminated in a series of art exhibitions and design projects in Japan and abroad. The concept of Hexa Project is derived from Hexagonal geometry. Producer Kume Hideyuki and curator Omori Hisami liken Hexa project to an aggregate of hybrid expressions that overlap and link Art and Design, like in the pattern of a hexagram. The goal of the Hexa Project is to bring together people from different different genres and work together beyond languages and borders. They say, "the Hexa project converges, exchanges, and spreads throughout the world like infinite radiation, producing a hybrid creative scene."

//umeric

Umeric is a Sydney based cross-media design agency and a creative-driven production studio. Headed by the New Zealand born duo of Director Ash Bolland and Producer Von Dekker, Umeric's work revolve around the fields of film making, commercials and music videos. Their projects have included a television commercial for Royal Elastic's Feilfri shoe, conceptualizing clips and environmental themes for MTV Australia, an animated music video for the band Salmonella Dub and for MTV again, rebranding and directing their channel identities and print materials. Their passion for motion graphics is apparent in their exquisitely rendered works. Umeric professes that motion graphics convey ideas in the most upfront and interesting way possible. Of their work, Umeric say, "We enjoy creating projects with a strong simple concept. Our concepts range from moody and dark to fun and cute, and are always very detailed so people can spend some time with them."

//JL Design

JL Design is founded by Johnason Lo, a designer born in Japan and who blossomed Taiwan. Working with motion graphics, print and illustration, JL is an art director who is known for his conceptual designs and for his branding acumen. JL belief, "Boundless expression, endless design", is reflected in his work where the possibilities are infinite. His print and motion graphics work reveal a love for Asian pop culture and romantic expression, executed with flawless technical expertise. His clients include MTV, Discovery Channel, HBO, Cinemax and Channel V. He has just won both the IF Design Award China this year, as well as the reddot Design Award 2008. Johnason has also won several Promaxbda awards and is widely recognized in the Asia Pacific broadcast Industry as one of the best designers in the field.

//Studio4°c

Koji Morimoto is founder of leading Japanese animation studio, STUDIO 4°C. As one of Japan’s premiere anime directors, at KLDW09, he will speak about his anticipation of his latest animation, " “Genius Party Beyond - ‘Jigen Bakudan’, as well as his creative work. To date, Morimoto-san has worked on the TV series “Tomorrow's Joe 2” as a grunt animator, and as animation director Katsuhiro Otomo’s “Akira” in addition to many other Anime works before he founded STUDIO 4°C with producer Eiko Tanaka and fellow animator Yoshiharu Sato. He has also directed several provocative and pioneering animation works, from the music clip “Extra” for Ken Ishii to anime films like “Noiseman Sound Insect”, “Eternal Family” and“The Animatrix - ‘Beyond’”. Besides working as a motion graphic artist, Morimoto-san also works as an illustrator, DJ and director of live videos.

//Tokyo Plastic

At the fore front of vector art, flash and animation is Tokyoplastic, a duo from the United Kingdom who have their tentacles firmly grasped on Japanese culture, art and design. Sam Layon Jones and Andrew Cope are the heart and soul of Tokyoplastic. Like their moniker suggest, both have a passion for all things Japanese, and plastic. Stylistically super clean cut and cute, Tokyoplastic's inspirations include Takashi Murakami, Miyazaki and Mike Judge. Before embarking on Tokyoplastic, Sam was a full time photographer and Andrew an industrial designer with a computer game background. Giving up their conventional careers for the pursuit of their passion has proven to be golden move, for their animation shorts and website design have seen them winning fans and the awards at the Flash film festival and the FWA. Their animation short, The Electric Koi, which premiered this year is a testament that Tokyoplastic are at the top of their game. The journey of the Electric Koi is full of vivid and surreal impressions and technically flawless. Apart from their animation output, Tokyoplastic's vinyls and toys are also highly sought after online. On the commercial side, Tokyoplastic has created ads for MTV and Mitsubishi. The trailer for their next film, "The Praying Machine" is now viewable on their website, and only makes one anticipate what visual delights Tokyoplastic has in store for us in the future.

//RUNE ENTERTAinment

Rune Entertainment is an animation and visual effects studio operating in Canada and Singapore. Their credo is using spectacle to support the story, not to replace it. Concept and Narrative driven, their output include creating animation IDs for Lemon Films, Mitsubishi, character design for Journey to the Center of the Earth and collaborations with RubberPixel to create visuals for the game Need for Speed. In the SuperMotion conference, Director, Creative Development Paul Wollenzien and Art Director Peter Nalli of Rune Entertainment will discuss using visuals to convey meaning, as well as go into the concepts and process behind some of Rune entertainment's key animations.

//director kobayashi

Kobayashi is a director with an impressive portfolio in live-action and animation.Previously involved with major brands Diesel and Carlsberg, he has worked recently as a 2D compositor on movies such as Hellboy II and The Golden Compass.

His work has been featued on many international magazines and blogs (Computer Arts Projects, Go Motion, Boards Magazine web site, Shots Cut & Paste, etc.)

//MU

KLDW is proud to present as one of it's keynote speakers, Angelique Spaninks. Spaninks was previously a critic and editor at Eindhovens Dagblad and is co-author of the Ari Marcopoulos, Flow, Selected Photographs 1982 - 2006. Currently, Spaninks is Director of MU, a contemporary art museum in Eindhoven which has commissioned, curated and produced exhibitions featuring some of the world's most influential artists, designers, film-makers and musicians. These include Swoon, Miranda July, Kim Gordon, Susan Cianciolo and D-Fuse. She is also the commissioned curator for Neubauism - The first solo exhibition by Neubau Berlin.

Shaping an exciting and vibrant art and visual culture with is both experimental, challenging and thought provoking is Spaninks's job. MU zooms on the hybrid here, now and later of visual culture. Combining an energetic mix of design, fashion, music, architecture and new media, which is what contemporary art is, MU has become a meeting place and inspirational breeding ground for creative Eindhoven, the Netherlands and the world.

//Kuntzel + Deygas

Add a dog is the animation studio that gave to the world the irresistible team of dogs, Caperino and Peperone. Founded by the French duo Kuntzel and Deygas, their work is described by them as, "Drawing + motion + photo + objects + video + print + dance + set design + CG effects." Having created digital video work since 1990, their approach to animation is a hands on and refreshing one. Combining classical tools and systems with real drawings, objects and animation, their work, as they say, "jump from simplicity to sophistication." Kuntzel and Deygas are also the creators of Com-Pet, a virtual dog to facilitate communicationin places where dogs are not allowed. Their vibrant characters and animation have been utilized bythe likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Toyota HSBC Bank, Nokia and MTV.

//IDN Magazine

Add a dog is the animation studio that gave to the world the irresistible team of dogs, Caperino and Peperone. Founded by the French duo Kuntzel and Deygas, their work is described by them as, "Drawing + motion + photo + objects + video + print + dance + set design + CG effects." Having created digital video work since 1990, their approach to animation is a hands on and refreshing one. Combining classical tools and systems with real drawings, objects and animation, their work, as they say, "jump from simplicity to sophistication." Kuntzel and Deygas are also the creators of Com-Pet, a virtual dog to facilitate communicationin places where dogs are not allowed. Their vibrant characters and animation have been utilized bythe likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Toyota HSBC Bank, Nokia and MTV.

//Chris Bosse

Born in 1971 in Stuttgart, Chris Bosse was educated in Germany and Switzerland and worked in several European architecture firms. His postgraduate degree at the University of Stuttgart dealt with the implication of virtual worlds into architecture. With www.smoarchitektur.com (Mad Oreyzi) he developed the Bubble-Highrise for Berlin in 2002 (a+u 05:01). Since 2003 he has been working with PTW Architects in Sydney on many high-profile projects in China, Vietnam and Middle East. PTW has recently started a number of projects in various parts of Japan. The project for the National Swimming Center for Beijing 2008, called the Watercube, received the Atmosphere Award at the 9th Venice Biennale and is under construction since 2004. The MOËT Marquee in Melbourne explored his interest in unusual structures in a freeform interior based on the physics of champagne bubbles and minimal surfaces. The work is widely published and Chris guest-lectures at various universities.

//Stefan Sagmeister

Stefan Sagmeister is one of the most important graphic designers in today's design world. His work has been hailed as influential, iconic and original, often marked with his unique sense of black humor and offset with simple, but striking D-I-Y esque techniques. His graphic design education was completed at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and later, at the Pratt Institute in New York under a Fullbright scholarship. Sagmeister has worked with a diverse set of clients, from designing album covers for Lou Reed, David Byrne and the Rolling Stones to working on branding, packing and graphics for The Guggenheim Museum, AIGA Detroit, Adobe, Time Warner and HBO. Today, Austrian born Sagmeister heads his own design firm in New York, Sagmeister Inc.

//Shun Kawakami

Based in Tokyo, Shun Kawakami is an artist and graphic designer who co founded artless Inc. in 2000. Artless work in various fields of design and media, from print, web, installation, video, interactive works, graphic arts and design, they are also active in organizing and curating exhibitions. In addition to art direction and working as a designer, Kawakami also involves himself in artistic projects, exhibiting internationally interactive media installations and graphic art works. His awards include Adobe motion award in Japan and the 86th ADC award in New York. He is also a member of New York ADC as well as the Japan Graphic Design Association.

//supernature

Supernature is a Shanghai based design company working in multi disciplines of design, founded by Lin Yew, Billy Wen Hao and Yeoh Guan Hong. Supernature specializes in media technology, interactive design and visual communications. Their works are born out of the challenges of experimentation in new media, computing and new technologies. They believe that the definition of good design is, "Creating moments of engagement." Of their philosophy, they say, "Experience is the totality of the cognitions given by perception; all that is perceived, understood, and remembered. It refers to encountering situations, conditions, etc., in life, or to having certain sensations or feelings." Supernature's work is a response to passive media such as print and television advertisements whose messages and information the viewer has learnt to ignore. Supernature's work encourages the flow of the audience's emotions, memories and ideas while interacting with their work. Their clients include Coke and Nike.

//Troika

UK based design Trio Troika is founded in 2003 by Conny Freyer, Eva Rucki and Sebastien Noel who met while studying at the Royal College of Art in London. Troika has since gotten wide attention for a number ingenious projects, which have been described as subversive and thought provoking. They say, "Our approach focuses on the contamination between the arts and design disciplines and is born out of the same love for simplicity, playfulness, and an essential desire for provocation." Case in point is their 2005 project, "Tool for Armchair Activists", an installation born out of a response to the British government's ban on "unauthorized" protests outside the Houses of Parliament. This installation featured a machine that received comments, complaints and protests against this ban via SMS, which then transferred and read out the messages from a megaphone directed at the very location where the law makers banned the protests. People have sat up and taken note. Troika has been commissioned by Artwise Curators to create a signature piece, 'Cloud', located at the entrance of the new British Airways luxury lounges in Heathrow Terminal 5. This fascinating sculpture utilizes Flip-dots that were commonly used in the 70's and 80s for signage. Currently, Troika is exhibiting their 'SMS Guerrilla Projector' at ExperimentalDesign Amsterdam. This home made device is another interactive tool with the potential for empowering the individual, by allowing the user to project text based SMS messages in public spaces, or wherever the user wishes. Troika have also put out a book this year, "Digital by Design : Crafting Technology for Products and Environments."

//Jackson Tan

Jackson Tan is the co-founder of award winning Singaporean design studio, Black Design, which specializes in branding, design and typography. Jackson has worked on and co-published books and design, and has been invited to lecture and speak at various international design conferences and events. Jackson has also curated 20/20, an ongoing documentation and exhibition of the creative offerings of Singaporean designers. The 20/20 exhibition has been showcased in New York and London. He has also curated the Utterubbish exhibition at the Singapore Design Festival this year, bringing together international designers for the purpose of drawing more attention towards the environmental damage that our escalating consumption is causing mother earth.He is also an executive committee member of the Designers Association of Singapore.

//Aya Kato

Aya Kato's meticulous and lush illustrations will be on exhibition for the first time in Asia, at KL Design Week. Her beautifully rendered imagery, rich with traditional Japanese symbolism married with elements of Art Nouveau, Manga and Pop Art, has won her many fans, and international acclaim. Kato's works have been exhibited widely in Spain, the U.S, Romania and Brazil. Aye Kato studied Graphic Design at the Aichi University and is a self taught painter. Beginning her career as an illustrator upon graduation, she has to date worked on projects for Microsoft Zune, Tori Amos and Hitachi. For the duration of KLDW, audiences will be able to view the finest collection of Kato's work, selected by the artist herself, at the National Art Gallery Malaysia. These artworks have been printed on special Soft White Cotton paper in Amsterdam, and will last for 70 years. In addition, Kato will be launching at KLDW, a collection of her artwork in a limited edition book.

//Graham Perkins

Growing up during the hippy era, Graham quickly got the bug to get out of school and pick up his guitar and play. A graphic designer by day, popstar by night, Graham was heavily influenced by the sights and sounds of London during the 70's and 80's, further developing his creative skills along the way. Graham came to Asia in 1996 and has had the pleasure to continue his creative approach to life working at Adobe, Apple, MTV, Republic Polytechnic and is now Director, Business Development for Rune Entertainment.

//Sweden Graphics

Nille Svensson was educated at the Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and design in Stockholm. He has worked as a Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Animator with his partner of Sweden Graphics, Magnus Astrom. Their clients include H&M, MTV, Sony, Ebay and Wolkswagen. Their work has appeared in numerous design magazines and design books all over the world. They are also co-founders of publishing house Pocky and swedish art magazine Konstnären.Nille is also a teacher of design and his popular lectures have taken him to far away places such as Tijuana and Sydney, to the joy of workshopaholics everywhere. He believes that the Gods speak through him through his design.

//Felix Ng

Felix Ng is the art director and founder of SILNT, a Singapore based design studio whose diverse range of services include brand development, art direction, to curatorial direction and creating graphic art for independent stores, cultural institutions and publishing labels. The name SILNT represents it's design philosophy, minimal in style, yet rich in impressions. Apart from his work in building impressionable brands and helping creative business to grow, Felix is also passionate about identifying and working with today's finest creative talents. Collaborations include exhibitions, publications and installations which relate to the Avant Garde and popular culture, blurring the lines between art and design. Felix has lately curated Dual City Sessions, a collaboration between Singaporean and Japanese artists and designers which was exhibited at DesignTide Tokyo and the Singapore Design Festival.

//Heath Nash

Heath Nash, a South African designer who graduated from Cape Town University with a degree in sculpture transforms trash into treasure. A crusader of recycling, Nash finds and creates beauty in unlikely places. Collecting and using plastic bottles , caps and other discarded materials, Nash and his team creates funky lampshades and other lifestyle products. He also employs local artisans and crafts people, creating a local industry that generates income for people, revives traditional craft methods while infusing a contemporary element. Recently, Nash was nominated to represent South Africa as a young design entrepreneur for the British Council's young design entrepreneur award in England. Apart from an exhibition, Nash will be demonstrating to the Malaysian audience how his unique and environmentally friendly works are made.

//the center for creative communications (CCC)

With the key words: Contemporary, Creative & Communication, "the center for creative communications (CCC)" introduces imaginative works from the creative industry through events and educational programs, and aims to stimulate collaborations between Shizuoka industry and creatives from Japan as well as the world.  It is an incubation and education facility for creatives in all design disciplines and is housed in a renovated elementary school located across from the former castle grounds of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Creatives from around Japan and the world are invited to CCC to conduct seminars, workshops, as well as exhibitions. There are also 10 rental studio spaces where budding creatives, regardless of nationality, can work and receive advice from expert staff.  Meeting rooms, exhibit spaces, presentation rooms and Hi-Vision video editing facilities & equipment are also available for public use. 

Through the discovery, learning and interaction of new expressions, visitors & users will experience the trends of contemporary creativity.  CCC is aiming for a "Creative City Shizuoka".

//Nathalie Fallaha

Culture, Language, Identity and Design

Nathalie Fallaha peers into the heart of what makes up visual culture and language in her home city of Beirut. With a rich culture stepped in complex layers various influences, Fallaha's observations of her society's structures, languages and lifestyles are expressed through projects, which seek to visualize the environments that make up Lebanon. Fallaha is also head of Graphic design studio Vit-e, whose main focus is communication. Vit-e works with identity systems, branding and corporate identities, packaging design, motion graphics, web design and development. Currently, Fallaha is working on the branding identity of the Beirut Art Centre.