PLUS REVIEWS,FASHION & MORE

KAWAII

Pincinc Bow Hairclips $10 // IceCream love charm bracelet - Kuki Shop - Etsy $34.89 // Chuck Taylor Neon Pink Platforms - Pat Menzies $150.00 // Tokidoki Heart XBones T-Shirt $44.00 // Kawaii Easter Chick Plush Accessory - Ninja Bears for Cuteland $10 // Bubblebone Jumper - Fairytale Boutique // Pink Hime Decora Heart Shaped Bag - Fairytale boutique // GUNGIRL Crewneck - OMOCAT // Shark Bag - The Rodnik Band 79.00 // Small Pebbles Hairbones - The Yellow Brick Road $16.00 // Bedrock Bones Dounut Bracelet - The Yellow Brick Road $35.00 // --> pictures Kyary Kyary Pamyu / pintrest kawaii girl (prices may differ due to currency exchange, items are in random order.)

Firstly can you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

Artist name is Miss Zukie, I'm currently in NYC. I'm the creator of the Designer Toy (Zukie).

What work do you produce?

I'm produce different types of artwork from 2D to 3D. Painting ,drawing and sculptures.Materials I use - pencil, markers, acrylic etc.I sell all originals and prints. My own designer toy released in 2012. Zukie has been all over the world.

What inspires your work?

What inspired me was another artist Fabio Napoleoni. His artwork made me want to create my own character.

How long have you been drawing?

It been 4 years since years that Zukie was created. Selling would be 2 years. I've been drawing for most of my life.

How did you get started in what you do?

It all started when I was 5yrs old. From then on I draw and paint anything I think of.

What is the cutest thing in your life?

I would I have to say the cutest thing in my life would be my (SugarGlider)

What are your plans for the future?

Going back to Grad school to become a professor . Also continue on with Zukie and making it world wide.

Where can we find your work?

Instagram: Zukie_ArtFacebook: Zukie ArtTwitter: Zukie_artStore: www.zukies.net

Firstly can you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

My name is Tara Douglas, Im 25 and I am an artist living in Christchurch, New Zealand. Im currently studying a Master of Fine Arts degree.

When did you first know you wanted to be an artist?

I wanted to be an artist since I was really young, I come from a very artistic family so Ive always been surrounded by art and creativity.

What attracted you to live in Japan?

Since I was young I had many friends from Japan, so I wanted to visit Japan and experience Japanese culture.

What inspired you most about Japanese culture during your time there? Everything was so inspiring to me living in Japan, its such a dramatic contrast to life in New Zealand. I experienced extreme culture shock and I used this as a source of inspiration in my work when I returned to New Zealand. I was particularly inspired by Japanese kawaii cute culture, and the reason why it has become so popular. I also learnt traditional paper making and origami techniques, so my works are made individually by hand from paper.

How does that translate in your latest piece?

My recent works focus on kawaii culture, and how cute, overtly positive works can be viewed in a different context such as Christchurch city, post-earthquakes. My latest works feature the sakura flower (Japanese cherry blossom). These works are very bold and colourful.

What is the cutest thing in your life?

It would have to be my art studio, its so bright and pink, its quite overwhelming for most people. All of the walls are covered in photographs from Japan, souvenirs, inspiration, and experiments.

What are your plans for the future?

I would like to travel and exhibit my work more in the future.

Where can we find your work?

I have an artist page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tdouglasartAnd a blog: http://tdouglasphotography.blogspot.co.nz

Firstly can you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

I'm Courtney, I am 1/2 of the design company Bored Inc. and I author the TokyoBunnie blog. I live in San Francisco with my snoring bulldog, Bella!

What work do you produce?

Bored Inc. creates original characters and produces an extensive line of products. We have tees, baby clothing, bags, magnets, jewelry, plush dolls, art prints and more. Most of what we create is done in Adobe Illustrator, but we also love to craft things by hand, like appliques and plushies.

What inspires your work?

I am inspired by so many things! Amazing artists like Miss Van and Junko Mizuno, kawaii culture, our friends in the art community, and cute animals (I recently became obsessed with the story of Jessica the hippo in South Africa- go watch all her videos for your daily cute fix!)

How long have you been creating/drawing/designing/selling?

I've been creating, drawing and sewing my whole life! Growing up, my mom was an artist, so our household was always very creative. Professionally, I've been a designer for nearly seventeen years.

How did you get started in what you do?

When I was in high school, I designed a type of washable marker for your skin that looked like mehndi. My mom and I started a business around it and we sold it with a book of designs. Soon, stores were asking for our designs on other products, and that's how we got started. For about seven years, we only created artwork for other companies to use on their products, but about ten years ago we decided we wanted to make our own characters and products, and that's how we decided to create Bored Inc.

What is the cutest thing in your life?

My dog! Hands down. She sleeps with her tongue out and her butt wiggles whenever she sees me!

What are your plans for the future?

We want to continue to create fun, new products for Bored Inc. We have also been involved in helping small companies get off the ground and launch their products. We help with illustration, design, branding, marketing- any aspect of the business where we may be able to lend our expertise. It's fun to work on new projects while also adding new stuff to the Bored Inc. collection!

Where can we find your work?

Our items are available in stores around the world! Check our website for a complete list. You can also buy from us online, at www.boredinc.net

Firstly can you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

Hello! My name is Richard aka PodgyPanda. New Zealand born and bred, i'm a full time artist, illustrator, painter, doodler and food critic (not really, but I sure do eat a lot).

What work do you produce?

My main specialty is illustrative works, reproducing my drawings as limited edition prints and into 3d products such as laser-engraved goods. I dabble in painting (not very good at it) so the odd canvas/DIY figure too.

What inspires your work?

My other artist friends. I'm fortunate enough to have friended so many talented people, and seeing their work inspires me to keep creating. Plus some stiff competition never hurts ;)

How long have you been designing?

I've been drawing ever since I could remember, but doing this Podgy Panda thang fulltime since 2007.

How did you get started with Podgy Panda?

I spent 3 years studying at Animation College of NZ in a degree of 2D animation (pencil/paper all the way!). It really helped sculpt my processes I use today.

What is the cutest thing in your life?

Baby sloth wearing pajamas. (note; whilst I don't own a baby sloth, I do own Pajamas).

What are your plans for the future?

I've a few solo shows in America over the next couple of years, hoping to expand into the American market. Pretty keen to keep chugging along and sharing my ideas and silly drawings with anyone who wants to listen :).

Where can we find your work?

My portfolio is at www.podgypanda.com, shop at www.podgypanda.bigcartel.com and on various social medias. www.twitter.com/podgypanda, www.facebook.com/podgypandaart @podgypanda on instagram!

You may remember a little review I did in CuteZine issue #2, of a very cool virtual pet app for smartphones, called Kawaii Pet Megu.

One of my most favourite apps of all time, I played this game every day, petting, feeding and playing games with my Megu, whose name was Chibi. Until one day a message appeared on the welcome screen, we regret to inform you that we will be closing Kawaii Pet Megu and disconnecting the service on November 28, 2013 4.00pm (JST)

I went through a range of emotions, sad, angry, confused, angry and really really pissed off! I have never been so attached to a game before, so I was surprised with my reaction. I found that I wasnt alone, I visited many of my Megu friends in the last days and found that many of them were very upset megu was closing its doors. The chalkboards were overrun with tributes and stories about how much Megu had meant to a lot of people over the years.

RIP Chibi

Why would they stop this app? It was super successful, #1 app in Japan 2010, it had over 1 million downloads. It had to be making money from the multiple in game items for sale. This was completely out of the blue for the users that had supported Megu for many years. Many users have asked the company Gree (who own the app), is there another way? But so far there has been no response. A petition was created to try and keep the app running, even providing alternatives to shutting down, like creating an offline version. Here is a link to the petition.

www.change.org/petitions/gree-inc-keep-the-kawaii-pet-megu-app-running-or-offer-an-offline-version

I decided to research the company further (googled them), but being a foreign business, I found it difficult to gather much information on the Japanese company Gree. The Megu app was created by feyman, a subsidiary of Gree. Their Facebook page is littered with disgruntled gamers, not only with Megu but other games, people discussing the bad customer service and regulation of in game dialogue.

Many of the megu fans are still in support of Megu and a lot of the online information pages for megu have now become memorial pages, for owners of megu to share their memories and fan art.

To conclude my article, all I can say is I WANT MEGU BACK, IT WAS SO AWESOME AND COOL, WHY WAS IT TAKEN AWAY! WHY! I PLAYED WITH MY MEGU CHIBI EVERYDAY AND LOVED HER AND CARED FOR HER :(

by jenna

This is my first time reviewing a proper game and its a really good one too ^_^ I love any game that is all about customising so this came highly recommend to me and its easy to see why. (oh by the way I am a casual gamer.)

This is my first time playing Animal Crossing New Leaf, my husband traded in a bunch of 3DS games to get it for me >__< (sorry bells)The tent customising is a little difficult but with practice Im sure it will get easier. I have had to google a few things and I found out that you bang rocks to get money and stuff and you take your things to the super cute lama lady Reese at the recycle shop!

Check out this link, it was very helpful with a lot of the basic ways to make money in the game.http://kotaku.com/how-to-make-lots-of-bells-in-animal-crossing-new-leaf-670833392

Overall I will need to spend a bit of time on this game but it will definitely provide me with hours of awesome customising and entertainment!

By Jenna

Check out the kawaii merch!! -->

chibicrafts&design 2014