December 2017
ISSUE | 03 FEATURING A SPECIAL INTERVIEW WITH THE BENTO BOX DESIGN STUDIO TEAM
BENTO is a bi-annual online magazine of all things art and design brought to you by Bento Box Design Studio. A collection of innovative and eye-catching visuals in the one place ready to inspire and open your mind to new and exciting things. BENTO prides itself in featuring emerging creatives consisting of local, national & international talent. We understand how important it is to follow your passion and how little opportunities there are for you to get your name out there. Through BENTO, we want to connect aspiring designers together with other like-minded individuals all across the world. Bento Box Design Studio aims to build a wide community involving all facets of art and design. If you are interested in becoming a contributor and submitting a piece for our next issue please follow the steps found at bentoboxstudio.com.au/press . We would love to see what else is swimming around in the minds of creatives. If you would like to work with us on any further issues of BENTO we are always looking for opportunities to collaborate. Reproduction of this publication in whole or in part is prohibited in any form or by any means, including photocopying, scanning or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the editor, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the editor, addressed “Attn: BENTO Permission,” to info@bentoboxstudio.com.au The views expressed in BENTO Magazine are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily shared by the publisher, company or its staff. Cover artwork by Bento Box Design Studio © 2017 Bento Magazine All rights reserved.
EDITOR
FEAT URED I NT ERV I EW
Bento Box Design Studio
Ben to Box Desi gn Stu di o
STU DI O DIRE CTOR
CONT RI BUTORS
ART D IRE CTOR
Leeanne Nguyen - Santa-Hey Santa-Ho Monica Widjajana - Santa’s Little Elf Sokaina Alamri - With the Lillies Yuliia Bahniuk - Santa Pattern Ivy Chung - Christmas Tote Bags Noel Emmanuel - Spend Christmas on Mars Sue Pat - Ice Cream Baubles Jordan Yates - Spirit of Christmas
Monica Widjajana monica@bentoboxstudio.com.au
S OCI A L S
Leeanne Nguyen leeanne@bentoboxstudio.com.au
CREATIVE DIR E CTOR Tristan Ta tristan@bentoboxstudio.com.au
Ashvin Nair ashvin@bentoboxstudio.com.au
I N S T A G R A M | @bentobox.studio F A C E B O O K | @bentobox.studio TWITTER | @bentobox_studio D R I B B B L E | Bento Box Design Studio
DESIGNE D BY
S UBSCRI P T I ON
M A RKE RT ING DIR E CTOR
Bento Box Design Studio
bentoboxstudio.com.au
P RES S press@bentoboxstudio.com.au bentoboxstudio.com.au/press/ BENTO is proudly published twice a year.
BENTO ISSUE 03
07
LEEANNE NGUYEN
08
MONICA WIDJAJANA
12
SOKAINA ALAMRI
14
YULIIA BAHNIUK
16
IVY CHUNG
18
NOEL EMMANUEL
20
SUE PAT
22
JORDAN YATES
CHRISTMAS INTERVIEW BENTO BOX DESIGN STUDIO Leeanne | Tristan | Monica | Ashvin
F E A T U R E D A R T W O R K 0 1 | Leeanne Nguyen F E A T U R E D A R T W O R K 0 2 | M oni c a W i d jajana
T O O L S | A d o b e I l l u str at or
Tell us about your earliest Christmas memory: Leeanne: For me, the earliest Christmas memory I have would be singing Christmas carols in Kindergarten. We would put on a end of year Christmas performance for all the parents, and we were all dressed in Christmas themed shirts. Red and green...classic! Tristan: That would have to be when I was about 5 or 6, we would have huge Christmas gatherings at my grandparent’s place, with all the relatives and probably neighbours (I had no idea who they were). Barbecues and games! Monica: The earliest and most embarrassing memory would have to be when Santa told me to stop wetting the bed in front of all my friends. It would’ve been okay if I was 5 years old, but I was in year 3 at the time! I just remember crying on my mum’s lap for the rest of the night. Ashvin: My earliest memory would have to be opening presents around the tree when i was probably around 6 or 7. It is a very very faint memory though. As a young child, did you leave Santa and his reindeer anything on Christmas Eve? Leeanne: Yes! I use to always leave Santa some cookies and a glass of milk before I went to bed. If I remember correctly they were always chocolate chip cookies. Who can go wrong with chocolate chip? Tristan: No, I was more about receiving from Santa than I was about giving. I assumed he’d take care of his reindeer. Monica: No, I would eat all the cookies before Santa gets to them all! I don’t regret anything. Ashvin: No, growing up I didn’t really know about leaving cookies and milk out until it was too late and I had been told the truth. Do you have any Christmas traditions? If so, what are they? Leeanne: Our family tradition is that we always celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve I will have a family gathering with all my relatives. The day will be filled with lots of yummy food, games with my cousins and then at the end of the night we will open all our Christmas pressies. On Christmas day my parents, sister and myself will head down to the beach and have a picnic in the glorious Perth weather. Tristan: Family and parties! Everyone would come together and just have a good time (no work to stress over!) catching up and eating great food! Oh and presents too, of course. Monica: I grew up in a religious family even though we rarely practice it nowadays. Christmas Eve would always be spent at the Church with family and friends in our small little neighbourhood. Two hour mass was definitely hard to sit through but at least we got to sing our hearts out
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to Christmas carols. On Christmas day, all the families would gather in one place with platters of food and one lucky parent dressed up as Santa ready to hand out presents to all the kids. It was the only thing I looked forward to! Ashvin: Christmas always involves going to Church in the mornings and then spending the day with the rest of my family, aunties, uncles and cousins. Does your Christmas tree have a theme? Who decorates the tree in your family? Leeanne: My younger sister and I will always decorate the tree together. Being the oldest and working in a creative industry I will always set the theme. Our tree use to be very colourful and eclectic, but as the years went by my creative side kicked in and the decorations became colour coordinated. One year it was only blue and silver, and one year a rainbow of colours would wrap its way around the whole tree. But my dad always puts the lights on after we finish decorating and turns it on to signify the tree’s completion. Tristan: Oh boy, what theme? We never had a tree in my family growing up as we weren’t particularly big on celebrating Christmas. Monica: Back in Indonesia, we never had our own tree in the house (I know, it sucked!). We always celebrated Christmas with the whole neighbourhood and I only remember the trees from inside the Church. After we moved to Australia, I got jealous of my friends for having the most beautiful trees and lit up decorations all around the house. A lot of nagging and tantrums were involved but we finally bought our first tree in 2009 and decorated it with silver and gold ornaments. Being the creative one in the family, I took charge and strategically placed them the way I see fit. Ashvin: This year is gold, white and red. Generally my mum, my sister and myself would decorate the tree. Can any childhood memories be found on your Christmas tree? Leeanne: Our tree has a few ornaments that go up every year that was hand-crafted by myself or my younger sister in primary school. In particular this really heavy (and ugly) clay bird that I sculpted and hand painted. How it still makes it’s way onto the tree every year I have no idea. Tristan: 2 years ago I got a little Christmas Tree from Leeanne which now sits on my desk every year. Setting up my little Christmas tree is now a new tradition so it does not have any childhood decorations. My little Christmas tree does have pretty slick baubles and fairy lights… you might say that it’s “lit”. Monica: We didn’t have any special ornaments. They were all store
TITLE | Santa-Hey Santa-Ho
TITLE | Santa’s Little Elf
bought from Kmart because who doesn’t a love a cheap bargain. Don’t get me wrong, they were all gorgeous! Ashvin: We used to have all the ornaments that i would make in primary school up on the tree. Things like egg carton baubles but the only thing they don’t last forever. What can be found at the top of your Christmas tree? Leeanne: A sparkly star full of glitter! Tristan: Glittery star #original Monica: A glittery star or an angel Ashvin: This year we have a glittery gold star. What present would you like to see under your Christmas tree this year? Leeanne: Some plane tickets would be pretty rad! I haven’t been overseas or on a holiday in forever, or tickets to the next Cirque Du Soleil show that comes to Perth. Tristan: Ramen, bowls and bowls of ramen!! Monica: I’d be happy with anything to be quite honest, but if i had to choose one, it would have to be jewellery. I mean, i’m already a covered in them from head to toe, so might as well add to the collection right? Ashvin: A trip around the world with spending money. Nothing too much... If Santa could gift you with one useful and one useless superpower what would they be? Leeanne: My useless superpower would be the ability to locate a scent. Like the nose of a wolf. I mean haven’t you ever walked by somewhere and smelt something amazing and not know what it is and where it is coming from? Now I will! My useful superpower would be the ability to move objects with my mind….aka telekinesis. Tristan: Useful super power? Super speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed. Left something at home? No problem! Travel time? Forget about it! I’d probably never drive my car again. Useless? I’ve always wanted the ability to locate anything I want, for all those times you need something but can’t find it. Monica: I would want to be able to teleport at any place and any time. Can you imagine all the places you could go to? Not to mention, I could sleep in some more and wouldn’t have to worry about getting stuck in traffic and actually show up on time. On the other hand, most useless power would probably be the ability to identify a song. I can’t imagine the amount of time I’ve stressed myself over not knowing what tune keeps repeating in my head. I wish there was an in-built Shazam installed in my brain. Ashvin: My useful super power would be the ability to travel through time! How cool would it be to relive awesome moments through history and i couldn’t hurt to go back with some lottery numbers memorised. Useless ability i wouldn’t mind being able to never get mental blanks again. So frustrating!!
Name 3 classic 90’s toys you received as a child for a Christmas gift? Leeanne: Play Doh, Barbie Kelly dolls, and Betty Spaghetty Tristan: Super soakers, Power Rangers Action Figures, Pokemon figurines. Monica: Barbie Dolls, Pokemon cards and a Tamagotchi! Ashvin: Transformers, remote control race car and Batman figures What colour do you think Santa should change his outfit to? Leeanne: I think santa should start wearing gold. He is the bringer of happiness and joy after all. I’m sure he has a heart of gold too. Tristan: I don’t say this a lot, but white! Apart from being just a walking pair of black boots in the snow, I think he’d look pretty slick. Monica: Bento space grey! CMYK 68/61/59/46 to be exact. But seriously though, grey goes with everything. Ashvin: Maybe he needs a hint of teal. Compliments the red quite nicely. Have you ever been to the Perth RAC Christmas pageant? If not, did you or do you still watch it when it is aired on tv? Leeanne: I have not been to a single Christmas pageant, but I use to watch it on tv when I was younger. I use to always catch the flu around December time and remember watching the pageant on tv whilst being sick in bed. I have not watched the pageant recently as I think it has gotten a little repetitive. Tristan: Nope, I might’ve watched it on TV when I was younger, but not anymore. Monica: RAC and Christmas pageant? I didn’t even know it existed. Ashvin: Never been to one but I do remember watching it when i was much younger. Name your favourite Christmas Movie of all time: Leeanne: This is a hard one…. I would have to pick between Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Santa Clause starring Tim Allen. Tristan: Elf Monica: Never really thought about it, but the only one I remember is Home Alone so that has to be my favourite. I got so jealous of their Christmas decorations and always wanted to experience white Christmas even to this day. Ashvin: Home Alone 2 by far. I remember watching it on VHS over and over again. What’s not to love? What is your favourite candy cane flavour? Leeanne: I don’t often go for this flavour when it comes to flavoured food but….strawberry! Tristan: Wait! You mean there’s flavours other than candy flavoured? Strawberry is probably a good choice, do they have apple or grape? Monica: Watermelon has got to be the best one. Ashvin: I haven’t tried a lot of flavours but I say stick to the classics. Peppermint all the way.
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C H R I S T M A S T R E E S U S UA L LY G R O W FOR ABOUT 15 YEARS BEFORE THEY ARE SOLD.
SOKAINA ALAMRI ILLUSTRATOR | PERTH, WA A G E | 15
W E B S I T E | art st at i on.c om/ soup b as e T O O L S | Cl i p St ud i o P ai nt and A d obe Photos hop
DESCRIPTION // I actually did the traditional sketch for this painting ages ago. During the time in which I drew this I was in Geography, going through a ‘feminine boy’ aesthetic (you can imagine my grades). It turned out nicely in the end and in the following weeks in which I finally found the hunk of paper it had been slabbed onto, I took a quick snapshot and transferred it to Clip Studio. When I was rendering it, I was rewatching some Ahmed Aldoori’s old livestreams on YouTube, so if I had to pinpoint a particular inspiration for this piece it would definitely have to be his beautiful work. DESIGN PROCESS // I like to briefly scan my Pinterest and Instagram homepage beforehand (but not too much so that I begin to feel an immense amount of imaginary pressure from all the fascinating work of Artists!). I always draw my sketches traditionally and transfer them to either Clip Studio or Photoshop. I add base values, shadows and a good amount of red near the eyes. I only render when I am satisfied with the colours (sometimes I will just give up and grab a good colour scheme off Pinterest. When I am finished, I add an excessive amount of gaussian blurring and textures, and maybe apply a rosy filter on Canva. How would you describe your style? If it’s not vintage and caked in flowers and nature, it’s probably not mine. I love to overdo the textures and blurring and give my characters a severe case of hay fever (basically a sarcastic way of saying I smudge a crap ton of red on the lips, under the eyes and cheeks). Two favourite things about Christmas // Pudding // Spending time with family
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TITLE | With the Lillies
TITLE | Santa Pattern
YULIIA BAHN IUK ILLUSTRATOR | UKRAINE A G E | 28
B E H A N C E | Y ul i i aBahni uk I N S T A G R A M | @yul i i a_b ahni uk T O O L S | A d ob e I l l ust rat or
DESCRIPTION // As we get closer to Christmas, the festive holiday mood begins to creep in. People start preparing for the holiday, decorate houses and search for gifts. Whilst waiting for this magical day to arrive, everyone is filled with bright feelings, hopes and dreams and of course, the anticipation of Santa Clause’s arrival. Santa Clause is the main Christmas symbol; a symbol of joy, happiness, and magic. But everyone imagines Santa in their own special way - with curly hair, a jolly laugh, wise glasses, old and sleeping. Or perhaps you simply imagine him in cool sunglasses with a funny haircut. But in my illustration I imagined Santa with different emotions and even beards! DESIGN PROCESS // First I sketch out my illustration, scan it in, and then finalise my illustration using a graphic tablet in Adobe Illustrator. How would you describe your style? Actually my style is based on a lots of ethnic ornaments. Usually I decorate objects with them but this illustration I made randomly. I just played with lines, forms and colors. Right now I’m also partaking in a challenge called PatterNovember, so I try to experiment, study new techniques and try something different to my main style. Two favourite things about Christmas // Smell of spruce and mandarins // Magic of decoration lights everywhere
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IVY CHUNG ILLUSTRATOR | PERTH, WA A G E | 20
I N S T A G R A M | @I vc _s T O O L S | A d ob e P hot oshop
DESCRIPTION // These Christmas tote bag designs are the perfect choice to make this festive season more fun and delightful for your love ones. It comes in different styles which are the curious deer who always wander around your yard during Christmas time, the winter swing man who ponders about peace and goodwill, the dog who never stop cuddling her reindeer buddy and Mr. Snowman who brings joy and cheerfulness to a family. It is the time of the year when Santa waves a magic wand over the world and everything that seems chaos will turn out to be smoother and happier. DESIGN PROCESS // I use a stylus to draw in Adobe Photoshop and implement the illustration in a mock up template to show realistic examples of my design. How would you describe your style? Sketchy vector hand drawn doodle characters that reveal your personality or state of mind without great details. Two favourite things about Christmas // Fairy lights // Listening to Christmas carols
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TITLE | Christmas Tote Bags
TITLE | Spend Christmas on Mars
NOEL EMMANUEL ILLUSTRATOR | PERTH, WA A G E | 16
F A C E B O O K | @ noel emmanuelde s ign I N S T A G R A M | @ noel emmanue l_ B E H A N C E | noel emmanuel T O O L S | A d ob e I l l ust rat or
DESCRIPTION // I’ve always admired companies changing our frontier of just settling on Earth. I saw Elon Musk and his space company, SpaceX as major inspiration and thought about integrating the Christmas theme in a concept campaign style poster. I imagined ‘What would it be like to spend Christmas on a distant planet? How would someone feel if they settled in a different planet other than earth?’ and then Mars, our closest planet came to my mind, and that was when the design idea was born. DESIGN PROCESS // I personally experiment with various design shapes and tools in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop etc. I mostly seek inspiration when I’m not staring at anything digital so I will avoid having my laptop or phone near me. To get some ideas and inspiration, I read some books/magazines, take a walk or sleep. After some personal experiences I found that sleeping or taking naps actually makes me more creative and literally I get some random thoughts in my mind the moment I wake up and these thoughts transform into ideas and then into design work. How would you describe your style? I don’t think I have a style yet because I feel like having a style comes after having years of practice and experience. Naturally your work will evolve and other people will say that you have a nice style. But it can also get boring after you are getting the same work again and again. So choosing one style early in your career can be really hard to get rid of if you decide to change your style. Sometimes I feel pressured by other designers who have years of experience in the industry to find my own style but as mentioned I think it evolves over time. Having a style is like getting married. I don’t have anything against marriages but you have to make a commitment and stick to it for long time. So it’s important to try out different styles and choose the one that you are comfortable with. But most importantly — never settle. Two favourite things about Christmas // Church - Feeling blessed // Christmas Trees
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SUE PAT ILLUSTRATOR | AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND F A C E B O O K | @st ud i osue I N S T A G R A M | @st ud i o_sue W E B S I T E | st ud i osued esi g ns.c om
T O O L S | A d ob e P hot oshop
DESCRIPTION // For this year’s Christmas card collection, I experimented with a bit of pattern design. I like to add a touch of whimsy into all my illustrations. I live in New Zealand, so Christmas is during the summer. I created ‘Ice Cream Baubles’ as a reference to that Christmas summer vibe. DESIGN PROCESS // I create some rough sketches using pen and paper. Once I have my concept, I would research imagery I can use as references. From there I would start illustrating in Adobe Photoshop using my Wacom tablet. How would you describe your style? Whimsical with a touch of nostalgia Two favourite things about Christmas // Summer time // The food!
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TITLE | Ice Cream Baubles
TITLE | Spirit of Christmas
JORDAN YATES ILLUSTRATOR | MANCHESTER, UK A G E | 24
T W I T T E R | @jygrap hi c d esi gn I N S T A G R A M | @jyg rap hi c d esign W E B S I T E | jygrap hi c d esi gn.c om T O O L S | A d ob e I l l ust rat or and Adobe Photos hop
ABOUT JORDAN // Hi, I’m Jordan Yates a Designer/illustrator and hopeful animator working in Manchester and living in a small town in Yorkshire called Todmorden (which has the UK’s highest beach!). Before moving to Todmorden I graduated university with a 1st Class Honors degree in Graphic Designer, and since then have worked at a variety of agencies and with a variety of clients such as AO.com, Lloyds Bank, American Gold and more. I’m a concept driven designer who’s incredibly passionate about all aspects of art and design, and aim to create design’s that have an impact on people. When I’m not designing, I’ll be fell running through the hills and drinking a big caramel latte. DESIGN PROCESS // I always start with a rough sketch on paper, then I refine this more prominantely in Adobe Illustrator before working over the top of that with Vector illustrations - finally adding any additional touches in Photoshop if needed. How would you describe your style? My style combines basic shapes with a warm colour pallette, to create something that is playful and bold and that is also easier to animate when it comes to taking my illustrations and making them move. Two favourite things about Christmas // Watching Polar Express. // Christmas Coffees (Psst, be sure to look at the image upside down too!)
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De lic io us ly p re p a red w i th
by Ben to Box Desi gn Stu di o