Development progress of Menara Binjai, the 35-storey green building at Jalan Binjai is looking great and positive and now at Level 25. Congrats, KJS!

View some WIP shots below. For more updates, do visit the official website and also on Facebook.

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Our interior partners Designlogix, also part of the Level5 Creative group, asked us to add some spice to the Axiata Centre at Quill 7, Sentral. We started off with a typographic wall near the entrance. We utilised keywords that represented the Celcom-Axiata brand, and also its triangular elements. We’re currently working on an extension of this (shown in pic above) which would cover a wider area near the entrance.

By the time you read this, our large format printing partner Big Wig would have installed the 33ft height pop art wall inside the center. Being a big fan of Warhol, this was a little project we enjoyed getting down and dirty with. Andrew Lee of Art Dynamics provided the expert photography services while we art directed the spirited, crazy bunch of multi-national Axiata personnel, including their management/directors. Conversions from post produced images took about 3 days.

More exciting, funky stuff will be happening at the Celcom-Axiata Interactive Center soon!

Escape seems to be the order of the day. Especially for people like us. Deadlines. Traffic jams. Stress and more stress. Well, look no further. Tucked unassumingly off Jalan Riong, Bangsar, Glamor House is a beauty house that offers a unique blend of pampering and beauty services. Owned and developed by Glamor Maison, Glamor House was created to provide an environment of calm and peacefulness where one could escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life, immmerse in therapeutic aromatherapy packages, hand and foot spa treatments. Or sport a new hairstyle. You’ll be spoiled for choice and truly pampered.

Glamor Maison approached us to develop their branding and communications in early Q2 of the year. It kicked off with an interactive meeting where they were plundered with plenty of questions. Something they were not accustomed to, they told us. The owners explained that their previous designer never asked any questions. Reassuring them that this was how we worked, and that understanding the Client and their needs and objectives were essential part of the process, they realised we weren’t kidding. Dead serious. (hah, pun intended). And so began the journey of exploring different approaches and executions of the basic logo. We knew from the start that we wanted something logotype-based – elegant, contemporary, premium.

Some of the explorations.

The final logo after many iterations.

With the logo finally wrapped up, we had quite a task in our hands to get the overall visual identity in place – business cards, letterhead, product flyers, bunting/banners, billboard, signage, menu rate cards, print ad, invites and web (developed by partners Mixsol Sdn Bhd). Principal reason being the soft launch looming. Being the green company that we are, we opted for eco-stock for the name cards. This proved, again, challenging. The final product was acceptable, however, concerns included ink on one of the solid coloured sides rubbing off on the white background of the non-printed face when stacked. Multiple layers of varnishing later helped reduce the bleeding and flakiness, but this, still, was less than ideal. After much deliberation internally and consultation with Client and printer Five Stars Press, we decided to go by way of the conventional art paper, with lamination and special ink.

Up next was photography for the main branding image that would be purposed for the print ad, website, product flyers, billboard/buntings. This took place onsite at Glamor House with our pal and talented photographer Andrew Lee of Art Dynamics. The half day shoot went smoothly although much time was spent in preparation. Many thanks to the Glamor House team for being such sports!

We also went on to set-up their Facebook page as the web was being developed. More exciting things to come from Glamor House, so stay tuned!

Menara Binjai Logo Visuals

When we were called in to develop branding and communications for a green building project by Khor Joo Saik, a Malaysian private investment company, we were ecstatic. Principle reason? We’re passionate about being green and sustainable. We’re always on the look out for green projects whether big or small to be involved in. So this was certainly a huge green opportunity.

Enter Menara Binjai, a 35-storey Grade A corporate office tower, certified Gold by Green Building Index (GBI) of Malaysia and BCA Green Mark of Singapore. Located right smack in the heart of KL, Menara Binjai was initially named CSS Tower – initials for the ambitious man who started the project, the late Dr. Chua Seong Siew. The site which Menara Binjai is built on was the family home of the Chua family since the 1930s. The legacy continues with the current generation of the Chua family, who also own the landmark Coliseum Cinema and Cafe.

Taking on the project meant an opportunity to work hand-in-hand with the dynamic Chua family, project manager KJS, award-winning architect Veritas Architects, official leasing agent Jones Lang Wootton, 3D visualization company Primedia (who also developed the sleek website); and our PR partner Jireh Consult.

The starting point, to state the obvious, would be to develop the logo identity then work outwards from there. Clearly inspired by the building design, we explored several executions for the initial logo concepts. Our goal was to find a middle ground between contemporary, corporate and natural, green. It had to represent progress and sustainability. It needed to be professional, appealing, recognizable.

We were very close, even in our preliminary round of presentations. However, the tweaking and further refinement of the final options took nearly two months. As they say, “The journey is the reward.”

Here’s the final logo.

Menara Binjai Final Logo

From the logo, we quickly moved into creating the marketing collateral, press ad and other communication materials. Priority went to the marketing brochure, visual elements onsite including hoarding and site banners. We had anticipated challenges with the production of the brochure as we, naturally, opted for eco-paper (sourced from Fine Paper Takeo). Eco-paper is always very tricky to print on due to its absorption characteristics and reaction to ink. Nonetheless, after much testing internally, the end result exceeded expectations. Hats off to the boys at Five Stars Press.

Menara Binjai Brochure Cover

Menara Binjai Press Ad

Site Hoarding

To complement the website and overall marketing efforts, we recently assisted in setting up a Facebook page for the project. More great things to come as the building construction goes full steam towards completion in Q4 2011.

Have feedback? We’d love to hear from you.

Project101010 – Celebrating the Tens. A special project to celebrate a special date. 10:10 – 10.10.10. One that comes only once every 100 years. A total of nine individual illustrations combined to form a tenth. Here’s an ode to Greatness. A tribute to the Heroes. Remembering the Icons. Commemorating the Historic Events.

Christopher Reeve @ Superman – Jean Chow

Fleetwood Mac – JW Hon

Smash Hits – Jason Lim

George Orson Welles – Vernon Chan

Rumiko Takahashi – Jason Lim

Anita Mui – Jason Lim

Chiang Kai-Shek – JW Hon

Google Buys YouTube – Jean Chow

1964 Tokyo Olympics – Vernon Chan

Happy 10.10.10!

YouTube was founded in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal. During the summer of 2006, YouTube was one of the fastest growing websites on the Web. On October 10, 2006, Google buys YouTube for USD1.6 billion, Google’s second largest acquisition. The rest as they say, is history.

Info sourced from Wikipedia.

Creative direction: Vernon Chan | Art direction & design: Jean Chow | Copywriting: Vernon Chan

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. 93 countries. 5140 athletes (683 women). 19 sports. 163 events. These games were also the first to be telecast internationally. Yoshinori Sakai, who lit the Olympic Flame, was born in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the day an atomic bomb was dropped on that city.

Info sourced from JOC, Wikipedia and Kiat.net.

Creative direction: Vernon Chan, Art direction & design, Copywriting: Vernon Chan

Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a political and military leader of 20th century China.

He was an influential member of the nationalist party Kuomintang (KMT) and Sun Yat-sen’s close ally. He became the Commandant of Kuomintang’s Whampoa Military Academy and took Sun’s place in the party when the latter died in 1925. In 1928, Chiang led the Northern Expedition to unify the country, becoming China’s overall leader.

He served as chairman of the National Military Council of the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 to 1948. Chiang led China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, during which the Nationalist Government’s power severely weakened, but his prominence grew.

Chiang’s Nationalists engaged in a long standing civil war with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After the Japanese surrender in 1945, Chiang attempted to eradicate the Communists. Ultimately, with support from the Soviet Union, the CCP defeated the Nationalists, forcing the Nationalist government to retreat to Taiwan, where martial law was continued while the government still tried to take back mainland China. Chiang ruled the island with an iron fist as the President of the Republic of China and Director-General of the Kuomintang until his death in 1975.

Info sourced from Wikipedia.

Creative direction: Vernon Chan | Art direction & design: JW Hon | Copywriting: Vernon Chan

Anita Mui Yim-fong (10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a popular Hong Kong singer and actress. She was also the younger sister of Hong Kong singer, Ann Mui. During her prime years she made major contributions to the cantopop music scene, while receiving numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout most of her career, and was generally regarded as a cantopop diva. Mui once held a sell-out concert at Hammersmith, London, England, where she was dubbed the “Madonna of Asia”. That title has stayed with her throughout her career, and has been used as a comparison for both Eastern and Western media. In the Hong Kong entertainment industry where stars often come and go, Mui was able to remain a major star in the spotlight for 20 years. Her career only came to a stop in 2003 when she was suddenly diagnosed with cervical cancer, dying at the early age of 40.

Info sourced from Wikipedia.

Creative direction: Vernon Chan | Art direction & design: Jason Lim | Copywriting: Vernon Chan

Rumiko Takahashi born October 10, 1957 is a Japanese mangaka.

Takahashi is one of the wealthiest individuals, and the most affluent mangaka in Japan. The manga she creates (and its anime adaptations) are very popular in North America and Europe where they have been released as both manga and anime in English translation. Her works are famous worldwide, and many of her series were some of the forerunners of early English language manga to be released in the 1990s. Takahashi is also the best selling female comics artist in history; over 170 million copies of her various works have been sold. She has twice won the Shogakukan Manga Award: once in 1981 for Urusei Yatsura, and again in 2002 for InuYasha.

Info sourced from Wikipedia.

Creative direction: Vernon Chan | Art direction & design: Jason Lim | Copywriting: Vernon Chan