Illustrations for a competition by the Folio Society and the House of Illustration based on Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Chapter 3: “plunged into a deafening chaos of arms and bosoms and underclothing. Torrents of hot water were splashing into or gurgling out of a hundred baths”.
In Brave New World, the people look beautiful and young until they are 60, and then they die. You can never tell by looking at them how old they really are.

Illustrations for a competition by the Folio Society and the House of Illustration based on Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Chapter 5: “‘Do you know what that switchback was?’ he said. ‘It was some human being finally and definitely disappearing. Going up in a squirt of hot gas…’”
In this chapter, the leading lady Lenina comments on how good it is that everybody can be useful even in death as she passes over a factory liquefying human remains for “phosphorus recovery”. The book is overall chirpy, full of its characters sunny temperaments but the sinister underbelly is always glaring in the background.

Illustrations for a competition by the Folio Society and the House of Illustration based on Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Chapter 18: Although most of the characters get a reasonably happy ending, the final scene is very grizzly. “…through an archway on the further side of the room they could see the bottom of the staircase that led up to the higher floors. Just under the crown of the arch dangled a pair of feet… Slowly, very slowly, like two unhurried compass needles, the feet turned towards the right; north, north-east, east, south-east, south, south-south-west; then paused, and after a few seconds, turned as unhurriedly back towards the left. South-south-west, south-south-east, east…”

Panasonic creates new hearing aid tests giving patients a less painful experience during fitting

Exhibition catalogue and flyer design & illustration. Flyer features house that can be cut out and made into model houses. Photograph by Kohji Shiiki

Is Japan becoming a nation of cheapskates?

A simple “thanks” can send someone over the moon

Illustration about a former kabukicho bosozoku tattoo artist who changed his life completely when the tsunami hit his wife and child’s home in Tohoku. Spearheading relief efforts, he has spent more than a year volunteering with local shelters. Illustration for Metropolis Magazine

Study finds women are Japan’s untapped resource

Metropolis feature & cover. Cover design by Kohji Shiiki

Jesper Koll explains how circular money systems can benefit the whole economy for the ACCJ Journal

Ocean Acidification

Preparing for international growth

Sony makes electricity from sugar

Our oceans have changed

In the pear groves of Sechuan, China, people pollinate the trees by hand, now that the bees have gone.

Chicken Farming in Japan

Tidying nature away

Iron out the kinks.

Interesting times