G-Shock X Vice Comp: Filip Ziebo

And the winner is....!

Congratulations to Polish born, London living illustrator Filip Ziebo, who designs under the name Ziebo. This 26 year-old impressed us all mightily with his incredible Godzilla inspired illustration which nods back to G-Shock's country of origin, Japan.

Well done to Ziebo!


Why did you enter the competition?
I found it at the last minute via Twitter and after looking at the illustration, that Ben from UFO prepared for G-Shock and I thought I would give it a go and create something myself.

How do you think your illustration reflected the brief?
I was trying to show to show that G-Shock watches are even tougher than Godzilla...!

What inspired your illustration?
I wanted to illustrate how unbreakable the G-Shock watches are and because it's a Japanese company I was thinking about Japanese symbols and characters - and I decided to draw my own version of Godzilla.

Why do you think you managed to beat off the competition with your illustration?
Because I was doing the drawing last minute I was more focused on finishing it than actually winning the competition. I really like working on tight briefs and deadlines, some of my favourite drawings have come out this way.

What's the toughest thing about being an illustrator?
Because I'm just starting out, I don't have an agent and it's tough as sometimes you have to spend more time networking than actually drawing.

What's the toughest decision you've made in your professional life?
Coming to London was a tough decision as I had to leave my friends and comfortable life back in Poland to find more work opportunities over here. But I don't regret that decision as London is a great city to live and work and have fun in.

What are your ambitions for the future?
I'm starting an illustrated t-shirt label called 'Luksodrome' with my girlfriend who is an animator. We are putting up a webshop with some t-shirts and prints but in the future we want to publish artist's books and zines as well. Basically I just want to draw non-stop with little breaks for taking pictures and listening to music.

Where else can people see your work?
People can see my work on my Flickr and for more information on projects that I'm involved in they can follow up on my Twitter.

G-Shock X Vice Comp: Javier Puyou

Based in Mexico, this 34 year-old designer, architect and illustrator drew his inspiration from Jaws...!

Why did you enter the competition?
I thought that it was a great and motivating subject. I also needed money and I wanted to win!

How do you think your illustration reflected the brief?
-Shock and water resist are some of the characteristics of the G-Shock model, so what came to my mind was placing the watch under the sea, being hit by these hammerhead fish cute girls, and demonstrating the efficiency of it.

What inspired your illustration?
While I was trying to come up with some ideas, I heard JAWS the movie was going to be played on a TV channel. Water and sharks! Just instead of the old friend 'Jaws', I thought these hammerheads would be perfect. I just didn't want it to look too simple and real, I wanted it to be unique and different. So I thought a little surrealistic stuff and some nice cute girls mixed could add the final touch.

What's the toughest thing about being an illustrator?
-I really don't think there is a very tough thing, maybe just when I struggle sometimes to get paid, but I guess that could happen in every job. Fortunately that doesn't happen very often.

What's the toughest decision you've made in your professional life?
Decided to spend big part of my time illustrating, which is one of my biggest passions, and trying to succeed doing it. But now I don't regret having taken that decision, which makes me very happy.

What are your ambitions for the future?
I want to do something for my country, my people and the issues regarding education and violence. I have a project which consists in collaboration with enthusiastic and talented people to start making a lot of nice and purposeful art in specific and visible areas in cities - trying to get more attention, interest and identity to the place, and hopefully, as a consequence, more tourism which could help keep the area alive. I'd like for us to express our ideas and vision of Mexico carefully and not in a negative way through this. That also could motivate young interested people to develop their art skills and I would be very happy to help them achieve it, especially to the non-educated ones who don't have many longings in their lives. Maybe this would help them find their way in life, and another choice than just to become delinquents or drug-dealers.

Where else can people see your work?
I have done different kind of work here and there, from urban art in different cities or even countries to illustrations for album covers, magazines, editorial, advertisings, posters, etc. and sometimes my style may vary quite a lot depending on the subject. You an always visit me on my personal site: or on my blog.

G-Shock X Vice Comp: Sam Moore

This 23 year-old Nottingham based freelance illustrator/designer drew on Ninja's for his illustration.

Why did you enter the competition?
I entered the competition because I'm a big fan of Vice mag and of G-Shock, and I liked the loose brief style. It's always good to have a bit of freedom.

How do you think your illustration reflected the brief?
I didn't want to be too literal with my entry, so I thought past smashing watches with bricks or dunking them under water. I wanted to really show how tough a G-Shock is - so I went with Ninjas. The colours, layout and characters are all to create a pretty intense scene centred around the G-Shock.

What inspired your illustration?
I kept old kung fu influences in my mind whilst working on this piece, like Shogun Assassin, Shinobi and Kill Bill. But my main inspiration was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of course, which was my favourite as a kid... and sort of still is.

What's the toughest thing about being an illustrator?
The toughest thing about being an illustrator for me is finding the balance between what you want to create and what will get you paid. It is a job after all. It's always frustrating to be asked to do something which feels forced, but honestly the thing about illustration should be the fun you have with it. If you are making art out of being honest and having fun, you can't really lose.

What's the toughest decision you've made in your professional life?
I'm still very early in my professional life and so the real tough decisions are likely yet to come but I didn't sell my soul to adobe for photoshop skills or anything! The most crucial decision regarding my professional life was going to university, all of the knowledge and friends I picked up have had a priceless affect on my work.

What are your ambitions for the future?
My ambitions for the near future are to continue freelancing and learning. I have a long way to go still but I love what I do and I'm always hungry to pick up new skills and meet other illustrators. After that, well, I'll play it by here.

Where can we see more of your work?
Over on my website and I keep a blog of my latest work and inspirations on Tumblr.

G-Shock X Vice Comp: Natalie Hughes

24 year-old Bristol based illustrator Natalie took on the weather for her design...

Why did you enter the competition?
I enjoy challenges like this to keep things interesting, and as my friends know I love to doodle so they often send me competitions they find out about. A friend of mine sent me this one and I thought the brief suited my style!

How do you think your illustration reflected the brief?
I tried to get across how G-Shock watches can withstand all the elements: impact, temperature, vibration, water, g-force etc.

What inspired your illustration?
My work is often really inspired by the patterns, colours and shapes of the natural world. I imagined all the forces of nature and weather, and tried to use a mix of really hot and cool colours. Volcanoes and clouds are things that often crop up in my work: this seemed like a perfect opportunity to use them. I wanted to create a really vibrant, graphic illustration to reflect the bold style of G-Shock watches.

Where else can people see your work?
I'm represented by Advocate Art so you can see a range of my work on their website. I'm currently involved in some fun projects including the OH GOSH! charity colouring book, which will raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital. I'm hoping to have an exhibition in Bristol sometime soon so keep your eyes peeled for that if you're in the area.

What's the toughest thing about being an illustrator?
It can be tough juggling lots of different things at once, working hard to build a name for yourself whilst working part time too. It's lots of late nights! But in general it's great fun.

What's the toughest decision you've made in your professional life?
Having to turn down quite an exciting project because the client was offering little to no money. It's a common problem for designers and it's often very tempting to work for free to try and make a name for yourself. In this case I had to turn it down, but I'm glad I stuck to my guns as I think it's important to value a designer's work.

What are your ambitions for the future?
My biggest ambition is to have a children's book published. I also want to learn web design and launch my own range of t shirts!

Where can we see more of your work?
Either over on my website and people can also follow me on Twitter.

G-Shock X Vice Comp: Tom Ralston

27 year-old Watford born Tom has been living in Toronto, Canada for the last 18 months. This graphic designer and illustrator is a partner at Core. He has been working in the industry for three years, specialising in branding, graphic design and illustration.


Why did you enter the competition?
I hadn’t entered a design competition before, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to give it a go. G-Shock is a cool brand, so it was something to easily get excited about. In fact, whilst I was illustrating the watch itself, I remembered being at school and being jealous of other kids who had these awesome new Casio watches – I really wanted one! So maybe this was a strange way of compensating for that, back when I was a wee nipper! Who knows?!

How do you think your illustration reflected the brief?
Well the brief called for the emphasis to be placed on the toughness of G-Shock watches, so I wanted to do just that. I spent a long time brainstorming different ideas, exploring different routes and even produced a couple of iterations, but the idea that I felt worked best was the watch surviving a vicious attack from nature. I wanted the watch to really look as though it was completely unscathed from a savage attack – it’s that hardcore.

What inspired your illustration?
When it comes to my illustrations I’ve always enjoyed drawing and observing animals – I don’t know why, but they’re an endless source of fascination to me so I guess that was an unconscious starting point. The inspiration for the illustration itself actually came from the image of the dog barking. I was trying to find ‘tough’ imagery and when I came across the photo I referenced for the dog, it looked so ferocious it just seemed perfect. It’s hard not to get a kick out of drawing a shark an eagle and bear all in one piece!

What's the toughest thing about being a graphic designer/ illustrator?
I love what I do, and there’s not much I can worry or complain about, but I guess the toughest thing would be managing client expectations. Every project will have differing scopes and should always be taken on their own merits, but it can occasionally be a struggle to convince a client that they would be better off taking a different route, or that there might not be a ‘quick fix’ to their needs. I think that part of the problem is that we are so overwhelmed by media and visual imagery that more and more people take design work for granted. I think that unfortunately people expect innovative ideas and beautiful work, but might not know how to value it. That’s the trick – finding the clients who truly value what I do, and making sure I communicate my ideas as efficiently as possible.

What's the toughest decision you've made in your professional life?
Moving from England to Canada was on the one hand a no-brainer, and yet at the same time a tough decision. I met my girlfriend Aurianne in London while she was travelling, and so when she was forced to move back to Toronto I decided to move with her. That was the easy part! It was a tough decision however, (beyond the obvious difficulties of leaving family and friends behind) because my design partnership was doing well at the time, and we were building a decent client base in the UK. It was a difficult choice to make, but it’s proved to be the right one. Now we have clients in the UK and North America. Stepping out of my comfort zone has been great for my career and I’ve had all sorts of opportunities I hadn’t dreamed of before making that leap.

What are your ambitions for the future?
Career wise things have been going great recently, so it would be nice to see that continue, and I’m really keen to do some more collaborating with other artists. I guess I just want to continue to have opportunities that let me develop my style, experiment and just keep doing what I love.

Where else can people see your work?
You can find my company’s design work here, and more of my illustrations on my personal portfolio here. You can also follow my updates via Behance, and Twitter or Facebook

G-Shock X Vice Comp: PINS

Following our recent collaboration with Vice Magazine in which they redesigned the front of our G-Shock East store, we received some incredible entry's from Vice readers, where they were asked to submit illustrations around the theme of toughness.

Our first runner up is the incredibly talented, PINS, a 28 year-old freelance artist from south London who specialises in "Various creative fields including Illustration, Graphic Design and Surface Design. I have my own Clothing / Art brand, PINS, which is inspired by donuts and sneakers, focusing on limited runs of tees, jumpers, hoodys, and accessories. I also run creative workshops to teach young people from various backgrounds how to utilise creativity as a means of expressing themselves, and have worked with different community organisations to build projects targeting specific age groups in various parts of London".

Phew! Busy guy! We caught up with PINS to discover the inspiration behind his incredible illustration.


Why did you enter the competition?
I entered the competition because a) I love G-Shock b) it allowed me to show off my creative skills and c) It just made sense.

How do you think your illustration reflected the brief?
I think it reflected the brief well in terms of my honest take on G-Shocks as a whole... the bright colours, the 'POW' factor and the way they almost become sweet edible items on your wrist!

What inspired your illustration?
I loved the aspect of G-Shock being tough, but at the same time 'tasty' looking... so I incorporated my signature 'donut-themed' style to highlight this. This 'donut' imagery is used to represent things we desire, things we want... so by having a G-Shock illustrated this way, it creates the idea of something more than just a 'watch'...

What's the toughest thing about being an illustrator?
There's nothing tough really, you just kind of go with the flow and illustrate what you want to illustrate, and hopefully people will like it. That's why I set up my own clothing brand to put out what I wanted to put out.

What's the toughest decision you've made in your professional life?
Leaving a team, in order to realise my own dream...

What are your ambitions for the future?
To work with Casio and design possibly the coolest range of G-Shocks in the world, ever!

Where else can people see your work?
You can see my work over at PININSPIRED, mainly in the 'GALLERY' and 'SHOP' sections.

Follow PINS on Twitter

Freeness Of The Day: Emeli X Wretch

This week's No.1 and No.2 in the UK Hit Parade may have been battling it out for the top spot, but there's still a lot of love between the two. To celebrate their incredible chart placings, Mr. Wretch 32 and Ms. Emeli Sande did a quick collab, 'Underdog Law', and are giving it away for free.

Ah, isn't that lovely! This is also quite an incredible song that showcases the incredible talents of this north London MC and Scottish singer. Check it out and then download the track for free from right here...


Wretch 32 & Emeli Sande - The Underdog Law

Advert Of The Century: Google Chrome

A pretty incredible achievement from SBTV's Jamal Edwards. While Pharrell is the face of Google Chrome in the US, Jamal is the UK ambassador.

Aired during X Factor on Saturday night, the 21 year-old appears to go from strength to strength... a label deal, a deal with New Era, the face of Google Chrome, 60 million views on his channel....!

Maxsta: Otis Freestyle - G-Shock Shoutout

Big shout out to east London's Maxsta for the G-Shock lyric!

2 minutes and 35 seconds in...!

The teenager is the first artist to sign to SBTV's label, Just Jam, which goes through Sony. Making his name in 2010 with his 'Maxtape' and 'MaxstEP' mixtapes, when he released his fist single, 'Average Kid' he became a trending topic on Twitter!

A future star in the making, keep your eyes out for more from Maxsta.

Robbie Williams Launches Menswear Label Farrell...

Farrell is a new Menswear brand created with a direct nod to Saville Row tailoring, in honour of Jack Farrell, aka Jack the Giant Killer, a notable dresser.

The collection was devised by Robbie Williams, Jack Farrell’s grandson.


Farrell, a new menswear label launches in September with a line targeted at guys who like a bit of snap in their clothing – be it for a night out, an afternoon at the footie, or lounging around at home. “Wear it in, wear it out” is Farrell’s motto.




The collection is named for Jack Farrell, aka Jack the Giant Killer. Jack was a notable dresser, a Stoke-on-Trent native, who lived a hard life but lived it well. A strong man, Jack believed in honesty, integrity, good manners and a sense of honour. The Farrell range was created to honour Jack’s legacy, the result is a collection that balances past influence with modern male style.

The AW11 collection will be sold exclusively through House of Fraser department stores, and online department store very.co.uk. Future collections will be available across Europe. Retail prices start at £35 for lightweight t-shirts, through £125 for knits, to £350 for the Banks-wool ¾ length coat.





Check out this film 1/3, narrated by Robbie Williams, to support the launch of the superstar's clothing line Farrell.

Photographer Spotlight: Verana Stefani

After the successfull first exhibition of 'Kids Of Grime' at east London's Pure Evil Gallery in Shoreditch, in collaboration with Y'OH streetwear, KIDSOFGRIME will showcase the images of the Grime documentary at the infamous 'In INFART We Trust', introducing Grime culture and music to Italy for the first time. The exhibition is curated by Verena Stefanie Grotto, the Italian photographer, blogger and mastermind behind the KidsOfGrime project, which will take place at the renomated Ezzelini Castle.

The exhibition will be up from the 2nd to the 4th of September 2011 in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. The first night will see the first official presentation of Grime in Italy, with the performance of Jammer, followed by a DJ set of King P.

We caught up with the Italian born, east london living 25 year-old to find out how tough she'd had to be to make it as a photographer.

How did you get into photography?
I've always been into photography somehow because it was a passion of my mother, taking pictures of every part of our lives! My uncle was/is an amazing photographer who always kept it as an hobby more than a profession, so I've been always taking pictures, first as an hobby, than I realised that I could wake up every day and work in what I really love.

Can you give us a brief explanation about how 'Kids of Grime' took shape?
I started getting into Grime, especially into Dizzee, and my curiosity, which is the one of a kid, I wanted to know more about this culture, these reality, these lives; more the behind the scenes, what they like to do, what their lives are about, the mentality, the lifestyle, you know, what was behind the 140 bpm. Being into photography I started looking for pictures about this on the Internet and couldn't really find that much about it, especially these last years. I saw a niche and I decided to be the one who was going to do it now. And I did and here I am! More for a passion than anything else. The name of the book/project was supposed to be 'OnceUponA Grime' (unfortunately, when I started to be more into the scene I found out there was a blog called like that already). The beginning was difficult, nobody wanted to give me a chance to start it. I actually didn't have anything to show anyone, so I never had the opportunity to show people - it was like a dog trying to bite his tail you know what I mean! The opportunity came with JustJam (big up Tim&Barry); I used to roll by myself get my pictures and go home, but to show my material I opened a Wordpress and I decided to call it 'Kids Of The Underground'. Because of a song from the film 'Adulthood' and the idea is because ALL the MCs who started it they were basically kids. People started to call me it... and the rest is history!

How do you hope people in Italy will react?
I'm happy about this opportunity because INFART is a big festival for urban arts and music in Europe. Given that there are artists from all over the world, having my own night is big for me and for Grime, because the media in Italy is not paying it the attention that it deserves. I had an interview with GQ Italy, and that is pretty big, you know, for me and for Grime. Also because most of the people attending don't really know anything, the effect that the picture will have on them will be different than here in UK. They won't see who the person I took picture of is, but they will see the whole thing; the energy, the passion, the reality also of believing in a dream, and the street aspect, the basements, a whole different reality of music and culture. And they will respect it, and appreciate it in a different way.

What's the toughest part of your job?
I couldn't say which one is the toughest, but the tough ones are being a girl sometimes, being from a different culture, and as well, travelling to places I don't know, with my camera and that, during the night sometimes. Also, to make people believe in me.

What's been the toughest decision you've made?
Doing this documentary. When I decided to do it, I left my job at Vivienne Westwood, leaving the whole security of a career in fashion to dedicate most of my time to it. When I decide to do something, I want to do it properly. I'm not doing it for the sake of doing it - having one year taking nice pictures, having the book published and gone. I want to document it in the real way, I want to be in it, know, understand, live. And sometimes, probably for my culture, or how I was used to work, it's really tough for me.

What's next?
I want to keep doing this documentary, but also make a real career in photography. I'm a grime photographer, but most important thing, I'm a photographer! If you get what I mean....

For more, check Kids of Grime




[All pictures by Verena Stefanie. Image of Verena by Beatrice Alessio]

Chart Battle: Emeli Sande Vs Wretch 32

Two great singles from two amazing artists released in the same week.

Which will you buy? How about BOTH! 99p on iTunes? Simple.

Whoever gets that No.1 spot will be very deserved...

Cher Lloyd: Album Preview

Following on from her No.1 success with 'Swagger Jagger', here's a taster of the Worcester singer and 2xwearing Baby-G wearer's forthcoming album, including 'Superhero', featuring Busta Rhymes.

SBTV For New Era

Congrats to Jamal Edwards, CEO of revolutionary youth channel SBTV, on his new appointment as the latest 'Fly Your Own Flag' Flagbearer for New Era. The Flagbearer role focuses on self-expression and individuality, and features those who make their own statement. New Era Flagbearers are diverse in career, ethnicity, and background, but are all cultural icons in some way — whether they are famous to just a few, or famous to many, the all have unique ambitions and spirits, but share a genuine passion for the New Era brand.

As the man behind SBTV, the G-Shock fan's Channel currently boasts 43million views and 60,000 subscribers. The station features freestyles and videos from huge stars to up-and-coming talent. Jamal also has an imprint with Syco/ Sony, his first signing is the much-touted rapper Maxtsta.

"I created SB for those youths that weren't being heard..." he says.

With millions now tuned into SBTV, Jamal is one of the most powerful young voices in the British music industry.

Check out SBTV
Follow SBTV on Twitter

Dappy: No Regrets

2 million views and counting, can The Dapster hold off One Direction when his solo debut single is released next month, the week after theirs? Judging by his excellent taste in timepieces, we know who we're backing...! No Regrets all the way.

Video Of The Day: 'Otis'

The mighty MC's join up on the first release from their joint album, 'Watch The Throne'...

The best thing about this video, other than the lovely slo-mo car shots, is how genuinely excited and happy the pair look. Ah, isn't that nice...!

Mixtape Of The Week: Daley 'Those Who Wait'

Polydor signed singer Daley is a serious new talent from these very shores.

The Mancunian musician, who has collaborated with The Gorillaz, just dropped a brand new mixtape featuring the awesome Marsha Ambrosius and a cover of Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. It's pretty fantastic stuff and it costs not one pence.

Get the mixtape here


1. Those Who Wait
2. Let It Go
3. Game Over
4. Alone Together ft. Marsha Ambrosius
5. Love Lost (Interlude)
6. Smoking Gun
7. Spent
8. Pretty Wings (Acoustic)
9. Doncamatic (Harry Love Remix)
10. Like A Virgin (Acoustic)

Follow Daley on Twitter

Ad Of The Day: Hahn Super Dry

Ever wondered how beer got made?

Wonder no more...

Ed Sheeran: You Need Me (Remix)

Ed teams up with pals Wretch and Devlin for a refix of 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You'.

Bashy: Angels Can't Fly (Ed Sheeran Cover)

Today's tune of the day from rapper and actor Bashy. A take on Ed's 'A Team', remixed by True Tiger, Bashy delivers a sobering opinion on the recent riots in the UK.

Ed Sheeran Interview: RWD Cover

Before an incredible performance at the Relentless Garage two weeks ago, Ed sat down with RWD mag to talk about his recent cover shoot for the magazine, which featured Ed in G-Shock.

Chipmunk & Wretch: Otis (remix)

The Tottenham two go in over Jay and Kanye's 'Otis'.

"The only red letters I see is on ping...!"

24/7 Puts The Mudman Through It's Paces

24/7, a premium watch site, likes to put timepieces to the test.

Taking the G-Shock up on its Toughness promise, the guys really put the Mudman through its paces; from boiling water to being dropped from 15 stories up, to being run over by a 6-wheeled caterpillar, the Mudman took it all to the bitter end. The only thing to see it off? A shotgun to the face!

Read the full article here, and check out the clips of the the test below.

The Bullitts Ft. Lucy Liu & Jay Electronica

People don't really know about The Bullitts yet, but they will.

The brainchild of Jeymes Samuels, he describes the movement as "action adventure" music. An amalgamation of narrative, art, invention, music, film and design, this beautifully put-together project is exciting in many senses. Not just because the music is quite divine, that the guests are stellar (Lucy, Idris Elba, Jay Electronica etc etc), but because their approach is so very different to anything else.

Here's Liu, Jay and Jeymes delivering an incredible live session of Close Your Eyes. Tune!

Find out more about The Bullitts. Go on, you really, really have to.

Timbaland Ft. Pitbull & David Guetta: Culo

So the new single from Timbaland is here... And it features Pitbull and David Guetta.

Oh dear.

That's all I have to say.

Oh dear.

Sheen, Snoop and Westwood up for Celebrity Big Brother?

As much as we all like to suggest that we're way too busy to possibly watch or even care about Reality TV, if Channel 5, the new home to Big Brother manage to pull in the celebs they're after this year, Celebrity Big Brother is set to be some unmissable viewing.

Charlie Sheen was winning earlier this year, if you could call it that, but things went downhill for the actor shortly after. So the £6 million the star is being offered to be in the show doesn't seem like such a bad career move. It's not just Sheen though that has gained interest around the show, the one and only D, O double, G, Snoop is being lined up for the show as well as DJ Tim Westwood, and Sarah Ferguson. How AMAZINGLY weird would that house be?

Not that we're excited or anything about Reality TV but we just thought we'd let you guys know... we might catch it on the odd occasion, if we're not out somewhere being incredibly cool that is...!