Who We Are

TSUBAKI is a Japanese word for camellia, the flower associated with good luck. With this is mind, TSUBAKI has grown leaps and bounds in the span of ten years, imparting knowledge to our dear clients on areas of branding, communications and marketing along the way. Set up in 2008 by Jay Lim and Vivian Toh, the design-savvy creative outfit is known for their expertise in graphic design, visual communication and commitment to details with a core focus on brand management.

Creating a good office culture goes well beyond the typical perks like free meals and holidays. At TSUBAKI, it is about establishing an atmosphere where our people feel positive, purposeful, motivated, relaxed, and belonged – not just in what they do here daily (whether it is design, writing or planning), but with the company as a whole.

At TSUBAKI, fun is a priority because we believe when we have fun, there will be inspiration. Fun and inspiration are top criteria for us to produce quality works. There are rooms for creative experiments and breaks within our new office. We’re a lucky lot that our clients believe in this simple theory, too. This culture we’ve built at TSUBAKI equals to no other, and we take personal pride in our work.

Also, within our studio is a gallery that provides a common space to conduct design workshops or exhibit artwork produced by artists. The concept behind Galeri was to build on the model of ‘design for all”. Prior to the beginning of the gallery, we have met with several interested parties (our team members included) to discuss and explore the possibility of developing a series of educational design events with other designers.

 

Our Services

We will make your brand market itself better.

We can customise creative outputs to the needs of your brand with a strong menu of brand management solutions.

01 Localisation Study & Research
02 Consulting
03 Branding
04 Brand Plans
05 Communication Strategy
06 Publication Design
07 Key Visual
08 Advertising
09 Visual Merchandising
10 Campaign
11 Wayfinding
12 Mascot
13 Corporate Identity System
14 Marketing Communications Design

We strive to bring you closer to your brands, and your brand close to the market by way of brand management. It is part and parcel of a brand’s life to evolve through times as the means to develop a good, and continuous relationship with the target market. Tangible and intangible elements of the brand management include both the product and service from the name, look, packaging to price, appeal, and so much more.

 

Awards

Driven by purpose and fueled by dreams, we can empower your brand like it is ours.

2014 Golden Pin Design Award – Best Design, Taiwan
2015 Red Dot Design Award – Winner in Visual Communication, Germany
2015 Design For Asia Award – Merit in Visual Communication, Hong Kong
2015 Flexibility International Brand Design Award – Excellent in Corporate Identity, China
2016 HKDA Global Design Award – Excellent in Editorial Design, Hong Kong
2016 A’ Design Award – Best Design Media Award, Italy
2017 GRAPHIS – Merit in Letterhead 9, United State of America
2017 Muse Design Award – Platinum Winner, United State of America
2017 IDA – Silver Winner & Honorable Mentioned, United State of America
2017 Golden Pin Design Award – Design Mark, Taiwan
2017 Design For Asia Award – Silver in Visual Communication, Hong Kong
2018 Indigo Design Award – Gold Award in Packaging, Netherlands
2018 Indigo Design Award – Gold Award in Magazine Design, Netherlands

 

 

Behance Featured

2014 Typo Papercraft #01 – Typography, GRAPHIC DESIGN
2017 Tong-Jie Typeface – Typography, GRAPHIC DESIGN
2017 TEDx PenangRoad 2017 – Identity Design, GRAPHIC DESIGN
2017 Transasia Red Packet 2017 – Packaging Design, GRAPHIC DESIGN
2017 CUTOUT MAGAZINE VOL.01 ISSUE.02 – Editorial Design, GRAPHIC DESIGN
2018 PEACEFUL ／ 平安 – Typography, GRAPHIC DESIGN

 

TEN YEARS OF TSUBAKI Exhibitions

Estlite Bookstore, Kaohsiung Taiwan, 01 – 31.10.2017
National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Kaohsiung Taiwan, 03.11 – 12.01.2018
Sanseido Gallery, Kobe Japan, 03.03 – 13.03.2018

 

Exhibitions

NOOKA Customization Exhibition, 2011&12
Georgetown Festival MEX, 2013
台灣好漢玩字展, 2013&15
馬玉山潮谷互動藝術展, 2014
ASIA NEXT 2015 Experimental Poster Exhibition, 2015
北京設計週( 城市)佳作海報展, 2015
Taiwan Designber Fest, 2015
Taiwan MEX, 2015-16
“National Low-carbon Day” International Poster Invitational Exhibition (Zhong Shan), 2016
CTA CREATIVE TALK IN ASIA – VISUAL DESIGN EXHIBITION, 2016
RED INTERNATIONAL BRAND DESIGN EXHIBITION, 2016
字问字答-中文西文-字体设计展, 2016
THE WHOLE WORLD AS ONE COMMUNITY, 2016
“DESIGN XIAMEN” POSTER EXHIBITION, 2016
BLACK INTERNATIONAL BRAND DESIGN EXHIBITION, 2017

 

 

Interviews

Smart Info, April 2006
iSh Singapore, August 2006
Taiwan Idea Design, October 2006
The Star – Rage, March 2007
Utopia Magazine, May 2007
SPACE, September 2007
The Star – StarTwo, February 2008
ART paper, March 2008
KLUE, September 2008
JUICE Cool List Top 40, 2008
Babyboss Indonesia, December 2008
Worldwide Graphic Design Asia, 2009
The Star – StarTwo, November 2009
Guang Ming – Se7en, October 2010
Commercial Concept Issue 5, 2011
The Star – Rage, February 2011
Gallery Shanghai Issue 12, 2011
Web Design Index 10, 2011
TOUCH/Inspiracion Shanghai Issue 4, 2011
City Magazine Hong Kong Issue 425, February 2012
Guang Ming Daily, September 2012
Sendpoint Publication China – All About Mags, 2013
Antalis Malaysia 102030 Book Showcase, 2013
Hi-Tone Paper Secret, 2014
DESIGN Taiwan Issue 177, 2014
DESIGN BOCO Taiwan, 2015
MalayMail, January 2015
SANDU All About Maps, 2015
APD Vol. 11, 2015
CTA Vol. 02, 2015
MONSA Illustrated Maps, 2016
Estlite Bookstore Newsletter Vol.03, 2016
HKDA GDA 6500k, 2016
DESIGN Taiwan Issue 190, 2017
SANDU Asia Typography, 2017
DESIGNERBOOKS TYPEFACES ENDOWED WITH EXTRAORDINARY FEATURE2, 2017
APD Vol. 13, 2017

BCC NOISE Australia, 2007
GUA Muzik, 2008
NTV7 Breakfast Show, 2009
BFM 89.9, 2010
Melody FM 103, 2012
Golden Pin Design Award Channel, 2014
AI FM, 2016

 

 

Judge

Taiwan, Youth Innovative Design Festival, May 2014
Taiwan, Youth Innovative Design Festival, May 2015
Taiwan， 第七屆創意之星， November 2016

 

 

Talks

Sharing was something that came in the later stage of our lives, where everything started to fall into place in 2009. The rest is history. We love to share and we particularly like to share things that matter to us on a daily basis – our passion for the business that we do, of course! So, we talk about motivation, inspiration and if it’s about climbing the career ladder, we share our personal stories.

Since 2009, we’ve been to several colleges and universities in Malaysia – from Kuala Lumpur to Taiwan. Our creative director Jay Lim was invited to speak at TEDxPenangRoad, Kaohsiung Design Festival, Low Pose Character Design Conference Taipei 2011, Shute University, Wenzao Language College University in Kaohsiung, associate professor at Kun Shan University in Tainan and invited as design judge and speaker in Youth Innovative Design festival 2014. Recently, our Account Director Vivian Toh just invited as a guest speaker of Mark My Word Design & Content Conference 2013 in Goa, India and also a radio host in BERNAMA Radio 25 for the DESIGNED show.

If you’d like to invite us over to your institution, please drop us an email at info@tsubakistudio.net.

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2011 Low Pose Character Design Conference in Asia, Taiwan
2012 Kaohsiung Design Festival, Taiwan
2013 Mark My Words Design Conference, India
2014 Youth Innovative Design Festival, Taiwan
2015 Creative Expo Taiwan, Taiwan
2015 Youth Innovative Design Festival, Taiwan
2016 HKDA Global Design Award, Hong Kong
2017 TEDx PenangRoad, Malaysia
2017 Shout Out Loud – Design Dialogue in Asia, Malaysia
2017 Back To The Origins, International Visual Communication Design Symposium, Taiwan

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Oversea Universities

Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages, Taiwan
Kunshan University, Taiwan
Shu-Te University, Taiwan
National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Taiwan

 

Local Universities & Colleges

The One Academy
Malaysian Institute of Art
Saito College
Point College
IACT College
Segi College
Inti University
FCUC (KBU)
TARC
UTAR
Yes Academy
LKWUC
UITM
USM
Equator Academy of Art
New Era College
Era Technology of Art
PIA Ipoh
Two Media Studio
Impress Academy
Adego Academy
ATEC
SUS Academy
DESSIN
Sunway University
KDUUC