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Michael has had the opportunity to work with many designers from all over the world. Some of them are his friends such as Godfrey Kwan, the founder of Junkie or became his friend such as Hardy Blechman, the founder of Maharishi. These crossover and collaboration projects have included print and graphic design. In some cases these have even included fashion additions to the Gardeners or all new color schemes for figures. Some of Michael's crossover work involves producing limited-number fashion items for promotion or new graphics for an advertising campaign. |
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Junkie's work with Michael
Junkie is a well-known design group. They have produced a number of different projects with outside companies and eventually moved into fashion. Some of the original Gardeners sported Junkie tees and Junkie eventually began designing work for Michael's exhibitions, including limited-edition tee shirt and advertising. The one word that could describe Junkie's work with Michael is "complimentary." The design with Junkie is so seamless it is hard to tell where Michael ended and where Junkie started. Many of the 2-dimensional graphics that Michael placed in his presentations, and on promotional items were not designed by Michael but rather by Junkie. The graphics on the right and below were produced by Junkie in Jan Lam and Gardener work. |
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| The graphics on the Tom.Kids packaging was also produced by Junkie. With all the work done with graphics and fashion for Michael it would only be a matter of time before Junkie was allowed to design new color schemes for Michael's characters.
To the right are some of Junkie's work with the figures. Immediate right is the Jan Lam figure and far right is the CC Bear, with designs, colors and clothes by Junkie. |
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Maharishi meets Michael
Maharishi has quickly become a major influence to Michael's work. At the end of 2002 that relationship blossomed into exclusive figures and fashion sold at the Maharishi store in London. To the far left is the CC Bear with exclusive scarf and olive color scheme from Maharishi. Immediate left is the Maha version of Boy D from the second series of Crazy children. |
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To the right are two tee shirts exclusive to Maharishi. The No War tee, far right, was featured on the No War figure, "103 of the Gardeners.
The "Astro" sweatshirt immediate right is also a Maharishi exclusive and was released during the April 6" Gardener premier. For a complete list of Maha and Michael crossover fashion please check the Timeline page. |
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A crossover of a crossover artist? Maharishi even created an exclusive color scheme of CC #19, Junkie.
Maharishi images courtesy of DP-MHI. Junkie images courtesy of IDN PRO. |
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From Sony to Girlittlehouse
I mentioned that when Sony picked up the Gardener license, fans of Michael's work were worried the brand would be tarnished by overexposure. Sony is keeping Michael's work low key. The only figures they have commissioned from Michael have been Wee Wee and Wa Wa, to the right. The two were functional cell phone holders yet produced in limited numbers to remain collectable pieces. Michael picks his projects carefully and doesn't just accept popular trends or brand names. It is evident from his work with Jan Lam, Lazymuthafucka, Santa Inoue's Tokyo Tribe and Sony. |
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To the left are figures directly from Michael's workshop Crazysmiles Co. From left to right they are Cat and Hatau. They are characters based on a Girlittlehouse stage play. Michael is the art director of the play and has released the figures as promotional items. The girls are rendered in Michael's jagged style. They have no face except for a small depression serving as a mouth.
Despite the simplistic style both girls in the Girlittlehouse line are still formed unlike any other figure. Michael's style will no doubt continue to rub off on his contemporaries as it has already gained the attention of large companies like Sony and Nike. |
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The Levis Promotion
In 2001 Levis ran an exclusive ad campaign in Asia featuring the work of Michael. To help kick off the promotion Levis commissioned Mini Michael figures wearing Levis-colored jeans to be sold in stores. In case you didn't notice, this variant of Michael are what the buttons at the bottom of each page are designed after. Michael himself appeared in a number of promotional items during the campaign, including posters, billboards and cards. |
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To the left are some of the tee's Michael designed for Levis. On the far left is a variant of his No War slogan. It is difficult to see but the shirt features a cartoon Michael lying on his back with a word balloon reading "No War."
Immediate left is the "Crazysmilevis" tee. You cannot tell but there is a Michael cartoon sketch printed on the inside of the tee just under the label. |
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Colette Works
The Maharishi studio suggested that Michael have his second European exhibition in 2003 at Colette in Paris. Michael agreed and it would become the studio with a unique look at Michael's crossover projects. |
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Colette is regarded as one of the premier global spotters of new trends and culture. It is proclaimed to be "the temple of style, design, art & food."
Baby Blue is the house color for Colette. Similar to the way olive is the color for Maharishi. In 2003 Michael released a Mini Fig and NY Fat (bottom left) in the blue tint. In 2004 Crazysmiles co. submitted some new art for the Toyz World expo. In keeping with tradition Michael made a special version of BB in a blue tint. This version of BB is said to be extremely rare and not for sale. Michael also made some sort of Urban Mummy version of CC #19 Junkie wrapped in tape and stickers. Michael designed a tee shirt to help celebrate the return to Colette in 2004. Special thanks to La MJC for the BB and Junkie image. |
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The Devilman Anniversary
The character pictured left was created by Michael in 2003 for the 30th anniversary of Go Nagai's infamous manga character Devilman. Go created a number of famous characters in manga and animé history that include Cutey Honey, Mazinger Z, Violence Jack, Kekko Kamen and of course Devilman. Go's work went on to influence a number of artists both Japanese and international much like his predecessor Osamu Tezuka. Go can arguably be attributed to the creation and popularization of extreme violence and adult acts in manga and animé. Undoubtedly Go's influence can still be felt in modern manga works by Santa Inoue such as Tokyo Tribe and Neighbor 13. |
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 Click on Michael's back to go to the michael gallery page. |
 Click on Michael to go to the Friends and Contemporaries page. |
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There are rules regarding the images on these pages:
Fan-based web page and illustrations by Noe V. Updated Quarterly |