
"These guys are popping. I particularly like Steve Lawler's work and don't forget to take a sniff round Poolatwork."
So says Charles Firth, creative Planner in advertising and trends from Beijing in his personal blog, charlesfirth.com
Charles Firth's Punk Planning is HERE.
Punk Planner gets AWE50ME
- RIGHTCLICKA is AliveNotDead

RIGHTCLICKA joins Asian superstar network AliveNotDead and shares mixes with Jet Li, Daniel Wu, Van Ness, Rosanne Wong, Race Wong, Terrence Yin, ALIVE, Lisa S, Kelly Hu and the list of who's who in this network goes on and on and on....
Visit RIGHTCLICKA's AliveNotDead profile page HERE.
Join AliveNotDead.com HERE.
- AWE50ME Stencil Festival

AWE50ME curator, JD Mittmann (Melbourne) brings you the 2008 Stencil Festival. The official Opening Night Party is next Friday, 1 August from 6 pm till late.
This year's event again will be a massive showcase of street and stencil art, with a packed program including new films, talks and lots of live action by local, interstate and overseas artists. Watch the website for up-dates.
Stencil Festival is celebrating its 5th birthday. Be part of it.
The 5th Melbourne Stencil Festival 2008 is HERE.
- AWE50ME Kids hit the Air Rave!

Clash The Disko Kids do their thing really LOUD on Radio Metro, Australia. Nice one boys, you're doing us proud. The opening track just says it all. SHOUT! SHOUT!
Download the ass-kicking mix HERE.
- AWE50ME artist EeShaun new Pushin' On Tees
- AWE50ME's MOJOKO does FL.AG Magazine issue # 15 - Health

Conceptualized by Steve Lawler aka Mojoko, 40 international Artists, Graphics, Illustrators and Photographers were invited to contribute to the issue and depict what HEALTH meant to them. The issue is going to be graphically driven and brings back the theme to FL.ag since #10.
Pick it up free and check out the visions of health by Asylum, Jack Tan, Momorobo, Jeremyville, Jon Bugerman, Colin Faulks and more.
- AWE50ME on Francis Anderson Blog
"Wow. These guys make me want to move to Asia..."
Digital and social media pro Francis Anderson gives AWE50ME a Shout Out.
Francis is a communications planner who is an alumnus of PHD London, Chiat\Day and Fallon New York. He has had the good fortune to work with a number of boutique advertising and communication companies like Mother, Strawberry Frog, Amalgamated, Nitro, Naked, 50,000ft and wearegigantic, the Web2.0 startup Crayon, and some more established shops including Publicis and MFP.
Francis Anderson Blog
- AWE50ME eco- artists agency RECYCLOFASHION on PSFK
Having Fun, Doing Good, (Hopefully) Making Money
by Orli Sharaby
Recyclofashion is a quasi PR agency, sometime event planning firm, and occasional design collective whose mission it is to “promote eco-fashion industries, designers and works in Singapore and the rest of the world.”
Awe50me, a creative social network of sorts, interviewed the group in what ends up being a quirky Q&A about all things life and work related:
WHAT’S THE INSPIRATION BEHIND WHAT YOU DO?
We all love fashion and insanely good looking people. So that’s our muse. And we get very excited when we see people in the most awkward of situations. Vogue recently made models pose with athletes under the swimming pool. We loved it.
HOW DO YOU PROMOTE WHAT YOU ARE DOING?
We go to the zoo and give out flyers…
WHAT WILL THE FUTURE HOLD FOR WHAT YOU DO. LOOK INTO YOUR CRYSTAL BALL OR WHISKEY GLASS AND GIVE US A PREDICTION OF THINGS TO COME?
We’ve looked into the vodka glass and RF will be the top regional PR company for eco-artistes and a constant initiator of events, designs and wacky ideas in time to come. Then, we’d like to hold a monthly party in a warehouse some. Everyone has to rvsp and come in a trash bag.
That sounds like our kind of event.
- RIGHTCLICKA DIY Father's Day Boxset (UK No 1s - 1950 - 1960) -

1 of 1 handmade boxset with every number 1 in the UK from 1950 to 1960.
The first British record sales chart ("The Hit Parade") did not appear until 14th November 1952. Prior to that (and for many years afterwards), popular songs were measured by sales of sheet music, which was purchased both by professional musicians who performed live in pubs, clubs and theatres, and by keen amateurs who would play pianos, accordions etc at home.
Throughout the 1950s, Radio Luxembourg broadcast a sheet music Top 20. This was the first ever Top Twenty countdown show, and set the pattern of chart shows for the decades that followed.
- Asian Youth Cultural Experts Discussion - FLAMINGO interviews POOL -
Excerpts from the Flamingo interview with Brian Tiong and Paul Tan from POOL.
June 4, 2008
FLAMINGO: Can you give us your personal general perspective on Asian Youth behavior and trends? Are there any overarching themes or frameworks that come up?
Paul Tan from POOL with a few words:
PT: Generally, like any generation past and future, youth behavior and trends today stem from alternative culture, a peripheral reaction to popular culture – Look, Learn, Modify and Create. Just like a tent – individual structures or communities starting at base ground level which is the internet and meeting at a peak. This peak is where all youth behavior and trends converge in one big inter-section.
The RIGHTCLICKA Project is a good example to illustrate this view. Starting out at a ground level no frills mixtape blog because of the lack of access to good music, gathering an opinionated community as it grew and converging in the big inter-section of pop culture where it has influenced the creation of many other Singapore music blogs or groups to distribute ‘mixtapes’. You will find many interlinked communities both local and global promoting their music through ‘mixtapes’ on the internet today, especially in social networks such as Facebook.
The original mixtape blog:
www.rightclickamix.com
Other mixtape blogs or groups today:
www.rawjak.mypodcast.com
www.themixtape.mypodcast.com
FLAMINGO: Attitudes of Asian youth vs Western?
PT: Both share the same attitudes. I call this ‘Designer Socialism’, “A Left sensibility, purged of puritanical austerity and fear of pleasure, attracted to stylish made things but vigilant about being hoodwinked or exploited.” – Taking issues, ideas and concepts into their own hands and openly flaunting them in blogs and social networks, gathering like-minded allies or a community in the process.
A good slice of this attitude can be viewed at www.awe50me.com
FLAMINGO: What are the inter-relationships, within friendship circles / professional circles; family, religion etc…
PT: All online communities are interlinked with each other. Be it fashion dictating music or music dictating fashion, it all functions as one big community of friends, professional relationships and common interest – The source is open to all who connect with each other. This only happens because technology has allowed us to reach out more people than we could ever have imagined.
Family and religion are left in the cave unless you utterly believe that youths listen to their parents and religion, and if they do, you will be able to find them in their respective communities.
FLAMINGO: In particular what large trends do you see going on now, or what do you feel is ‘on the horizon’?
PT: The next big wave will happen when communities evolve into mini-corporations or agencies like www.awe50me.com This Tsunami is on the horizon and is gathering power as it approaches. Once it hits, it will blow everything away and force us to rethink all our strategies. After which the cycle will begin again with an alternative ripple.
FLAMINGO: Would you be able to sum Asian Youth culture in a few words or a sentence?
PT: Independently Modified Nations
Brian Tiong from POOL with a few words:
BT: Youth in SEA are obviously very different in terms of language, family, religion, ethnicities but looking at specific sub culture segments like music, design and the work we do with the RightClickA project, it seems that there is a common tread with trends in the music space in and many similarities between the western and Asian youth culture. We find similar results in AWE50ME our interviews with opinion leaders our social network for creative talent across Asia. The Internet has managed to connect these like minds together based on their interests irrespective of where they come from.
With the Internet, we have a common platform, Asian and western youth culture have an equal opportunity to reach a global audience. People are self aggregating in communities. We just have to watch these communities to understand what’s coming up next. Look at the online gaming scene, its huge in Asia.
Asian Youth culture & its sub culture will be very much bigger than its western cousins. Just look at Asia now (esp – China) now and how fast its growing on the Internet. The kids are creative and hungry and this kind of hunger creates sub culture and these sub cultures are the seeds of trends.
FLAMINGO: Any large trends that you see in relation to Asian youth and the digital world, or online activity? What are they?
PT: Any technology that allows youths to communicate and function more socially with each other will be a trend because of its utility. Be it small or large, they all contribute to the bigger picture. Social Networks, Bulletin Boards, Chat, Widgets, Blah, Blah, Blah…they are all happening and being created at a breakneck speed because there is a huge want to get with each other. COMMUNITY is the largest youth movement today.
FLAMINGO: Why do you think the internet is such an important resource for Asian Youth?
PT: The internet is less an important resource but more of a natural thing for Asian Youths because they were born into it. It is their state of being.
How else can you express yourself to the world so quickly? Where else would you go to access everything and anything? Where else would you go to find a hundred million like-minded youths? If they can’t find it, they’ll be able to create it online.
FLAMINGO: If the internet is indeed an important resource for Asian youth, how do we see this manifested - what are the main ways in which we see this? Any specific country / regional examples?
PT: We see an ocean of social networks and their clones out there catering specifically to Asian youths. A good example is the social network, Friendster. It is now available in English, Chinese, Malay, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Bahasa Indonesian and Spanish.
FLAMINGO: What about blogs? Any initial thoughts? How have they changed the digital youth landscape?
PT: Blogs have been around since desktop publishing in the 90s. They have and still do, provide a space for self-expression. For the youths of today, because HTML is so basic to them and because blogs have evolved and become so easy to put up that even a one-eyed child with 1 finger can publish, it is the quickest and still the trendiest way to say who you are and what you think. Even social networks such as Myspace and Facebook provide blogging functions.
FLAMINGO: Do you think that Asian Youth would use blogging or social forums as platforms through which to express a deeply personal agenda? Asian culture is on the whole more conservative that Western…we see lots of this type of agenda-pushing / investigative blogging in the West, any thoughts on the Asian perspective
PT: The more conservative you are the easier it is to express yourself thru a blog where you can either remain anonymous or have an avatar. That being said, we have to understand the maturity of Asian Youths compared to Western Youths. Most Asians mature much slower and therefore take a longer time to formulate articulate thoughts on certain issues. The trend is to blog as a group and community under a topical umbrella organization eg Asia Youth Environmental Network.
BT: Youth and Digital are really the same word different – Asian youth live online and their activities in social networks, blogs, bulletin boards and forums show this. Friendster is the no 2/3 site in SEA right in Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and these social networking, blogging, video sites that attract the Asian youth are in the top 10 most visited sites. We at POOL always start looking at these online properties for insights on all Youth trend & community related projects that we work on.
The Internet is an important resource for all Youth not only in Asia. Its also the largest social club out there for making friends and having conversations globally. How can you beat that?
Blogs have allowed Youth to have their own personal online space for whatever they want to do, share and talk about. Asian youth are taking this platform by storm. The most visited blog in the world is a Chinese one. Actress Xu Jing Lei has over a 100 million hit in the past 2 years. A lot of communities around the world use blogs as their main websites and some use a lot of open source software as building blocks to build their own websites. Have a look at this blog that documents street culture and part of AWE50ME our creative network. www.streething.com
There are a lot of blogs that are people rambling on about their day to day personal dramas, there are more interesting one talking about their passion or hobbies and like any mass attracting platform, you’ll every kind of personalities there. I don’t really see Asians being more conservative than their western counter parts online.
FLAMINGO: With web 2.0 and the collaborative atmosphere – where consumers or “pro-sumers” are co-creating with brands (cite some global examples like NikeiD; Adicolour; ConverseOne etc), do you see any Asian brands that are doing this particularly well?
- Which ones?
- How are they doing it?
- Any country specific or region specific examples?
- Any brands that have tried and not done it so well?
BT: Tiger beer was a Asian client that I worked for in 2006. They have a collaborative platform showcasing the best creative talents in Asia to the world. I think this year they have over 150 artist collaborating with the brand. Check out http://www.tigertranslate.com/2008/
Social networks are probably best for collaboration as this as it allows multiple different like minded artist conversations to happen at a time and this is the spark that leads to brand innovation.
Collaboration seems to be the flavor of the month with a lot of brand recently from sports (with athletes) to fashion (with designers) to music (with artistes)... The only thing brands need to remember is what’s in it for everyone that collaborates with them and what is the end result they are expecting. Its the spirit of authentic collaboration and the word of mouth after that is important. Brand innovation take the brand to new spaces that they might not be ready for with their community collaborators. The best brands out there firstly listen to their collaborators and then experiment with ways to create this innovation.
PT: I wonder if brands treat collaborators as equal to them? It is obvious to the consumer if the collaboration is exploitative and so yes, many brands have tried and not done well.
Giving collaborators due respect is in order because they bring not only talent to the table but also their community of fans and peers. One bad WOM and the seed of skepticism will be planted deep into their psyche.
FLAMINGO: As an audience how pro-active are Asian consumers as compared to Western consumers? Any thoughts on this?
PT: It boils down to how you treat your consumer. Asian consumers (if not all consumers) respond well when their needs and goals are treated with the proper accordance and not used and discarded after the campaign. I believe we all look for sincerity when it comes to collaborations.
FLAMINGO: Do they co-create in the same way?
PT: Putting the right ingredients together will always make a better soup. But this soup needs to be managed by the right chef.
FLAMINGO: Are they critical in the same way?
PT: Certainly if not more critical but in a quieter way. They may not express this to the brands openly but they will certainly voice their issues with their own communities. The brand will be quietly screwed without knowing a thing.
- ENDS -
- AWE50ME designer Minor Player customizes MP3 Players and Speakers -
- AWE50ME designer Crossville mashes up logos for RIGHTCLICKA -
- AWE50ME nightlife photographer Miss Curly Sue shoots RIGHTCLICKA -
Snap Shot portrait artist, Miss Curly Sue collaborates with RIGHTCLICKA to produce a series of nightlife portraits.
- VIEW THE ONLINE EXHIBITION HERE -
- AWE50ME designs for RIGHTCLICKA's YOUR MOTHER LOVES DEPECHE MODE Party, KL & SINGAPORE -
AWE50ME members Steve Lawler (Mojoko) customizes a Depeche Mode Mini Clubman & Stephen Lau (Eleven18 / Minor Player) customizes MP3 player and mini-speaker set for charity auction.
- VIEW THE PHOTOS HERE -





- RIGHTCLICKA brings music to 1st Pecha Kucha Singapore (Singapore Management University) -
- RIGHTCLICKA launches Facebook Music Widget -
RIGHTCLICKA's Flyer Art and Mix Music Widget launches in Facebook. Get the widget on your profile page for updates, downloads and share it with all your Facebook mates.
- GET THE WIDGET APP HERE! -
- The AWE50ME Project -
pool creates AWE50ME Network.
AWE50ME is a creative community space where unique individuals share their vision with each other. It is an active black book of exciting people across Asia living their passion and creating the scene around Art, Design, Music, Photography, Fashion, Video, Events and Popular Lifestyle Culture.
Our network profiles their personalities, their work and their communities.
- VIEW AWE50ME HERE -
- Singapore Music Opinion Leader Landscape Research -
pool does Singapore Music Opinion Leader Landscape Research for Bates.
Exploring the community relationships between Music Opinion Leaders in Singapore and their activities in online Social Networks (Myspace / Facebook / Friendster).
- Y & R Workshop Singapore -
pool conducts social media workshop for Young & Rubicam.
We explore the cultural behavior on how people create, consume and share media across the globe & how these social media communities & networks are transforming the marketing and media world today.
- RIGHTCLICKA Myspace & Facebook Groups -
RIGHTCLICKA Myspace and Facebook for DJs, Creatives and other assorted party animals.
The never ending search for sparkling underground DJs & Scenes – discovering them, reviewing their music & vibe, and introducing only the freshest ones to all our members. We are the music concierge and we love to party.
- VIEW RIGHTCLICKA MYSPACE HERE -
- VIEW RIGHTCLICKA FACEBOOK HERE -
- The Youtopia Project Myspace, Facebook and Friendster Groups -

Building the blueprint for a perfect 3D world. Virtually.
The Youtopia Project researches and documents the development of Social Media, Online Gaming and Virtual Worlds.
As Virtual Worlds grow in popularity, have you ever asked yourself - If you could create your ideal world, what would it look like and who would be in it?
The Youtopia Project is a by the people for the people group which aims to assemble the most concise ideas, needs, wants and requirements for a perfect 3D world.
If such a world exist then we should be the ones to shape it.
- VIEW THE YOUTOPIA PROJECT MYSPACE HERE -
- VIEW THE YOUTOPIA PROJECT FRIENDSTER HERE -
- VIEW THE YOUTOPIA PROJECT AVATAR GALLERY HERE -
- The Youtopia Project Blog -
SOCIAL MEDIA. ONLINE GAMES. VIRTUAL WORLDS - paul of pool stalks advancement, innovation and cultural attitudes towards digital life.
THE YOUTOPIA PROJECT BLOG IS HERE.
- Sydus.com in Myspace -
To establish a viral user and contributor community online, pool launches Mr Sydus in Myspace to promote www.sydus.com's user-generation features such as Customization and Personalization of embedable flash players, Unlimited Uploads of audio and Community Profiling.

- VIEW SYDUS MYSPACE HERE -
- GET LOST pool travel -
GET LOST is a travel initiative conceived by pool. We seek out cool destinations and invite a select list to join us in invading them; bringing together the right kind of people in an environment conducive to creative thinking and fun.
In attendance were DJs, Models, Writers, Trend Analysts and other media hounds. We had a grand time in spectacular Gili Trawangan, Indonesia. 
- VIEW GET LOST HERE -
- Asia Scout Network -
Paul of pool selected to write for Mindshare's Asia Scout Network, reporting on trends in Singapore for the 2nd year.
- VIEW ASIA SCOUT NETWORK HERE -
- RIGHTCLICKA developes web & mobile music lifestyle platform for Sydus Mobile -
Working with the tech team at Sydus Mobile, pool provided concept, creative direction, content and community development to launch a mix music, user generated platform that allows unlimited upload of mix music and unlimited customization of flash players for social network web pages and blogs. The flash players were also designed to incorporate bold provisions for advertising space. At the time of this post, the site is in Alpha testing but has recieved 246 hours of user generated music and have 26723 players accessed.
- VIEW SYDUS HERE -
- RIGHTCLICKA project continues to connect with global User Generation -
What started out 9 months ago as a podcast to study online music communities has developed into a mix music & culture web magazine with a strong, loyal and growing readership.
“…you've made me a RightClick addict already!” – Ju, Bangkok, Thailand
“Love them phat mixes dude, you just get it guy and keep them coming!” – Wildcard, Singapore
“Hey man, caught the nod to the "Fire Escapes" mix. "Random, but awesome." Shit, that's exactly what I'm going for. I want that on my tombstone, man. Thanks, as always, for helping spread the word. Always hitting your site for new stuff to hear,” – Bridge & Causeway, New York
“EZ Rollers LIVE @ ASTRA, Bangkok - Awesome Set! Can't sit still in office...” – Curly, Singapore
“…thanks for spreading the love worldwide with the mixtape…” – Kid Kamaya, UK
“nice sound paul!! i'm a fan of ya blog!!!! big up from berlin, pow! pow!! pow!!!” – Adam Port, Berlin
“Eh your mixes are wadda wadda wicked...” – Belle, UK
“Yo, where are the dubs man? My body is reacting different lately!” – IDN, Hong Kong
“I was wondering, how can I get one of my mixes on Rightclick?” – Joe Fatlip, Hawaii
- VIEW RIGHTCLICKA HERE -
- Colorzipme! -
We were task to present a community solution for Colorzip. Bound by the inescapable fact that the application could not function in extreme low light conditions, we came up with Colorzipme! Based on the hypothesis - Where do mobile phone savvy youths hangout all day and night long and is florescent bright? The answer to that was in schools, especially art schools where kids worked and interacted with each other visually. A basic profiler with uploadable images and unique code generator, with the ability to expand in structure and content was created for the Colorzip platform. This starter community site was a working example of the endless potential of the application.
"Our aim is to make it a part of life in high-tech Singapore. Over time, we want these codes to be everywhere, in newspapers, on T-shirts, signages, name cards, birthday cakes, and so on, and zapping them will become as natural as breathing," says Mr Leslie Fong, Executive Vice President of Marketing, SPH.
Try it out... all you need is a phone reader that you can download for free.
- Strap It On wins at Restfest -
Futon vs Momorobo motion graphics music video wins Resfest Adobe Audience Screener Choice Award 2006.
- RIGHTCLICKA Project -
A Work in Perpetual. This pool mixtape project observes and documents the evolution of online music culture and the communities around them.
We love music and there's nothing better than listening and learning.
More about RIGHTCLICKA:
www.rightclicka.com
Click here to get your own player.
- MTV Asia Awards 2004 stage design -
When we were called in to propose the design, we didn't think it would be so big that it took up half of Singapore Indoor Stadium. The date was Valentine's Day and the theme was Love. We did a lot of research because we didn't want it to be corny and we wanted to connect with the young audience. Finally we came up with a design that represented the truth as we all know - Love is Twisted.
- FUTON vs MOMOROBO -
We wanted to create a music video that would work perfectly on TV, Internet and Mobile, and fill it with characters that could continue to exist after the video was over. Animation is perfect for this.
Poised to pounce on the world, Thai electro punk band Futon and Singapore motion graphic artists Momorobo were the right choice.
Futon will release its single, "Strap It On" at the end of 2006. This animation will be released with it.
FUTON vs MOMOROBO
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- TONY THE STOOLIE -
Tony the Stoolie was created for just 1 reason - To showcase the endless wealth of content available on the internet today.
Imagine this: a 500 lbs silverback gorilla sneaking around undetected, posting the most exciting content on its blog purely for the entertainment of all.
So , have you seen the blinkin' ape?
- Research: Gaming Culture -
"First person shooter games (FPS) reinforces rational thinking, mental stratagem and unlike household chores, actually sharpens the mind." - part of pool's research into gaming culture with the help of for-real Counter Strike junkie - zxerokool.
This was selected to be in mtv's 2nd edition of The Cool Book.
- Tiger TRANSLATE Shanghai 2006 -
pool creatively brought together sets, staging, sound, lighting, art and music for 1,800 guests who showed up to experience 18 large scale canvases by New York artists FAILE and installations by Shanghai underground artists collective ACA (Another Commercial Artist)
Global music collective, HUMP - comprising of DJs, Vocalists, Musicians and Video Artists brought the sound element into the whole equation. As you can see from the photos below, the show literally brought the warehouse down.
- VIEW TIGER TRANSLATE HERE -
- Tiger TRANSLATE 2006 global tour -
Tiger Beer's new lifestyle platform brought together art, design and live music - all set in unconventional locations - a disused railway station in Dublin, an old industrial factory in Shanghai.
pool's contributions were to create the environment that complimented art, design and music - sourcing the world for the right artists and music acts and creatively directing and writing the TRANSLATE site to bring the Tiger lifestyle to fruition in Dublin, Auckland and Shanghai. To see the site in all its flash glory, just log on to tigertranslate.com
- VIEW TIGER TRANSLATE HERE -
- mtv trade @ The Supreme Court -
Here's the final selection that made it into the installation. We're presenting them here in full color and full mtv VJ emotion and energy. There are over 100 shots here that captured the spirit of mtv - Always larger than life itself.
- mtv behind the scenes -
Working with photographer Geoff Ang and mtv VJs, Denise, Choy and May for the mtv Trade party at the old Supreme Court.
pool designed a wall 4m x 25m that stretched clear across the room and used 3 high resolution projectors for this multi-media installation which utilized photography, music and written word.
Here's some behind the scenes at Geoff's studio.
- zouk book DJ interviews -
One of the coolest projects that we've ever done was the Zouk Book. While developing the CD-ROM and microsites, we managed to squeeze in 35 DJ interviews, many of them unreleased until now.
The Zouk Book project was in a way ahead of its time. Utilizing a captured creative community within the club to harvest content for a coffee table book. It was this approach that allowed us to interview not only the DJs that played at the club but many of the punters and denizens of the night. This was the start of pool people - the gathering of opinions and personalities thru video interviews.
GILLES PETERSON
pool interviews Gilles Peterson v 1
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ROGER SANCHEZ
pool interviews Roger Sanchez
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