Because of the overwhelming response and quality of art we received in the Science Customs Design Challenge, we have decided to bring in an expert panel of artist, critics and style gurus and get their thoughts. Read below to find out who they are and what they picked.

Murray Bell / Design is Kinky

Hello. Can you please introduce your self. How did you start your career?

Ciao, my name is Murray Bell. I am one half of the website Design Is Kinky, one half of the design conferences Semi-Permanent, a half of Transit & Movement magazines. I started by failing two courses at design college, jumped into a web design job for 12 months and then started seriously on Design Is Kinky projects.

Tell us, where do you work and what you do?

At the moment I am working out of the RES offices in London, but my normal office is in Darlinghurst in Sydney, Australia. We have a big joint office that I work on all my projects from.

What's your position behind Semipermanent and Design Is Kinky?

Position? I co-own both companies with Andrew Johnstone.

Can you tell us a little bit about Design Is Kinky and its history?

DiK was born by Andrew out of experimentation. It started as a place for interviewing designers from across the globe. When I joined Andrew in running the site, we started on other projects like books & events.

And Semipermanent?

S-P was thought of while sitting in a hotel room while waiting to fly home after presenting at the OFFF in Barcelona. Through meeting the guys at Diesel we together come up with the plan and concept. Flew home and started straight away.

You are in Australia, right? Never planned to move to U.S? Why?

Would love to move to the US. I have plans to. Semi-Permanent will be landing in New York in September, but through DiK, S-P & my magazines we plan on looking into moving to the US if possible.

What are your thoughts about design magazines like Digital Abstracts?

I think it is the most practical way of reaching so many people across the globe. Its great.

What are your hobbies?

Thinking & planning. And when I am not, surfing.

How do you rest?

I don’t really, work hard for months and then I do big short holidays, but of late my work is a big holidays. I get to travel a lot for all the things I work on, so they cross over.

Web design, photography or motion? Why?

Motion, Film, the next step. Soon.

Inspiration?

Mike Mills, Neasden Control Centre, Charlie Kaufman & Spike Jonze.

Do any sports?

Surfing, Bodyboarding & Football (Soccer).

Last dream you remember?

Swedish, with black short hair.

Ok, last comments are welcome!

Don’t sleep, its over rated. I once tried to train my body to survive on 4 hours a night so I could get more work done. Lasted about two and half weeks.

Murray's picks, in no particular order:

Nick Bower / Creative Director, Stussy Deluxe

Nick Bower was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 1976, at twenty years of age, Bower left South Africa for London. There he studied fashion at the esteemed Central Saint Martins, receiving a BA with honors. His next move took him to Rome, where he worked for Valentino Couture. Knitwear became something of a speciality, with Bower also spending time working with Versace.

Couture, however, was a long way from the surf culture that had fascinated Bower since his youth. He and his wife Jane moved to Laguna Beach, California in 1985, a place that allowed Bower to further explore his interests. He took work in the surf wear world, spending a significant amount of time with Gotcha Sportswear.

Twelve years after moving to California, Bower landed at Stussy. Since then he’s worked on the men’s line along side Paul Mittleman. Two years ago he initiated and designed Stussy Deluxe. With a new collection and website dropping for fall 2010, I caught up with Bower to discuss the concept behind Deluxe and his background in design and sportswear.

Nick's picks:

MARK CUNNINGHAM / LIFEGUARD, BODYSURFER, LEGENDARY WATERMAN

In April of 2005, Mark Cunningham, 55, celebrated the end of his stellar 30-year Hawaiian lifeguard career, most of which was spent on the North Shore of Oahu with a very special breed of waterman. His list of former work colleagues is a veritable “who’s who” of Hawaiian surfing lore: Buffalo Keaulana, Eddie Aikau, Darrick Doerner, Rell Sunn and Tiger Espere. And while Cunningham himself has achieved legendary status, he’s done so in quite a different way. Aside from being the man who spent most of his days on the tower at Ehukai Beach Park, a.k.a. Pipeline, he’s earned a solid reputation as the world’s preeminent bodysurfer. His first North Shore Bodysurfing Championship came while he was in high school in 1974. His last one came in 2000, at the age of 44. In between he nabbed roughly 14 other titles, but even more impressive, thousands of friends and acquaintances from all over the world. - Chris Mauro Surfer Mag

Born and Raised?

I was made in Hawaii, born in Massachusetts and then grew up in Honolulu.

How long have you been on the Rock?

With the exception of a year & a 1/2 that I was going to school @ UCSB, playing water polo & lifeguarding ( my first ocean lifeguarding was the summer of '75 for Santa Barbara City). After that I started lifeguarding for the City & County of Honolulu the summer of '76 and moved out to the North Shore that winter for just under a 20 year run of living and lifeguarding in the Country. The last 10 years of my L/G career was working out of our Headquarters in HNL as a Training Lieutenant. FYI, Crossed paths quite a few times w/ Archie K. in the line of duty. Cliffnotes version of answer "Basically all my life".

Who do you look up to?

Anyone who is intelligent, open minded, aware, stoked, has a sense of humor and has their shit together. I also look up to older surfers who continue to get wet (or did) and seem to make the world a better place with their stoke & passion ie: Duke Kahanamoku, John Kelly, Woody Brown, Jeff Johnson, Doc Paskowitz, Peter Cole, Rabbit Kekai, Buffalo Keaulana, George Downing,Warren Harlowe, Joey Cabell, Gerry Lopez, Jock Sutherland, Ben Aipa, Herbie Fletcher........... just to name a few.

Who do you enjoy being in the water with?

I enjoy being in the water with people who are happy, stoked, having a good time and not taking this silly activity of surfing too seriously.

Years saving lives?

Just under 20 @ Ehukai/Pipeline and another 10 at our headquarters & Training Center in Waikiki/ Ala Moana.

Worst life saving experience?

Sorry, don't like to dwell on death & tragedy.

Best Life saving experience?

Having a front row seat to Pipeline and getting to know some of the international cast of characters who've performed on her stage.

Favorite size to bodysurf Pipe?

Anything up to about 8 feet, it really depends on the crowd and the conditions. Anything much over 8' is just way too much water moving around to not have a craft. I'm pretty much a spectator after that.

Why bodysurfing and not standup surfing?

Because I'm a KOOK and why would any lineup need another one?

Is there anyone out there that bodysurfs well that doesn’t get recognized as a body surfer?

There are loads of guys that rip on Oahu alone that nobody knows about and I'm sure the same holds true for the neighbor islands, California, Brazil, Oz and the rest of the world. Most body surfers are out there for fun, fitness, feeling good, escaping gravity and stoke........... if you want recognition get into acting, politics or both!

Mark's picks:

JOHN KOGA / ARTIST

John Koga may be Hawaii’s most well-known living Modernist. He also might be the only local artist you can commission to create a one-of-a-kind object and then provide it with museum-quality installation. His whimsical sculptures are thoughtful extensions of the experimental modes within 20th-century sculptural abstraction established by Noguchi and Moore, while also being vaguely intergalactic; some of Koga’s pieces feel like objects George Lucas might include in the next installment of Star Wars.

John's picks:

AARON MARTIN / ARTIST

Born in 1977 and raised on Oahu and in Nevada and California, Martin usually works in his Kahaluu studio, but brought out his paint brushes and spray cans for a live art experience at The Contemporary Museum before moving to San Pedro, California. Martin has been recently touring the nation with his Pocket Full of Monsters crew of artists. He does live painting, signings, group shows, collaborations and custom orders.
Known for his gnarly pandas (hence the Angry Woebot name), Martin was interested in art at a very young age when he was given the book, Spray Can Art, by James Prigoff and Henry Chalfant in first grade. It captured his imagination and he has been drawing and painting ever since. In grammar school in Kalihi, Martin embraced hip-hop culture and remembers tagging his name in crayons and big bubble letters around his school.

His grandfather ran the paint shop at Kamehameha Schools and kept paints around the house. Martin credits his grandfather with introducing him to his art talent through example and by encouraging Martin to explore his own creativity through art.

In 1999, Martin was in a car accident that left him in bed and in rehab for about a year. The life-threatening experience inspired him to leave for Seattle for a complete change of scenery where the rain and inclement weather forced him indoors. He began once again to dabble with art. He adopted the working artist name Timer and created a hip-hop art crew called Hidden Habitats. They opened for shows from 1996 through 2000.

His first solo art show was in 2002 and he hasn’t stopped since. His work has been shown in galleries in California, on the east coast, in Hawaii and China. He also sews costumes and stuffed animals, makes sculpture, and works in graphic design.

Martin created his signature panda icon while painting live at a Studio One poetry slam. He originally wanted to paint a grizzly bear, but all he had was white and black paint and some random colors in little tubes. The angry panda bear theme was born. It caught on like wild fire and he began painting pandas by popular request and later on commission. Martin's Angry Woebot was featured in a solo show with 80 angry panda portraits. Its popularity continues to grow.

"I like painting them looking pissed off because in Asian culture you see them on cookie and candy boxes, and they're all happy….so when people see them pissed off, it stops them in their tracks. People look at it and do a double take," said Martin in a recent interview.

The name "Angry Woebots" came from two places. The initial “Woebot” moniker is from his days working as a line cook in a Seattle restaurant, where the day-to-day grind of getting up and going to work seemed repetitive and very "robotic." The "woe" prefix was born from his homesickness and isolation from family, and the effect Seattle’s cold, gray winters had on his psyche-thus "woebot" became his new alias in the graffiti art world. He added the word "Angry" later when he needed an edgier name for his first show.
His infamous pandas have taken him cross-country for solo exhibitions and artist appearances. Spike TV commissioned him to paint their offices. He did work on film director Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob comics.

Recently, Martin was invited to paint a portrait of then President-elect Barack Obama in the Manifest Hope Gallery art exhibition at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Martin painted Obama making a shaka sign and with the words HOPE blazing across the top of the portrait.
His national notoriety went international when Martin started getting noticed in international toy magazines, Clutter and Hi-Fructose. Invitations for shows in Berlin, Tokyo, and New Zealand soon followed. He also has upcoming shows at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) and Vinyl Toy Network in Los Angeles.

Despite new fame, Martin continues to paint at some live venues, such as his recent gig at The Contemporary Museum’s Makiki Heights location, and also designs apparel for local companies. And, he worked as a volunteer teaching children how to paint at the Diverse Art Center in downtown Honolulu.

TCM Executive Director Georgi Lagoria said, “We are always delighted when we can provide a venue and a canvas for artists to explore their visions while visitors watch and participate in the experience. Aaron Martin joins fellow Hawaii artists Mike Ledger, along with Taiwanese artists Michael Lin and British artist Paul Morrison, all of whom have painted works currently sited on the TCM grounds.”

Aarons picks:

ESTRIA / ARTIST

Estria has been spray painting for over 26 years, and is recognized around the world as a
graffiti living legend, valued historian, and leader on graffiti’s social and political impact.
Hailing from San Francisco’s “Golden Age” of graffiti in the 80’s, Estria is a pioneer
in painting techniques, and the originator of the stencil tip. Through graffiti Estria has
become an educator, entrepreneur, and social activist, working with numerous non-profits,
and high profile corporations. In 2007, Estria founded the “Estria Invitational Graffiti
Battle”, a nationwide urban art competition that honors and advances creativity in the
Hip Hop arts. Originally from Hawaii, Estria has called the Bay Area home for half of his
life. His murals are known to be whimsical, cultural, political, and vibrant, with a focus
and dedication to uplift the communities they serve.

Estria picks:

Allison Wong / Executive Director of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu

Allison Wong is currently the Executive Director of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu. She is familiar to TCM as she held the position of Assistant Curator and Curator of Exhibitions at First Hawaiian Center for more than ten years. At curator she organized over 100 exhibitions of local and national artists and built an extensive art program at TCM at First Hawaiian Center in the heart of downtown Honolulu.

Wong was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from Mills College in Oakland, California, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history. She currently lives in Manoa with her husband and two sons.

Allisons picks

We are pleased to announce that "3do3" will receive a Science Prize Pack as the top selection of our panel. The top five is as follows:

1. 3do3
2. Reverse S
3. Z
4. Skull
5. Big bang