BAS Photography & Design

Preview from Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Bree Smith as a Jedi

Stan Lee, Mike Carbo, and Neal Adams at Mike Carbo’s Comic Book Market place. 

astorcos:

The Faces of Astor Cos:

Astor Cos is an idea that has become a reality because of the ambition and hard work of its founding members. Astor Cos started out as an idea that one young man, Kadeem Mundy, had for a long while. It was a personal project of his, to take a bunch of cosplayers I liked and feature them online. It came out good and a lot of people liked it. Then some of his other friends told me to make it a magazine, but he didn’t have the people with him to bring this idea to life. He shared this goal of his with myself and Mei Hoshi because he trusted us, and he knew that like him we’re always working hard.  

Kad, as he’s also known as, is a big dreamer, very ambitious person. No matter how impossible it may have seem to others, Kad always believed that there was a way to get it done. And that’s what I admire most about him. He’s almost like Kamina from Gurren Lagaan, always dreaming and talking big. But with this magazine no can tell him that it is impossible. He isn’t a graphic designer by trade, but he loves to create. He sat down and learned a lot on his own photoshop wise and use those talents make Astor Cos stand out in a very special way. I come from a graphic design background. It was my first job as kid in school and worked that job for over 10yrs learning form the basics of the pen tool, to more ambitious and creative aspects of the field. I eventually took up photography while in school and continue trying to improve myself in that as well. Mei Hoshi a cosplayer who will spend hours and days making amazing cosplays. She has a great understanding of layout design and photoshop as well because of her schooling and past usage of the program. The more we worked on the magazine the more it felt real, the more it felt like we were like family. If this was an anime, Kad would be the young hero that constantly gets himself into trouble but yet manages to set things right. Mei would be the smart and skilled older sister always watching out for him and sometimes proves why girls are smarter than boys. And I guess my role would either be the elder brother who is always glad to give advice, and is always there to help him no matter how crazy the idea may be. 

While we had a lot of experience between us, it was still a great learning curve to really get Astor Cos off the ground. With as many disagreements, ideas, and printing errors that got in our way, that never stopped us from doing our best to put out a high quality magazine that reflected our passion for cosplay and everything the comes with it. Between the 3 of us finding cosplayers and photographers to be in the magazine was easier because of the fact we were all a part of that community. We’ve made a lot friends and connections with people involved in cosplay and that continues to grow to this day. We’ve started to involve select people to be a part of Astor Cos because we know they want the same thing we want for this magazine. To see it grow and flourish into something wonderful. If things keep going well for us, we should have a friend in each state for every con and maybe even in other countries as well to help us do a lot more than we could ever do on our own. 

For us the magazine isn’t a way to make money. It’s bringing the world of cosplay and everything and everyone involved to people that love it as much as us, to those that have no clue about it, and to the future generations that will continue to keep amazing everyone with their talents and skills. Astor Cos is the dream and ambition of one group of friends to make an impact in the world in this one life we have to live.

For more Astor Cos or pick up a copy of the magazine check out:

astorcos.com

facebook.com/astorcos

twitter: @astorcos