Cut&Paste Tokyo 2012

Designers tend to live solitary existences, working late into the night in order to satisfy the impossible demands of uppity clients while subsisting on a diet of junk food, Red Bull and Aphex Twin records (okay, maybe that's just the designers that Time Out knows). Cut&Paste aims to rectify that problem: this globe-straddling designer showdown/hoedown thrusts graphic artists into the spotlight by pitching them against each other in 15-minute battles. Crowds watch on an array of overhead monitors as 2D, 3D and motion graphic designers work furiously on a given theme, to the accompaniment of DJs and MCs; as the website puts it, 'Think “Iron Chef” for design.' Last held in Tokyo in 2010, the tournament returns this weekend, with a panel of judges including industry heavyweight Koshi Uchiyama.