Wang Yiying, Creator Extraordinaire

Noodoll is a celebrated porn star from Noodle Town. With their macaroni-like eyes and pudgy bodies, his parents and children all bear an uncanny resemblance to him. Noodoll takes care of his family by hopping from the bed of one starlet to that of another.

Noodoll is a sincere, down-to-earth guy, but just like any superstar, he's got a greedy agent who pockets his hard-earned money. The blackhearted agent is married to a woman who loves browsing brand-name boutiques and spending money like there's no tomorrow. Her classic line--"Money is everything!" describes this money-grubbing couple to a tee.

In the virtual metropolis of Noodle Town, designed to overflow with love and mutual understanding, the astute reader can catch glimpses into the author's own life.

Go to www.noodoll.com to see the people of Noodle Town lined up in a row. Roll your cursor over animated characters to learn more about them.

Be creative and fun

You'll never find Noodle Town on a map or the Noodle People in any encyclopedia. They are the products of the vivid imagination of Wang, who just turned 30. Each of the colorful and uniquely silly Noodle People was brought to life by her own hand as drawings in her sketchbook and then finalized as animated characters on her computer.

Wang, like many other outstanding creators, is described on her name card as a "designer," but her actual job description is much more multidisciplinary in nature. She majored in visual communications at university. In addition to penning books, she likes to dabble in design. Noodle Town, created in 2002, has developed into a fashion line. For the past few years, she has been trotting between Taiwan and China as she has been working her two hot-selling Fashion Market books. She has become a spokesperson for the new generation of creative workers.

But everything, from the instant hit Noodle Town to the hot-selling Fashion Market and the fad that it triggered in Taiwan, was totally unexpected by Wang. She's just a simple girl that enjoys drawing and watching cartoons.

"It wasn't until I graduated from high school and decided to study in England that I actually began collecting material and thinking about what I ought to study," explains Wang, who boasts a wealth of long straight hair and big bright eyes. Despite being busy with her design work, writing her books, and flying back and forth from England, where she is based, to China and Taiwan where she frequently lectures, Wang still speaks and moves unhurriedly--like someone forgot to wind her up all the way. She recalls, "I knew I liked to draw this, that, and the other, so I figured I could try my hand at design. I eventually decided on visual communication design." As fate would have it, Wang immediately fell in love with her chosen field of study and eventually graduated first in her class. She then applied to study at London's renowned Central St. Martins College of Art and Design. Soon after commencing her graduate studies there, Wang was asked to choose a specialty from among multimedia, animation, and graphic design.

"I naturally thought about how much I loved cartoons as a kid... all of those wonderful cartoon characters and toys," remembers Wang. "Once I thought about that, my direction became crystal clear. I was going to create my own cartoon world!"

The birthplace of many internationally renowned designers and fashion people, St. Martins calls on students to follow their individual artistic creativity, while keeping market demands in mind. Held each year, the graduation exhibition is a must-go for fashion and design industry talent scouts. Graduating students await it in eager anticipation, hoping their work will catch the eye of visiting industry representatives.

"I used to wonder why guys like porn sites so much," explains Wang as she recalls the origins of Noodle Town. "Then a light bulb flashed above my head. I decided to create my version of a cartoon porn site."

With this idea in mind, Wang conceived the site's leading character--Noodoll, the porn star--and proceeded to do some investigative work. In addition to checking out naughty Internet sites, she frequented shops specializing in dirty magazines and flicks in London's Soho district. Even in the melting pot of London, an Asian girl in one of those places really attracts attention. "It's disturbing to be stared at by those creepy guys," Wang recalls.

Noodle Town depicts the world through comics and views sex with a bit of dark humor. "At first, I didn't know if the character should be human, animal, or some personified object," she relates, "until one day, I thought about how noodles could be made into all kinds of different shapes, so I tried making people out of noodles."

"My noodles are also flesh colored, so a mass of tangled noodles really can be a metaphor for sex!"

Equipped with a good idea and some imagery, Wang did a little bit of surgery on the English language, getting "Noodoll" by dissecting and grafting the words "noodle," "nude," and "doll." "Noodoll is a porn star, so I decided to let him run around buck naked, like some primitive man."

And just like that, Noodle Town came into being, appearing in its own website and Wang's storybooks as well as on T-shirts and button pins. It was also her contribution to St. Martins College's 2001 graduation exhibition.

Outside of the website, these cartoon characters adorn bags and garments. Now a hit in Britain, the clothing line can be seen in Taiwan,too.

From concept to product

To this day, the population of this virtual city continues to expand and the plot of the story that takes place within to thicken. Wang likes to take the people around her as the prototypes for new characters. She herself has been incarnated into Noodle Town in the form of the city's Asian porn queen. And that is how, at the graduation exhibition, Wang's bizarre little cartoon world, replete with balloon-breasted women and porn stars of every color imaginable, attracted the attention of the owner of four T-shirt labels--the UK's Map Print Ltd. After an extended period of talks and contract negotiations, the Noodoll line of clothing and accessories, with Wang listed as head designer, was officially unveiled in 2002.

Noodoll designs affordable women's clothing and accessories, selling T-shirts and bags at £20-30 (NT$1,200-1,800). Backed by Map Print's sales and manufacturing departments, Wang hired six people to focus on design. Their work is handed over to Map Print for mass production and she receives 10% in royalties from all products sold.

And that is how, in just three years, Noodoll attracted a following in Britain and established fixed sales points in department stores and other businesses.

But Wang hasn't forgotten Noodle Town's roots. On the Noodle Town website, in addition to browsing and purchasing products, many customers go online to read the stories of the characters printed on the T-shirts. "The website's sales pale in comparison to store sales, but the site is important in that it helps us to quickly obtain customer reaction to our products and stories."

In addition to the story plots, the style and design elements of Noodle Town characters stir up a great deal of discussion. Some look at Wang's background and say that her designs are heavily influenced by Japan and Asia as a whole. Some feel that the dark humor is uniquely British.

"Poking fun at sex conveys a relaxed attitude towards life. And this attitude is the reason that Noodle Town has been so well received," explains Kristy Cha Ray Chu as she analyzes what makes the Noodle People so special. Chu, director of the Institute of Fashion and Communications Design at Shih Chien University, is a good friend of Wang's and has watched her business take off.

Outside of the website, these cartoon characters adorn bags and garments. Now a hit in Britain, the clothing line can be seen in Taiwan,too.

Coming home

With Noodoll a hit in the UK, Wang introduced him in Taiwan earlier this year. She brought a limited amount of fashion clothing and accessories to be sold at specialty counters in Breeze Center and Asiaworld.

All Wang really wanted was to do well in the graduation exhibition and then find a good job, but heaven must have had something else in mind. She now has a business that she never imagined in her wildest dreams. Despite her happiness, she does have some minor regrets--"It would be perfect if I just had some spare time to draw."

First and foremost a designer, Wang is forever searching for new ideas and adding new inhabitants to Noodle Town. Her latest favorite creation goes by the name of Madame Noovely, a sex goddess that enjoys walking her dog while dressed in only sexy underwear.

This little sex goddess will soon appear as the star for Madame V, an expensive lingerie label in Brazil. She is to be printed on various styles of panties.

"In the future, I hope that to be able to try some more interesting things," explains Wang with a coy smile, "like designing condom packaging or men's boxers. I would love to try my hand at things like that."

It looks as though the population of our virtual Noodle Town is going to continue to expand.

Wang Yiying's two Fashion Market books have landed her on the bestseller list. In private, she's still the simple, sweet girl she always was.

Go to www.noodoll.com to see the people of Noodle Town lined up in a row. Roll your cursor over animated characters to learn more about them.

Go to www.noodoll.com to see the people of Noodle Town lined up in a row. Roll your cursor over animated characters to learn more about them.

Go to www.noodoll.com to see the people of Noodle Town lined up in a row. Roll your cursor over animated characters to learn more about them.

Outside of the website, these cartoon characters adorn bags and garments. Now a hit in Britain, the clothing line can be seen in Taiwan,too.

Go to www.noodoll.com to see the people of Noodle Town lined up in a row. Roll your cursor over animated characters to learn more about them.