''Yolk'' was a quarterly magazine for young Asian Americans. It was published by InformAsian Media, Inc. (IAMI) between 1994 and 2004, and it was headquartered in Alhambra,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, in

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.Wan, William.
Pop Culture Asian American Magazine Falters
" ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

''. December 8, 2003. Retrieved on September 25, 2012. "But the periodical never turned a profit, and now the Alhambra-based Yolk is the latest in a line of Asian American publications to fold." The later incarnations of the magazine were titled ''Yolk: GenerAsian Next 2.0''.Wong
p. 134

History and content

It was founded in 1994 by Tommy Tam, Tin Yen, and Amy Lee Tu. Tommy Tam was in charge of operations, Tin Yen was the graphic designer/art director, and Amy Tu oversaw the financial aspects of the magazine. Based in Los Angeles, ''Yolk''s reflection of its generation combines sections on fashion, entertainment and music, book reviews, with occasional in-your-face attacks on our society's misunderstandings of Asian culture. The magazine's premise is that there is something common to Japanese, Korean and Chinese Americans, as well as Vietnamese, Filipinos, Indians and other Asian American groups. ''Yolk''s first editor was Philip Chung, and managing editor, Larry Tazuma, came up with the magazine's name. "An egg yolk is yellow," he said," and so is the nominal color of Asian people's skin, regardless of nationality." "YOLK draws a strong reaction. But it simply stands for the color of our skin," he says. "It's what connects all Asians." Performance artist and professor Alex Luu served as its editor and graphic designer Max Medina/Mystery Parade served as the Art Designer of ''YOLK''. Staff writers include XD Lim and

Margaret Rhee Margaret Rhee is a feminist experimental poet, new media artist, and scholar. Her research focuses on technology, and intersections with feminist, queer, and ethnic studies. She has a special interest on digital participatory action research and ...

. As the business grew, operations expanded into the clothing business. YOLK was well known for producing its line of

Got Rice? Asian pride is a term which encourages Asian people to celebrate their ethnicity and culture. It also has various origins and interpretations. International usage Asian pride is a broad term that can cover several topics. Within the international ...

t-shirts under the Brand Fury name. Popular sellers included phrases such as Got Rice?, Got Sushi?, Got Adobo? and Got Pho? Circulation reached a high of 50,000 in 2000 and targeted English-fluent college-educated Asian Americans coming from various cultures. In 2001, Stanley LimAsia Pacific Arts Online Magazine: Interview with Stanley Lim
/ref> came in as the new publisher of the magazine. He proposed a new formula heavy on "guy stuff"—reviews of video games and tech gadgets, interviews with models and more bikini-clad women, both on the cover and throughout the pages. But ''Yolk'' was not able to sustain success, and folded in 2004 after a 10-year, 31-issue run. Tommy Tam is currently the VP of Marketing at Dream Tube Entertainment. Tin Yen is still involved with graphic design today and has taught at UCLA Extension in the graphic design program. He founded creative agency TYS Creative, Inc. Amy Lee Tu is currently the Head of Marketing at Indomina Releasing. As ''Yolk'' was closing,

Honda Motor Co. is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

offered a four month advertising contract. Lim and the editorial staff changed the publication into a web publication, and asked Honda to provide online advertising banners in lieu of print advertisements. Honda agreed to the change, and Chopblock.com became active.

Issues list

The cover subjects have been well-known celebrities and other notable Asian Americans in the Entertainment field. *No. 01 -

Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...

*No. 02 - Russell Wong *No. 03 -

Dean Cain Dean George Cain ( Tanaka; born July 31, 1966) is an American actor. From 1993 to 1997, he played Clark Kent / Superman in the TV series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. Cain was the host of ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' an ...

*No. 04 -

Ming-Na Wen Ming-Na Wen (; born November 20, 1963) is an American actress and model. She voiced Mulan in the animated film ''Mulan'' and its sequel, portrayed Melinda May / The Cavalry in ''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020), and Fennec Sha ...

*No. 05 - Kiana Tom *No. 06 -

Michelle Yeoh Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng, ( ; born 6 August 1962) is a Malaysian actress. Credited as Michelle Khan in her early Hong Kong films, she rose to fame in the 1990s after starring in a series of Hong Kong action films where she performed her own ...

*No. 07 -

Jim Lee Jim Lee ( Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a H ...

*No. 08 - Shannon Lee *No. 09 - Sung Hi Lee *No. 10 -

Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, martial artist, and retired Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singaporean citizen. After three years of ...

*No. 11 - Adam Saruwatari *No. 12 - Bai Ling *No. 13 -

Doug Chiang Doug Chiang (; born 16 February 1962) is an American film designer and artist. He currently serves as vice president and executive creative director of Lucasfilm. Early life Chiang was born in Taipei, Taiwan. His dad had gone to Michigan in th ...

*No. 14 -

Sammo Hung use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinate ...

*No. 15 -

Audrey Quock Audrey Quock is an American model and actress. Biography Quock was born in New York, New York, in Manhattan and is of Chinese descent. She is perhaps most famous for being a swimsuit model for ''Sports Illustrated''. She has also modeled for ' ...

*No. 16 -

Lauren Tom Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961) is an American actress. Her roles include Lena St. Clair in '' The Joy Luck Club'', Julie in the NBC sitcom '' Friends'', Dot in the final season of ''Grace Under Fire'', and the voices for Amy Wong in '' Futura ...

*No. 17 - Kelly Hu *No. 18 - Stacy Kamano *No. 19 -

Nicole Bilderback Nicole Bilderback (born June 10, 1975) is a Korean-born American actress, known for her recurring guest roles on the television programs '' Dark Angel'' and '' Dawson's Creek'', and the films '' Bring It On'' and '' Bad Girls From Valley High ...

*No. 20 - Karen Kim *No. 21 - Michelle Krusiec *No. 22 -

Jodi Ann Paterson Jodi Ann Paterson (born July 31, 1975) is an American model, actress and former beauty queen. She competed in the Miss Teen USA competition as Miss Oregon Teen USA in 1994. She is ''Playboy''s Playmate for October 1999, and was named Playmate of ...

*No. 23 -

Marie Matiko Marie Matiko (born September 12, 1970) is an American actress. Early life Marie Matiko is of Chinese, Japanese and Filipino descent, born in Los Angeles County and grew up in Huntington Beach. She grew up wanting to become a concert pianist. ...

*No. 24 -

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the develop ...

aka "The Rock" *No. 25 - Kiana Tom *No. 26 -

Joy Bisco Jocelyn "Joy" Bisco (born October 15, 1975) is a Filipino American actress. She graduated from University City High School in San Diego, California. Her movie credits include '' The Debut'' and ''Not Another Teen Movie''. Film credits *'' Gho ...

*No. 27 -

Linda Park Linda Park (born July 9, 1978) is a South Korean-born American actress, best known for her portrayal of communications officer character Hoshi Sato in the television series '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. Early life Park was born in South Korea and ...

*No. 28 -

Lexa Doig Alexandra Doig (born June 8, 1973) is a Canadian actress. She played the title role in the science fiction television series '' Andromeda'' (2000–2005). She also played the lead female role of Rowan in the science fiction-action horror film ...

*No. 29 -

Jimi Mistry Jimi Mistry (born 1 January 1973) is a retired British actor. He is known for appearing in numerous films such as '' East Is East'' (1999), '' The Guru'' (2002), ''Ella Enchanted'' (2004), '' The Truth About Love'' (2005), ''Blood Diamond'' (20 ...

*No. 30 -

John Cho John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the '' Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series. Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian A ...

*No. 31 -

Sanoe Lake Sànoe Lake is an American actress, model, and surfer. Early life Lake was born and raised on Kauai, Hawaii. She is of Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, German, Irish and English descent. Her name "Sànoe" means "The Mist of the Mountains." Lake w ...

References

* Wong, Deborah. "GenerAsians Learn Chinese: The Asian American Youth Generation and New Class Formations." in DiMaggio, Paul and Patricia Fernandez-Kelly (editors). "Art in the Lives of Immigrant Communities in the United States."

Rutgers University Press Rutgers University Press (RUP) is a nonprofit academic publishing house, operating in New Brunswick, New Jersey under the auspices of Rutgers University. History Rutgers University Press, a nonprofit academic publishing house operating in New ...

, November 18, 2010. , 9780813547572.

History and content

Issues list

See also

References

Notes

Further reading

External links