Parallax has a new website

I interviewed Matthew Remphrey at Parallax for a story about graphic design today and noticed the studio has launched a new website.

Based in Adelaide, Parallax is one of Australia's most awarded design studios, famous for creating designs that are not only aesthetically original but also strategically robust. The studio's new website is worth browsing - not only does it unveil something of the studio's design process, but it summarizes each and every client neatly.

My interview with Matthew will appear in CREATIVE magazine's annual 'Design' issue in June 2011.

ADFEST 2011 & humility in advertising

Today I returned from the Asia Pacific Advertising Festival in Thailand, where I was Editor of ADFESTbuzz and Lotus News.

The festival's guest of honour this year was Washington Olivetto, founder of W\Brasil in Sao Paolo. I was underwhelmed by Olivetto - many felt his speech only indicated that both he and his agency were far past their heyday in the 1980s and 90s.

The Jury Presidents invited from agencies in Asia were so much more inspiring, and humble. I was particularly impressed by Ram Madhvani, director at Equinox Film in Mumbai, who told me the reason his films are considered so exotic is because they're firmly grounded in Indian culture. He doesn't attempt to create films that global audiences will like; he makes films that are unashamedly local, which is why his Happydent commercial (above) could only have originated in India.

I was also struck by Satoshi Takamatsu, founder of Ground in Tokyo, who has created lots of award-winning integrated campaigns. Satoshi is wise, unassuming and thoughtful - I was touched by his confession that he is too embarassed to tell his family how successful he is -- humility in advertising is a rarity!

To see this year's winners of the ADFEST Lotus Awards, visit www.adfest.com

My feet in Phuket

Here are my feet relaxing in Phuket before the madness of ADFEST 2011 ensues...

Polish designer Maciej Zien visits Sydney

Today I interviewed fashion designer Maciej Zien, who is in Sydney for a few days from Poland. I liked him so much I had the odd sensation of wishing we could be friends.

Today Zień is one of Poland’s most celebrated designers, and though I haven't seen enough of his work to know whether his talents live up to his fame, I was struck by his charm, confidence, and ambition to loan his name to a line of products far beyond the world of fashion, like all the world's cleverest designers do.

Maciej also designs interiors and his tile range will be available at Taste showrooms in Australia later this year. The textures are incredible- some tiles look like alligator skin. Here are his interior design tips, which I compiled for Taste's custom-published magazine:

1. USE BEAUTIFUL TEXTILES
“I use a lot of beautiful materials in my home. I have an amazing cashmere couch by Loro Piama, which is incredibly soft and comfortable. She also sells a line of cashmere carpets called ‘One Step to Heaven’. Materials are very important.”

2. LAMPS CREATE ROMANCE
“I put lights in the same part of the window where you would see the sun, and I put lamps around my couch to create a romantic atmosphere.”

3. CHOOSE COLOURS THAT CHANGE WITH THE LIGHT
“Taupe is my favorite colour. In the morning it looks greyish, but in the evening when you turn on your lamps you can see beige. It changes a little throughout the day.”

4. DESIGN FOR THE SENSES
“Some apartments make you think about an emotion – that’s very important for me. Fragrance and music help to evoke emotion; when you are in one of my stores, you can smell candles and hear music, so if you closed your eyes you would still know you’re in my shop.”

5. MIX OLD AND NEW
“It is sad to forget history, so I love to mix old details with modern design. This is also why artwork is very important. When you change your home, you take your artworks with you. When you put them in your new apartment, it immediately feels like home.”

AWARD Awards 2010… my verdict

Last Friday I attended the AWARD Awards, which are a bit like the Logies for the ad industry.

Every year the AWARD Awards struggle to keep their audience under control. As the night wears on, the crowd gets drunker until barely anyone pays attention to anything.

This year, Rockwiz host Julia Zemiro did an admirable job of keeping the crowd in check – a crap job that barely anyone is tough or funny enough to pull off. She did, but not without commenting that AWARD’s dogmatic ‘no speeches, no clapping, no alcohol’ policy was zero fun.

If you’d like my two cents, I’d say the night was a bit of a fizz. I understand why AWARD keeps its audience on a very tight leash. I agree that integrating the AWARD Awards into a 3-day festival called Circus was a good idea. Hopefully it will create the impression that the Australian advertising is finally growing up.

But AWARD is a long way off getting it right. Personally, I didn’t appreciate being treated like a naughty teenager before being whisked away to a nightclub full of sloppy 20 year-olds in Kings Cross.

So I was amused to read this story in Campaign Brief today. Congratulations BBDO! The agency's 'Support Scent' fragrance for Guide Dogs was very lovely.

Claire Inc, Adelaide

Often when I interview interesting retailers and designers I accidentally buy their products.

Claire Inc is a good example... Belinda Humphris founded online vintage store Claire Inc in 2009, and it already has a global following thanks to a smart web marketing strategy.

Humphris first began selling second-hand clothes on eBay to fund her university studies, never imagining her hobby would later become a fully-fledged business.

Buoyed by the success of her eBay store, she decided to invest in a standalone online store, ClaireInc.com, a couple of years later.

By setting up an online store to sell vintage fashion from the 1980s and ’90s, Claire Inc now generates 50% of its sales overseas while 80% of its Australian customers are based in Sydney and Melbourne.

Without an online store, Claire Inc might never have caught the eye of influential fashion bloggers like Style Bubble in London, or attracted celebrity buyers like British singers Lily Allen and M.I.A.

Read my interview with Humphris here... While researching the story, I purchased a very excellent 1980s pencil skirt for the bargain price of $110 dollars.