How to make money from creative ideas...

Very few creative entrepreneurs have cracked the secret to monetising IP.

I recently interviewed 2 people who have: Tomek Archer, an industrial designer and musician from Melbourne; and Shainiel Deo, CEO of Halfbrick, a gaming company in Brisbane.

Tomek Archer (below left) is very switched on when it comes to licensing his furniture designs to international manufacturers. He's not precious about IP - instead he believes the more available you make your designs, the more likely you are to profit from them.

Shainiel Deo is running one of Australia's most successful independent gaming studios. Halfbrick used to rely on commissioned work until it introduced 'Halfbrick Fridays' (much like Google's '20% time') and began to develop its own games, like 'Fruit Ninja', which has been downloaded 3.5 million times and counting.

You can read Tomek Archer and Shainiel Deo's advice on IP on CreativeInnovation.net.au

My feet in Vietnam

Here are my feet anticipating an incredibly delicious meal at the Temple Club in Ho Chi Minh city, where I set up my office at A&Em Hotel (pictured right, it's a great boutique hotel chain for business travellers) for one week while I was in Vietnam meeting with advertising executives for ADFEST.

One Central Park... now under construction

Last year I worked with Frost* Design to write a magazine and website promoting Central Park - a property development that will transform the old Carlton United Breweries site in Chippendale, Sydney into "a $2 billion urban village with a beautiful, spacious park at its heart".

There was lots to write, but I have to say it was amazing to be involved in promoting a development that will transform the city so visibly. Frost* have given Central Park a vibrant brand identity to reflect Sydney's own vibrancy, and photographer Ant Geernaert did an incredible job capturing the faces of the inner-city.

Designed by starchitects including Jean Nouvel, Sir Norman Foster and local talents Richard Johnson, Alec Tzannes and Tim Greer, with a vertical garden by French botanist Patrick Blanc, Central Park aims to raise the benchmark for sustainable living not just here but globally. It replaces an industrial, drab corner of the city (Broadway has never been Sydney's prettiest strip) with a new hub for living, working and playing.

One Central Park, which will be covered in native Australian plants and vines, is now under construction.

You can visit the Central Park website here

The trouble with tourism...

I discovered these garish sculptures on a recent holiday to the island of Phu Quoc, Vietnam. Parts of the island are pristine and unexplored, but others are ruined by hideous adornments like these.

Squint and you might see me standing amongst a herd of concrete swans, and before a miniature replica of the Sydney Opera House.

My foot finds a friend

Celebrating the New Year at sunset in Luang Prabang, Laos