Mark Gowing has a new website

I have always admired Sydney designer Mark Gowing: he is easily one of my favorite graphic designers in Australia – not because all his designs necessarily match my own tastes, but because he is such a thoughtful designer who brings an intellectual rigor to his aesthetic choices.

Mark has a talent for inventing typefaces; his designs are disciplined and geometrically meticulous; there is a modernist, almost industrialist edge to his work; yet his designs are still evocative.

Yesterday, Mark unveiled a new website that's worth a peek: www.markgowing.com

Left: the Miro-esque Circa.11; and Hopscotch typefaces; plus a poster by Mark Gowing Studio

Why not redesign yourself?

I've always wished I were brave enough to invent my own persona, ditching the personality traits I was born with in favour of traits that are more fun or advantageous. Instead of being incessantly polite and cautious, I'd become spontaneous, loud and extroverted. Instead of worrying about doing the right thing, I'd be deliciously ruthless and irresponsible. I wouldn't like to ditch my 'real' self permanently, but why not use an alter-ego when traveling overseas or interstate, or meeting strangers? It would be very convenient.

...... This year, I interviewed two people who have designed their own personas.


First, Captain Australia... a 'real life super hero' whose green-and-gold costume is ingeniously constructed out of an old tracksuit, yellow gum boots and a discarded pair of gardening gloves. He admits his costume is far from perfect, and attracts the ridicule of passers-by. He is aware that his DIY-outfit detracts from the seriousness of his mission to make the streets of Australia safer and kinder. Clearly, he is eccentric. But I admire his bravery for stepping out of himself and into his green-and-gold tracksuit as 'Captain Australia' every weekend.

I also interviewed Pia Andersen, founder of Vintage Allsorts. Blonde, voluptuous and impeccably groomed, Pia has made a career out of her Marylin-esque looks. She lives and breathes the vintage era with a wardrobe full of 1950s Chanel and a house full of retro furniture. Pia is so enamored by all things vintage, she is rarely seen any other way. Since meeting Pia, I've noticed that whenever an ad agency needs a retro pin-up girl, she books the job. And given that TV shows like 'Man Men' have put the 1950s back in fashion, she's doing very nicely.


Both interviews appeared in Sunday Magazine.

Gemma O'Brien: being Mrs Eaves

I recently interviewed Gemma O’Brief for incubate magazine. I was not nearly as impressed by her body typography – which has made her almost-famous in the design blogosphere – as I was by her illustrations, which are cursive, ornate, and inspired by words, just like her blog (fortheloveoftype, which she writes under the pseudonym 'Mrs Eaves').

Ordinarily, I am suspicious of people who have the potential to become more successful than me by the age of 30. But Gemma is too lovely to begrudge. Bubbly and gorgeous, I love the way she experiments with typography in such a tactile, naïve way. I also love that she's established a global client base for her illustrations thanks to her knack for social networking.

She was recently commissioned to illustrate a story for The New York Times. She designed Bob Hawke’s 80th birthday invitations. She’ll appear at TypoBerlin for the second time as a guest speaker in 2011. And goddammit, she’s only 22.

CREATIVE 2004-07

From 2004-07, I edited a magazine called CREATIVE, which is all about commercial creativity in Australia - designers, photographers, directors, advertising creatives, illustrators and architects.

The magazine was redesigned by Frost Design in February 2005, celebrated its 10th anniversary in October that year, and launched a website a year or so later. (This cover shows talented Australian graphic designer, Marcus Piper, of POL Oxygen fame.)