My latest project has 2 heads, 4 ears and 20 toes

I've been busy on a different project lately, which has kept me from updating this blog.

I know. Adorable. I made them myself.

Introducing Hunter & Ashley, identical twin sproglets, who have made my life very busy, chaotic, sleepless and - from a writing point-of-view - unproductive. And yet, so much more fulfilling.

Neon Lane: Tokyo comes to Melbourne

This week I've been working with Right Angle Studio to promote Neon Lane - Melbourne's newest laneway redevelopment - designed by Australian design duo Craig & Karl. The laneway features up to 60 neon lightboxes, and is located adjacent to retail development 206 Bourke St Melbourne.

Read the Herald Sun's coverage here

My feet in Phuket

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

ADFEST, Phuket

see you in phuket!
Originally uploaded by Barbarella07

It's February and I'm already drowning in deadlines, so I am excited to say I just booked my flights to Phuket for ADFEST 2011...

James Gulliver Hancock

James Hancock is having an exhibition in the city tonight - I can't make it, but I heart his work. I purchased a print from this series last year (only mine is a drawing of an exploding lawnmower). I almost worked with James when I needed a new designer at CREATIVE but I think he would have been bored working on the same magazine so long. He lives in the US now with his pop singer wife, but his work is still often published in Australian magazines.

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.

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

Vietnamese fashion

I sometimes wonder what I might be like if I were born in another country. If I were raised in mid-west America, would I wear sneakers with jeans and a bum bag? Would I be less likely to know the capital cities of other countries?

My curiosity relates to my own identity as a Vietnamese Australian. Obviously where we’re born and how we grow up has a major impact on our tastes and aesthetics.

So, if I had grown up in Saigon, it’s entirely possible I might find this garment (above, featured in Vietnam Airline’s latest in-flight magazine) attractive. I’d probably be wearing mini-dresses with puffed sleeves, and shoes bespangled with sequins.

I love Vietnam (I'm typing this from the Sofitel Saigon), but I am also thankful that I grew up in a country that has a flourishing fashion industry.

I also wonder this: how can a country that designs such immaculate recipes (like the betal leaf-wrapped beef rolls served at the Temple Club… I salivate as I type) also design horrors like this one? I blame the Communists, who stamped out fashion wherever they raised their red flag. And yet, their propaganda is excellent. Ponder that.

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.)

Feet

I travel a lot for work, and I photograph my feet to prove I was there.