Giving up the Brookvale space was a big decision for me, but there is a time to move on, and it had arrived. In spades. I could scarcely hold back once the decision was made; we placed a ‘for lease’ ad online via the real estate agents. The ad was so effective (or we were so lucky, or a combination of the two), that the space was leased in under 24 hours! I must admit we have been flirting with the idea of vacating those old premises, for maybe a year or so. Still, the actual act of locking the door on an empty design studio has a certain nostalgia which brings back many good memories as well as a regret when you have put in so many years of your life into one single endeavor, in one place…  In truth, I’ll not miss some aspects of the location; but close proximity to the beach and of course, some of the people who we know there will be sadly missed!

Bye, bye Brookvale. And hello world.
The next chapter has begun.

Click to be wished...

Now, stuffed to the gills, we reflect on a year that was crazy, busy, hard, fun, challenging and different in many many ways…
and all of those characteristics sometimes landing on my desk before lunch! What a year it has been. 2009, we salute you: “What does not kill us builds character”.

What I looked like after lunch

Thanks also to our new clients the start-ups who have given us their trust to help them build up their brand. Nothing is more rewarding than helping someoine start out in business I think. It gives me a lot of job satisfaction…

Very satisfying to know we are actually instrumental in something ‘meaningful’. For if helping someone realise their dreams in starting out in their own business is not so meaningful, then what is?

So 2010, we look forward to embracing the design, creative and branding challenges you deliver! So, until we return full of character and maybe a bit more tanned in january 2010. Thanks for an exciting ride…

“In captivity they’ve been known to navigate mazes, seem to be able to remember past events, and are cunning escape artists.” Very cunning. Anyone who’s ever tried to catch one underwater will tell you they are very calculated. tasty too but you have to outsmart them to catch them bare handed!

ACCC crackdown on real estate sector
Sunday July 19, 2009, 11:27 am

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says the real estate industry has been put on notice.

An amendment to the Trade Practices Act is due to be further scrutinised by Federal Parliament next month.

It is proposing fines of more than $1 million for companies and up to $220,000 for individual agents that underquote, use dummy bidders at auctions and airbrush photos of properties.

The ACCC says it hopes the changes will become law next year.

Chairman Graham Samuel says the crackdown has been prompted by complaints of misconduct.

“If we have a suspicion that there is a problem in relation to a particular auction or in relation to a particular agent, we’ll be able to issue a substantiation notice,” he said.

“That is a notice to the agent to say ‘please substantiate your claim that this property was for sale’ for example at $500,000 when we may have reason to believe in fact the reserve price was $600,000.”

Mr Samuel says stronger powers are needed to investigate discrepancies between the reserve price and the advertised price of some properties.

He says larger fines will deter agents and vendors from engaging in misleading conduct.

“By the end of this year we’re hopeful that laws will be passed at a Federal level that will enable the ACCC to collect very substantial fines from business, corporations … and from individuals … for engaging in these sort of deceptive practices,” he said.

Drugs we have been shooting.

Drug checks, urine samples, the works. (OK, OK, it’s a new branding and website project for Royal Medical Suppies who sell drug cheking equipment.) Still it sort of sounds cool and dangerous to say we have drugs here. Which we don’t. “No cash or drugs kept on premises OK?”

Check out the logo below which Wright designed for this client last month, and watch this space – more yummy design coming soon.

A nice shiny brand new logo!

THEY REALLY should have used us for a brand refresh! Maybe when I get some time (not at this rate we are flat out as usual), then I might have a stab at redoing their logo and sending it to them; I know. There is a fantastic chance of being told they “don’t need my services”. Clearly a “Dear John” letter is pending – or should that be a letter from me with the new logo attached? “Dear Jim, please find attached a better logo that will make people feel they are getting a qualified computer person not a gardener in a bush hat.”.