In memory of a brilliant life.

I first met David back in 1986 he had been in the Northern Territory and had moved back to Wagga and came in looking for a job. Three years earlier I had started Advision, a small design studio, David walked in, smartly dressed, quite, polite with a large portfolio tucked under his arm, we shook hands, he smiled and he introduced himself, the truth is he could’ve romped in in shorts, thongs and a singlet and he would’ve still got the job - because once he open his portfolio it was evident that this was no ordinary artist - this lad had talent, extraordinary talent. I remember stopping him at every page and asking “and you drew this?” or “… you actually painted this yourself?” needless to say he got the job and he started straight away.

Writing this I reflect on how happy and lucky he must’ve felt getting this job so soon after moving to Wagga but it was me who was indeed the lucky one to find someone as talent as David was a blessing, the fact that David had a great sense of humour and that actually laughed at my jokes was a bonus.

David worked with me for a bit over 2 years, he left and traveled extensively overseas, luck would have it that our paths would cross again when he returned, I had just opened an office in Sydney in 1991 and David once again worked with me. He left later that year when he was offered a full-time position at LPN in Mosman where he worked for over five years. 

David as well as being an extremely talented person, was loyal, was respected by his peers and admired by all the clients - they felt that David cared about them and about their job. 

In the eighties computers were in their infancy, there was no Internet, no Facebook and mobile phones were brick-like, heavy and quite simply embarrassing to use. And that was fine because David was old school, fastidious, diligent with an eye for detail. It was clear from day one that I could trust his judgement and I had every confidence in him to oversee the staff which he did with integrity and fairness.  

Every morning David would arrive early, sit and read the paper, we’d talk about the stories making news, complain about some ridiculous beat up that was on ” A Current Affair” the night before and of course analyse the sport results of games played in Sydney and Melbourne but the most important topic of conversation was how well (or not so well) his team, the team he played in went. I learned a lot about sport during that time.

Fast forward a few years – David found Fiona, his love and happiness, moved to the central coast, and left the daily 9 - 5 routine to pursue his passion for painting, where he continued to learn, experiment and push himself to new heights. Our friendship continued, we collaborated on a number of jobs, I was honoured to speak at one of his numerous exhibitions openings and every year David would travel down to Wagga and participate in a ‘portfolio day’ with my final year design students, David would do it without hesitation, he’d spend the whole time talking and advising each student about their work, how to improve their portfolio and give them valuable advice as to what direction they should be heading in.

Prior to his visit I would inform my students that David was a very experienced designer who was eager to help anyone keen to listen so they should get their work printed, make sure it looked good and for god’s sake check that there no spelling mistakes, because no matter how clever or professional their work was if there was even the slightest typo David would find it and they really didn’t want David to find any typos in your work!

Of course David would spend as much time with each student as it took to discuss and critic their work, no-one missed out – that generosity and selflessness underpinned David’s sense of justice and humanity towards others.

Time and distance were irrelevant when came to David’s friendship, every time we talked it was as if it was only yesterday, his friendship was everlasting, he would do anything for you and do it with smile, a smile that we will all cherish, even at this sad occasion … close your eyes, see his smile and remember the joy that was David.  

If you were all alone in the universe

with no one to talk to,

no one with which to share

the beauty of the stars,

to laugh with, to touch,

what would be your purpose in life?

It is other life;

It is love, which gives your life meaning.

This is harmony.

We must discover the joy of each other,

the joy of challenge,

the joy of growth.

Mitsugi Saotome

The calm before the storm!

Evacuate before 6am

Wagga’s 5 o’clock wave is coming in at 6 am as a tsunami :(

It’s now 3:04am and I’ve just finally got some sand bags and barracked the office door, the computers are spending the night upstairs and everything else has been placed high off the floor so fingers crossed the damage (if the levee breaks) will be kept to a minimum. 

From about 8pm when they first made the announcement regarding evacuation the neighbourhood got active with a number of groups congregating out in the street expressing their thoughts and opinions about what’s going to happen next! Suddenly everyone is an expert, “they’re kidding!” “it won’t happen!” and so on. 

The city is in a surreal state of alert - everywhere you go there are people loading up cars, moving furniture or just standing around discussing the unthinkable!

Radio stations have suspended regular shows and are broadcasting constant up dates on the situation. 

It’s hard to think that the water would come as far as they say it would but I am no expert so things are stacked high to the ceiling including chairs, books, shelves, TVs, important documents and photos.

As the situation unfolds I’m optimistic that it won’t be that bad, I mean it can’t be that bad! Can it? We’ll know in a little under three hours when a representative from the police, SES or army will be coming around making sure that we leave the area.

Stay tuned, in the meantime I have to put a few sandbags around the front and back doors.  

I’ll Cs U later!

In July 1997, nearly 15 years ago that I was appointed as senior lecturer and course coordinator for the graphic design degree at CSU. I joined forces with a young(er) Padraig (formerly known as Patrick) and we got to work reshaping the course. Graphic design had its own separate building complete with a makeshift table-tennis table, drawing boards and enough filing cabinets to sink the Titanic.

The students called it home - from 1st to 3rd years plus honours - they were all there working, chatting, eating or simply sleeping off the night before. For more than six years we developed an amazing culture of creative learning, collaboration and fun. The dull, bland brick walls were disrupted by a continuous row of notice boards that we painted in rich primary colours using whatever free sample paints we could get our hands on.

There was also a handful of beige Apple Macs with tiny screens and clunky keyboards that students could use but the highly sort after machines were the five new brightly coloured iMacs. Laptops were few and far between, in fact only two students were fortunate enough to own such wondrous things - one was an amazing and brilliant “mature-age” student (she was 24) and the other was an equally amazing exchange student from Malaysia. Whenever (or where ever) these two would go there’d be an entourage of wannabe creative techno apostles who followed them around eager to see what these laptops could do. 

Up until a couple of years ago our main intake for the degree was via interviews- interviewing applicants was the norm. Unfortunately interviewing students is not or ever will be a task I enjoy and I am sure the feeling is mutual for the student. Consider this; - they drive for hours to get to Wagga, they arrive to a sprawling campus way out of town, it’s the middle summer and when they finally find our school they have to wait, with the flies, in the heat. They’re finally called in and make their way to a stuffy, non air-conditioned room where they’re quizzed about why they want to do a course that they know very little about! Maybe that’s a bit harsh but I can assure you that well over 80% of students we’ve interviewed over the last 12 or 13 years had very little, if any, knowledge or idea as to what graphic design is!

An ex-students recently reminded me that at his interview I seemed preoccupied with his taste in music rather than his work or his numerous ‘certificates of achievements’, this while Padraig’s eagle eye scrutinised every inch of his portfolio - Padraig would study it longingly then suddenly give a jovial laugh when he saw something that stood out, was different or above average. Unfortunately to an already nervous applicant Padraig’s sudden outburst was often misconstrued as ridicule rather than praise. Oh dear!!

Other times, we would ramble on in unison finishing off each others sentences, drawing and dissecting pie charts in an attempt to clearly explain what were core subjects, what were minor subjects, what were contextual subjects and so on. The result - one hot, nervous and anxious student totally confused!

There were those stand-out potential applicants who estimated their UAI/TER/ATAR at 90 plus yet had no real intention of studying at CSU. They were the “tyre kickers” who had us as their 7th or 8th preference and were just looking to impress or tease us as if to say “yeah … thanks … but … no thanks!”

Of course hundreds did come … and go … a little wiser, a little more clever and eager for a challenge.

There’s been a multitude of highlights in what seems to be a lifetime of teaching, including various field trips to Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, visiting agencies, printers and an array of galleries.

Taking students to AgIdeas Conferences and Semi-permanent.

The creation of SYMPOSIA - our very own design conference now in it’s 9^th year.

Working with students to create and produce ‘Reel is Real” Wagga’s first outdoor short film festival,

Assisting students to get work placement at some of Australia’s best and creative studios.

Taking over 40 students for work experience at my studio, employing over 20 graduates as junior designers and see them rise to directors or owners of some of this country’s best digital agencies.

And finally taking 16 talented students to Sweden, England and France for an unbelievable month-long study trip.   

I have made many good and lasting friendships over the last 15 years, I have seen students achieve amazing greatness both at uni and as professionals; they have been pioneers, innovators and mentors.

Now, after 15 years I see other challenges on the horizon, they’re a little fuzzy from here so I want to get closer and have a better look. Exciting times ahead friends. It has not been an easy decision but it’s the right one. 

Till next time “forget the destination and enjoy the journey”. 

I’ll Cs u later.

Read the fine print

the new masters!

eight days in Hawaii

We arrived in Honolulu early Monday morning, to our surprise Jet Star were impressive, new Airbus, good service and friendly staff! The trip from the airport to our hotel in downtown Waikiki was about 40mins. We were able to check-in in one of our rooms straight away which was great. After a short break we went out and explored some the city. The weather was about 75°F (23°C) slightly overcast, windy with regular short bursts on rain, which seemed to come from thin air as there were no clouds visible. The last thing I’ll say about the weather is that is was always windy no matter where we were and there are lots of spectacular rainbows in Hawaii.

Strolling around the city, we stopped to get some directions and of course both guys we met had either worked or lived in Sydney and were quick to explain where to get ‘Sydney style’ coffee.

Waikiki is a major suburb/city of Honolulu, it’s focused on the tourist and reminded me a lot of Singapore in it’s layout and consumer focused appeal, but really there’s only so much shopping one can do!! 

While Nina and Nikita did their own thing Janine and I decided to look at some of the major attractions … “when in Rome” etc. We decided to take one of those “hop-on, hop-off” sightseeing double decker buses, a good idea but not when it suddenly rains and the traffic comes to grinding halt!! A 10 minute trip to Pearl Harbour turned into an hour and half fiasco which ended farcically - by the time we finally arrived to Pearl Harbour it was closed, we didn’t even get off the bus we just sat on the bus as it made it’s way back to base! We believe it is worth seeing … maybe next time!!

On Wednesday morning we hired a car and drove along the coast to a place called “Turtle Bay” it’s situated on the north coast, it took about an hour and half to get there. We stayed there for the rest of the week. A great location - some amazing and well-known surf beaches nearby and the local people are generous, friendly and helpful. 

Not put off by the occasional shower we managed to fit in as much as we could in the short time - balancing just chillin, reading, doing nothing, facebooking with surfing lessons, walking, snorkelling, swimming, bike riding and my favourite eating!

Hawaii is a day and three hours behind Sydney, so while most of you celebrated Christmas yesterday we had ours today and we celebrated it in true Hawaiian style. To explain, yesterday morning I met a guy in the hotel lobby who told me that if I wanted to experience some of the best local food then I should forget about the ‘five star’ resort restaurant and go down the road to “Papa Ole’s Grill” so we did! 

Shrimp, ahí (tuna), chicken and beef with the best macaroni cheese salad this side of the equator. Meals are huge and it is a struggle to finish any meal, any time! 

It’s late and I have an early start, until next time, aloha!

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Birthday celebrations

On Wednesday 7 December, a few close friends came over to celebrate my birthday, t’was a casual and relaxed night sitting in the backyard enjoying good food and sharing stories and jokes (some better than others!)

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As seen on the ABC’s 4 Corners program on Monday 24 October, the real cost of mandatory detention to this country is massive - both financially and in human cost. 4 Corners showed harrowing footage of individuals, unaccompanied minors and families languishing in immigration detention. This must stop!

Our politicians can no longer ignore the horror of such an archaic detention system - Click on the image and you’ll be redirected to a site where you can sign the petition asking the government to act now!! 

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SYMPOSIA11, a set on Flickr.