Australian INfront

Kurv

Kurv is an internationally acclaimed high-quality gloss, men's and women's fashion, arts, beauty and culture magazine distributed three times annually. Visit: www.kurvmag.com.au

Future Classic

I'd be telling lies if I didn't say Future Classic was one of my favorite record labels and promoters of fine music. That aside, they have lunched a bunch of stuff in the past week. Future Classic Review 4 hit the streets (you can download it here too). They also launched new websites for futureclassic.com.au, futureclassicdesign.com.au and whereismystylus.com - their new boutique music service for creative types.

Paperwork

What are you doing tonight? Nothing? Good.

From 6pm-9pm The Internetwork are launching Paperwork - Volume 01 - Life, Death & Progress at 1000 Pound Bend.

Paperwork is a large-format printed compendium featuring new work and words from The Internetwork and its contributors. All guests will receive a complimentary copy and there will also be some drinks and food if you can arrive relatively early.

Process Journal

Process Journal is a quarterly released design publication that showcases the very best of Australian and International design.

Looks to be a beautiful publication and the website is also spectacular: http://www.processjournal.com.au

Condiment

Condiment is a new publication exploring the relationship between food and creativity and food and community. Find out more or buy a copy here: http://www.foodandform.com

Semi Permanent 2010 - Life Lessons 2

 

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Saturday was day two of Semi Permanent.  I enjoyed breaking down day one into Life Lessons, and it helped to summarise the message each speaker had to share.  So I will do the same again for day two, speaker by speaker.

tin&ed:

-  There is art and form in everyday objects and materials.  Let the materials speak.

-  Collaboration is key. Recent work included documenting dress-up days with friends.

-  Partnerships like tin&ed's result in the work being pushed further.  Rather than fighting, they question each other and need to justify decisions to each other.  This refines the work massively.

Jessica Hische:

-  Skills are things which you learn, not necessarily gifts from God. She is a believer in Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours principle and once had a job doing nothing but type for nine hours a day.

-  Take chances in your marketing. Jessica did a very expensive mailer to 250 New York art directors.  She received one reply.  This person gave her the abovementioned job, doing exactly what she loved.

-  Just because a job isn't cool, doesn't mean it can't be fun.  Jessica does title type for romance novels and once was commissioned to draw 'Famous Cats of the Internet'

T-World:

-  Specialise and then work your marketing and distribution to fit your specialisation.  T World was originally stocked in cool T Shirt stores and is now distributed world wide where there is a strong fit.  Likewise advertisers.

-  Expand your brand.  T World make additional revenue from things like designing ads for their advertisers, hosting parties, and making - you guessed it - T Shirts.

-  Be prepared to work long hours.  This was a theme that came through from all the speakers in publishing. 

Jill Greenberg:

-  Lesson one: having a politically voice through your work has a price.  Especially in the US.  Jill went through hell to have her message about John McCain heard.

-  People are idiots.  In a similar way to the above life lesson, any kind of success attracts haters.  She was called a child abuser over her 'end time' crying children series.  For the record she made them cry by taking a lollipop away.  Sitting times were very short and the parents were present.

-  Contrary to popular belief, animals and children make the best subjects.  You don't get subjects more emotive than monkeys, crying toddlers, and stunning bears.

Jasper Goodall:

-  Advertising is a good way to make money without being recognised. Sometimes the results are not up to par because of client and art director interference.

-  Disliking a client can give you creative freedom.  As strange as this one sounds, when you take the nerves related to wanting to impress out of the equation, this one makes perfect sense.  The MUSE smoke horse is the perfect example of where this really worked well.  Long story!

David Michod:

-  Probably the most inspiring speaker in that he demystified success.  He explained that success is something that happens slowly and incrementally while you're living your life.  A sigh of relief was heard from a crowd collectively waiting for their lightning rod moment.

-  David also gave some valuable advice about finding your vocation.  If you don't decide what you want to do, you may well find yourself ina  job you hate in 15 years time.

-  David debunked the old 'passion' schtick.  He said that passion is what you feel for your girlfriend when you first meet and you want to have sex all the time.  This is not an energy which can be sustained for 10 years or longer.  A true motivator for him was fear of public embarrassment.

Some interviews are coming later today so stay tuned.

Rebecca.

New Talk: Print Profile - Mountain Fold

Chris Barton has put together a new print profile with none other than Mountain Fold in Talk. Check it out here.

Semi Permanent 2010 - Life Lessons

 

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Today was my first Semi Permanent.  Mostly when I attend events I am desperate to get my hands on practical advice and I am sorely disappointed if that doesn't happen.  The events are usually a couple of hundred people at most in attendance.  Semi Permanent is of a larger scale than anything I have ever been to before and now I know why year on year there are a couple of thousand bums on seats at the Convention Centre.  One word: Inspiration.  Definitely not what I was expecting.

Hardened cynic that I am I never imagined that I would be moved to tears by speakers, be inspired to see out my vision, and be convinced to put my mortgage payment fears aside to listen to people blindly and foolishly following their dreams.  Each speaker has had their troubles and they trustingly shared their failures with us so that we might be strengthened by their struggles and try to bring our projects to similar heights.  Ok, enough waxing lyrical - it's been a long day and I am emotionally drained!  Here is what I learned today and I am going to share it with you:

Louise and Natasha from Frankie:
-  If you can mitigate risk by finding a backer for your project, do so.
-  Don't try and hide your message behind tricky design and unrealistic photography.  It's window dressing.  Speak and listen to your audience.
-  True beauty is equally unattainable as Photoshop trickery.  We just have an easier time accepting real beauty.
-  Cost saving measures = creativity in the form of hand made fonts, DIYism, zero need for make up artists.
 
Mel and Travis:
-  Confidence can be built by taking baby steps in your career.  Showing your work in a gallery setting is important to your emotional growth and bringing your work to a happy place as it is to your bio and sales.
-  Muses are wonderful.  It's clear that Mel and Travis have found love and security in each other and act as each others creative battery packs.
-  Money does not have to be a motivator.  In fact none of the speakers today spoke about their material successes.  What was evident was that each had a higher calling, or a drive that came from inside, not a lust for percieved financial security.

Craig Schuftan from triple J:
-  Craig's jouney was very difficult to translate.  It was massively entertaining and witty and academic and required lots of mental athletics.  There was only one lesson for me and that is that the brain really is the largest sex organ.  He spoke on music, the 80s revival, surrealism, and possibly everything in between.  The conclusion was that art school makes great musicians - I think!  His entire preso will be available soon from Bird in the Hand Zine Store in Newcastle.  If it's anywhere near as fascinating as his presentation, I would highly reccomend you buy it.

John and Jessica from Fecal Face:
-  Buy art.  John's message took a long time to come, but at the end, his message was Buy Art.  I'm not sure if we share this view in the detail, but I agree.  He is excited by art and supports originality.  I, on the other hand, am terrified that if we don't buy art, one day we will want a nice picture on our wall and there will be no artists because nobody bought art.  All the artists in the world will have become civil engineers and moved to Toledo Ohio.
-  Sacrifice and work hard for the concept you believe in.  I agree in principle but I love picking vegetables and laying on our trampoline looking at the clouds too much to put his advice into practice.
 
James Dive from Glue Society:
-  There will be no epiphany, no lightning bolt moment.  I love this revelation that was shared at question time.  I think it put a lot of young creatives in the audience at ease.
-  Get a job at Glue Society.  James didn't endorse this idea as there are only eight creatives at Glue, but after seeing his presentation, I have concluded that they are the Google employer of the advertising world.  They show art at Basel, melt ice cream trucks for Sculpture by the Sea, and generally indulge and enjoy themselves while still running a successful and profitable business.
-  From our personal interview with James, which will be posted when I find my USB cord, we learned that being an ad agency creative, far from just being an enabler of the ideas of others, can be a way to see your ideas come to fruition on multiple platforms, with decent budgets.  Creative WIN!
 
Ashley Gilbertson, Photojournalist:
-  Things matter.  Creativity aside, there is a big horrible world out there where bad things happen to people.  And those people have families: parents, children, friends.  We can use our creativity to bring that message to people more concerned with how many shopping days there are til Christmas, as Ashley so eloquently put it.
-  Sometimes as creatives we rightfully ask ourselves the question: 'But are we saving lives' and the answer is no.  But Ashley's work is equally as important as a nurse or an ambo.  He puts a true story into the media landscape, truthfully and respectfully told, which shapes public opinion of an issue, and maybe somewhere a policy is amended and maybe lives really are saved.  At the very least he tells the story of the ignored and invisible, recognising them and respecting them, and changing lives for the better.  Creativity can have a higher, more lofty purpose.
-  It's good to yell at people.  Yelling at people in power gets things done.
 
Overall today, I have been elated, misty, inspired, and I have escaped.
Now for dumplings.
Til tomorrow,
Rebecca.

Michael Bojkowski

We have a talented team here on INfront. Talk team member Michael Bojkowski has put together a quick editorial portfolio. Please do take a look: http://editorial-portfolio.tumblr.com

UHH

UHH is definately one of the best Australian lifestyle guides floating around the internet. Stylish, well written, great photography: http://www.uhh.com.au