ThoughtSpurs

I've opened a hobby store to promote my art . The price of bespoke, hand-made printing was putting some people off. You can still have the fancy printing but this is for the rest of us…Shop till you drop -->

The Big SleepOut 2015 Years ago I met a guy who was famous for organising very successful telethons. He told me a story about his early days as a larrikin in the UK. He would, he said, run tiny classified ads featuring the claim: "This is your last chance to send a pound". There was no further information other than a post box number. My belated efforts to raise money for the LifeWise Trust to help those in real need find emergency shelter are coming to their conclusion. The BigSleepOut is tomorrow night - sleeping rough to raise awareness of this humanitarian crisis - right here on the streets in New Zealand. I know it's easier to simply look the other way and feel helpless - but the truth is sharing even a small amount of cash with this organisation adds to a fund that really makes a substantial difference to the cause. We may not end the problem of homelessness altogether - but we can end homelessness for some - especially young people and families in ...

"Margins increase the further down the torso you go." Scott Galloway I remember watching a documentary on PBS,  The Persuaders , about how marketers winkle their way into people's lives. One segment that stayed with me was about Clotaire Rapaille, a French psychologist who had advanced his career from working with autistic children in his home country to advising luxury brand marketers in the United States about how to, well, winkle their wares into people's lives. He is a fascinating character. He lived in a chateau in upstate New York. His client's would attend en masse to hear his liturgy about parting exclusive customers from their millions by deploying a theory about the human brain. He described 'the lizard brain' - an ancient part of the human mind that behaves in an unprogrammed way - aside from consciousness or rational thought. The lizard brain is hard-wired to facilitate our base instincts for survival. For example you can rationalise yo...

Click to enlarge The bungalow in Point Chevalier was their pride and joy. Not fancy by comparison to some of the renovated state house being turned into mansions by their neighbours but simple, stylish and contemporary. “I’m hoping we can extend the kitchen and deck out the back at some point” Vanessa explains, offering me the last macaroon “…you take it, I don’t think I could fit another one in…but Rudy suggested we just wait a little longer. He’s big on delayed gratification. Just because it’s in the magazines and blogs doesn’t mean we have to follow, does it?” What planet are you from? I thought to myself. “Improving the indoor outdoor flow would add a hundred grand to this place…” I wondered if Vanessa and Rudy might just be a little  soft in the head? “My god, these macaroons are the bomb, can’t believe you made them yourself - you should start a site and create a brand…are you sure that’s the last one? You’re not holding out on me…?” A crumb fell on my Karen Wal...

Every year I leave the relative luxury of home to sleep out in the cold to raise money and awareness of homelessness here in the most liveable city in the world. I've been a little slow out of the blocks with my effort this year. I need your help. My fundraising page is here. Every little bit helps, thanks. I really appreciate your support. 

We all know that homelessness is a real problem. I'm pretty sure you would be willing to help make a difference if you could. So here's what you can do: I am sleeping rough in 8 days time for the BigSleepOut event to raise awareness and funds to help Lifewise help people who are homeless. So, …now you KNOW I know you are WILLIING Let's DO IT! You can support Lifewise's efforts through my official fundraising page HERE. This is my sixth year of being involved with the event; I have found that friends and colleagues are both generous and supportive - the money we've raised has made a difference - when I first got involved I thought we could eradicate the problem easily, sadly it perpetuates.   But it would be worse without your generous help. Thank you. I'm grateful for your support - you make the difference. (P.S. I've kicked off my campaign a little late this year… it's even more urgent  - if you could share this post on Twitter and Facebook to sp...

Having spent all that money to talk about the New Zealand flag on our behalf it would be rude not to engage. Here's my thoughts for a flag. I've been worried that pictures of kiwis and ferns and drab red white and blues might win the day (not that flags are really important). I also worry that if a black flag squeaks through we will look like we are in perpetual mourning. The reason the US loves the stars and stripes is because it's cheerful when displayed en masse. Anyway… Here's my rationale: This design refers to: • A sense of place - islands, mountains, land, sea, space. • The traditions of New Zealand/Aotearoa: - Kowhaiwhai design - European heraldry The colours: Blue ground  - sense of place, standing proudly and distinctively. Referring to our place in the Pacific ocean - and its meaning 'peaceful'. It transitions from night to day, yesterday to tomorrow. Yellow - facing the right/east not only symbolising the geographic p...

Michelle Dickinson is NanoGirl. She is a scientist and educator who has done wonders to promote an interest in the sciences in New Zealand and probably to a wider audience. She is young, attractive and more than willing to front for the cameras. She loves what she is doing and it shows. Recently she protested a New Zealand engineering firm's practice of objectifying women in their promotions in an irrelevant and sexist way. She was prompted to confront the issue by female students in her courses at the School of Engineering and is concerned that the imagery characterised an industry that discourages active participation by women in engineering. As a result of Nanogirl's campaign it begs the question about engineering as a term and how its application alters the perceptions of both young women and men when considering it as an educational pathway. I wonder if part of the issue isn't about framing - or reframing? Regardless of whether we are talking about males or ...

In my previous post I talked about Elon Musk as a visionary. If you had any doubts - watch this clip where he launches the Tesla battery pack for solar power. Reducing carbon emissions is crucial to having a sustainable future. Continuing to rely on fossil fuels isn't just moving the deck chairs around on the Titanic - it is the iceberg. Remember Steve Jobs' announcing the iPhone and it seemed like the second coming of Jeepers Cripes? You have to admire Musk's vaguely shambling, seemingly unrehearsed pitch. It's the content that wins the day. And one other thing. The technology behind the Tesla system is open source. Think about that. He's not simply launching a slick new thing for movie stars and the 1% to feel good about reducing their carbon footprint. He's making it accessible to virtually everyone. Amazing. There's more info here (and an interesting discussion thread). One point though - I wish he'd get a better tailor - the jacket did...

Steve Jobs is dead. Bill Gates might as well be (he was always kind of boring) - in the realm of visionary world-leading people who is there to be inspired by? How about Richard Branson? Not really. He's a publicity hound for sure and he parlayed his restlessness into starting and collecting businesses under the quirky Virgin brand. But he's never really disrupted an industry with anything unique. There's people like Peter Thiel - one of the original investors in Paypal and Facebook - but, aside from being lucky and in the right place at the right time with some spare change he's hardly going to significantly change the world.  You get my drift?  Who is there that not only has ideas that no one else has and has the completely insane focus to make them happen? How about Elon Musk. No doubt you will have beard about him. He's often referred to as the prototype for Tony Stark (IronMan). He co-founded Paypal with Thiel, but unlike his Thiel he has gone on to ...

A friend sent me a link to this clip by the jazz group Snarky Puppy. I don't know if you like jazz or not - for me it's ok in moderation. But the thing that intrigued me wasn't the music but how it was being enjoyed by the audience. They are wearing headphones. I did some quick research and found that this could be a trend. Audience members listen to the performance through headsets connected directly to the engineer's soundboard. That way they get to experience the live event with clean, clear sound - as the artists intended. Just a day before I had lunch with a buddy and noticed he was having a little difficulty hearing what I said in the yum cha restaurant when he wasn't looking directly at me. Or he may have been ignoring my comment about The Eagles - which is also very likely, as a DJ he is picky in his tastes. I asked if he could hear ok. He told me he had some hearing loss and was using hearing aids - he showed me the delicately wired phones. I asked i...

Patrick Tilly was a prolific graphic designer and illustrator whose work featured prominently in advertising and publishing in the 1960s and 1970s. He switched disciplines to concentrate on writing scripts and science fiction novels, including The Amtrak Wars series. I'm not much interested in science fiction. But I do like a good poster. I came across this series of posters for The Sunday Times when I researching cut-out art for a project. In the 80s the Sunday Times Magazine was something of an event each week when the latest copy would arrive in the creative department of whichever ad agency I happened to be slumming at at the time (allowing for the fact that it was the 1980s and 'snail mail' was the only economical way of receiving physical objects). Campaigns for cars, booze and cigarettes were big budget affairs in the magazine - double page spreads with the best concepts and photography. Brilliant copy writing from the likes of David Abbott for clients like Sainsbury...

I can't think of a better name for a compilation album than Meaty, beaty, Big and Bouncy . Neither could Decca when they launched The Who's Greatest Hits in 1971. As far as compilations go it's hard to fault. If you are wondering about the origin of the album title?: Roger Daltry was a fitness nut -  Meaty;  Keith Moon was the irrepressible force behind the drums  Beaty;  John Entwhistle was a man mountain - his nickname was Ox -  Big;  and Pete Townsend's habit of cavorting about the stage made him a sitter for the appellation Bouncy . The name also suggests The Who's emergence as a force when advertising was also become a curiously powerful force in post-austerity, post-war Britain. Meaty, beaty, big and Bouncy sounds like a proto slogan for a readymade dinner or a pie. They also released an album that paid ironic homage to brands of the day - The Who Sell Out (1967) - ironic because The Who's music was featured in ads for brands including this jing...

I'm clearing out some surplus stuff (in honour of comedian George Carlin). We don't have the room in our apartment and most of it has been gathering dust offsite. Listing on TradeMe , seeing if a little bit of presentation, writing and art direction will make a difference. Use the posts as social media content… my new hobby… Rose & Heather Swamp Kauri Tallboy Alessi Fruit Mama Fruitbowl Audio Technica Wireless Transmitter and Receiver Original Sam Mitchell Pen & Ink drawing Exercise Weights Organic Eames/Saarinen copy chair.  iRig Microphone Rubber Band Ball