October 2007
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Day October 21, 2007

Entries 9 Total

Norman McLaren Here…

Oct 21, ’07 10:30 AM

Animated documentaries are a new wave of an older art form combining elements of a life, a lifetime career, a unique art, and a quick sharp look at what holds it all together in a new age technological mix. Terri Dentry talked at length with Marie-Josee Saint-Pierre about her latest animated film, which showcases the life of a master of animation: Norman McLaren.

The short animated documentary, McLaren’s Negatives by Montreal based filmmaker and animator, Marie-Josee Saint-Pierre, musters some of the latest technology to bring to life the words, images and works of one of animation’s true pioneers, Norman McLaren (1914– 1987). In the process of channeling McLaren, she neatly bookends the beginning of one of our newest artforms with current day filmmaking practice, but reminds us that the essential ingredients remain a creative soul and a good idea.

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Miss Saigon: Lighting and Sound Design

Oct 21, ’07 9:37 AM


Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Boublil and Schönber’s Miss Saigon is touring Australia, giving audiences the chance to view what has been described as ‘one of the most successful musicals in the world’, and ‘seen by over 33 million people, in over 25 countries and played in 12 different languages’. Associate Lighting Designer Richard Pacholski and Sound Designer Peter Grubb explain how they each have contributed to their highly acclaimed representation of Saigon and Bangkok circa 1975.

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The Story of the Kelly Gang

Oct 21, ’07 8:52 AM

The Story of the Kelly Gang

A search, sparked by an impending centenary celebration of the world’s first feature film, led to a stunning discovery in February 2006. An extended clip from The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) had been found at the British Film Archives, prompting The National Film and Sound Archive to engage Amsterdam studio Haghefilm on a challenging and potentially invasive restoration.

The Story of the Kelly Gang, produced in 1906, was the world’s first full length feature. A popular film, it is estimated that over 100 copies were made and distributed across the world.
Sadly, as Trevor Carter—member of the Archivist Team for the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA)—reveals, segments from just three of these first generation reproductions have be found.
‘Nothing from the original negative remains.’
The NFSA oversaw the restoration of the remaining fragments — 19 minutes in total — in an operation that spanned across the globe.

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The 8th AGDA National Biennial Awards 2006

Oct 21, ’07 7:21 AM

Better by Design conference signage
Fifteen judges presided over 2,700 world-wide submissions for the 8th AGDA National Biennial Awards, sponsored by Wacom. A gala presentation which celebrated the program was hosted by comedian Shaun Micallef, at Parliament House, Canberra. Across 21 categories, nine pinnacle, 147 distinction and 153 finalist professional recognitions, along with a further five distinction and 52 finalist student recognitions were announced during the evening’s events; and Frank Edilitz and Brian Sadgrove were inducted into AGDA Spicers Paperpoint Hall of Fame. A travelling exhibition will tour Australia showcase all commended submissions.

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The Letter D

Oct 21, ’07 6:13 AM

The Letter D

Revitalisation: Fine Print Identity

Looking to refresh its identity, print management firm Fine Print required a revitalisation that could effectively show off its printing techniques. Rachael Doherty reports.

Having worked with him before, Fine Print approached Creative Director Dan Pike of The Letter D, to create an ID that would represent its print process service through print promotions and on the web. Pike leveraged the concept behind the original logo—a reverse F represented by a scanned image of an old printer’s block—to come up with a solution that could integrate Fine Print’s services into the ID.

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The Melbourne Design Guide

Oct 21, ’07 5:05 AM

Inspired by a guidebook of Barcelona aimed at designers and architects, The Melbourne Design Guide began in the mind of Paul Charlwood, industrial designer and (then) Victorian President of the DIA. Geared at travelers and locals alike, The Melbourne Design Guide is the perfect companion on a journey through the city’s wealth of creativity and the people, products and stories behind it.

If there’s one thing for sure, it’s that The Melbourne Design Guide is no ‘yellow pages’ of design; which is probably why you won’t find all of the usual suspects here. In fact, for Editors Ewan McEoin and Viviane Stappmanns and founder Paul Charlwood, public accessibility was the key. ‘Our main preoccupation was to ascertain businesses that were trying to engage the community.’

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The Artists of Steel

Oct 21, ’07 4:04 AM

Matthew Flinders

Australian stamp engravings from 1937 to 1973

Australia Post celebrated the heritage of Australian Intaglio Stamp making in ‘The Artists of steel’, at the Post Master Gallery, Melbourne from 17 February to 2 June 2007. The exhibition traces the manufacture of Intaglio stamps produced at the Note Printing Branch between 1937 and 1973. Central to the process are the intricately illustrated engravings which formed the templates for the recessed plates used on the Intaglio Press. Stamp sized, each had to be engraved into soften steel die by hand, at a ratio of 1:1.

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Visual Thesaurus

Oct 21, ’07 2:35 AM

Panoramic Words

The Visual Thesaurus is an interactive thesaurus and dictionary that gives you a panoramic approach to words and their relationships to one another. Instead of a regular dictionary-like list of words, it presents information as a word map, in a circle of connections, more akin to the way we think. John Feld takes the virtual verbal tour.

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Opinion: Wayne Thompson

Oct 21, ’07 1:20 AM

Reclaiming Attention to Detail

Wayne Thompson, Australian Type Foundry

Twenty five years ago, when I was on work experience with a signwriter, I watched him painstakingly craft a miniscule serif, by hand with his sable brush. We were standing on a busy footpath on a scorching summer’s day. I naively asked him why he paid so much attention to the fine details when, looking around me, it was obvious few passers-by gave his work more than a brief glance. His answer? “The day I say ‘that’s close enough’ is the day I go out of business.” Granted, that was a long time ago. Times have changed.

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