Cease Fire Pronto!

The civillian death toll in Lebanon has risen above 1000.

Do a small thing, and make a big difference.
Sign the ceasefire campaign petition.

http://www.ceasefirecampaign.org/mo/en.html

Random Nothings

My good friend Ras writes quirky anecdotes and records her thoughts.

And we thought it would be great to combine my little pictures with her little thoughts. The result hopefully something quite big.

The little man above 'Randy', is the very first draft. Whadaya think?

A dash of romance in my day

Today I got some romance. It was wonderful. Just what I wanted. And timely.

My little dash of romance was self-ordered and it arrived in an express post parcel.
How convenient our modern world is :-).

AVA is born

I'm creating a brand. A product. And hopefully a pallete for self expression and fun.

The brand = AVA. AVA is about self expression, wearing your message for the World. AVA is about not taking ourselves too seriously. AVA stands for living a big life.

The product = customised TSHIRTS/MUGS/STICKERS/PINS all branded AVA. The tricky bit -> every person who buys an AVA product creates it. That's right. YOU decide what is written on it. YOU decide what message you want to express. You choose. And it will be individually printed.

AVA is unique, and every AVA product will be unique - because it will be created by the individual!

Creating it all - i'm currently breathing life into the idea - doing all the businessy stuff. Website to be launched in 6 weeks. So keep your eyes peeled.

My question for you! What's your message for the world? What would you have printed? On a shirt? On a pin? On a Mug??

White gowns for GenX

Chicks in their early 20s are dashing down the asile. Ever paused to question... why?

Is it that their parents (divorced babyboomers) left them wanting for the 'happy family' ideal?
Or is it based on one-up-manship, ie. "I'll show them I can do it better".
Is it that genX have endured a rocky 20 years (technology takeover, wwwboom, redefinition of the family unit, terrorism) and so they want to regain some stability via a permanent relationship? Or are we just too cynical, are they simply just in love.

I actually fall into the pond of early 20-something females, as do my girlfriends. Four of which are currently engaged. Two years ago I was looking at diamonds with my (then) partner.

When we hear of Avril Lavinge, Nicky Hilton and other super young starlets walking down the aisle it's easy pigeon hole them into the "hollywood freak" box. I reckon we need to reasses that box. It's a niche trend in genX females, and it's offering up a whole host of opportunities for brands and bussiness. Time to cash in me thinks.

Brands - Even the cynical won't escape.

Brands are central to our existence. Both, how we tend to ourselves and our definition of self. Take a moment to look around your surroundings. Look at the brand space you have created. Take a glance in your closet, in your bathroom, in your kitchen, at your work desk. See the numbers stack up, it's pretty amazing. Even in this photo - where I was out trekking around, feeling pretty free, and untainted by the commercial world - I can spot 6 brands.

Sitting here I can see 30+ brands. Perisher Blue. Apple. iPOD. Siemens. Toshiba. Clinique. Swisspers. Wriggleys Extra Gum. NEC. Motorola. Puma. Lacoste. Dove. GHD. Schwarzkopf. Nutrimetics. The Glenlivet. Absolut. RipCurl. Naturmedics. Nordica. Sheridan. Columbia. HH. BodyShop. Lovely. Swatch. Pump. Herron. Marcs. Prada. Mooks.

How many can you spot in your space?
* This is a great test to throw at the cynics that attest "I'm not a brand person". Yeah right.