Category Archives: Blog post

The Vitrine

Written by . published on May 17, 2011. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , , . No comments.
vitrine

The Vitrine is the work of New Zealander Amanda Spiers and Julien Thery, who developed his savvy ways with furniture restoration at the Paris flea markets. The two are importing antique and industrial chairs, tables and lighting, mostly sourced in France, Belgium and England, through Julien’s contacts, and selling them at their rambling, atmospheric warehouse space hidden around the back of Auckland’s Great North Road. More….

Well, that’s the last time they ask for my opinion…

Written by . published on April 18, 2011. Filed under Blog post, Magazine article, Web article. Tagged , , , , . No comments.

A rambling column written on deadline and captured for posterity in print and now online. This is what happens when you have too little time, an open brief and too many ideas jostling for attention, and end up overshooting your word quota by oh, about 1,000.

Idealog

Written by . published on March 21, 2011. Filed under Blog post, Web article. Tagged , , , , , . No comments.
Idealog

A couple of links here from my recent stint covering the deputy editor’s job on Idealog magazine.

First, a short feature on John Gow, a very cool philanthropist doing great things with public art. And secondly, the story of Nathan Goldsworthy’s recent re-brand and his new self-assembled furniture, including The Adjutant desk, which will feature in my dream study, once I can afford it. Once I can afford a study, actually.

Regarding working in an office again, despite my fears about returning to a 9-5 routine after a year of early mornings and weekend work — and 3pm breaks for a swim or a nap, in case I’m misrepresenting the freelance lifestyle in any way — it was pretty invigorating to be part of a highly creative, and often also highly amusing, team again. Big ups to the new art director, Charlie McKay (ex-Metro), whose hilarious re-takes on cover lines caused me to accidentally snort-drink my coffee on more than one occasion. (Would Liz Lemon called that “sninking”? I’d like to think so.)

Hughes-Kinugawa House

Written by . published on February 9, 2011. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , , . No comments.
blog

It’s taken about 11 months, but the story I teamed up with Rachael Smith to cover last year on an Andrew Lister-designed house in Auckland’s Waterview has finally been published in the UK’s Weekend Telegraph magazine.

Irrational fears

Written by . published on January 21, 2011. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , . No comments.
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My uneasy romance with sharks continued in this article for the Herald on Sunday on modern-day bogeymen: terrorism, GE foods, air travel, and home invasion. The problem is, interviewing a shark expert and sifting through data on plane crashes actually left me with more concrete evidence to fear them than I started with…

New site for ProDesign

Written by . published on October 22, 2010. Filed under Blog post, Web article. Tagged , , . No comments.
web

Great to see the new ProDesign website up and running – and that they’ve got one of my New York stories, here.

Down to business

Written by . published on October 21, 2010. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , , . No comments.
favourite cards - web

These are my favourite bits and pieces of printed cards – plus a menu and bar of soap – gathered while on the road. Business cards caused me a few headaches in the States. First, I forgot to take mine. More….

Sunday with Mr Gilman

Written by . published on October 13, 2010. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , . No comments.
nicolas gilman

Santa Maria La Ribera, DF: I couldn’t go to Mexico and not eat meat. There was no particularly logical thought process behind this idea. I’ve been to lots of places where I didn’t eat meat, including steak-loving Argentina. More….

Kids Ride Free

Written by . published on October 10, 2010. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , , , , . No comments.
IMG_0392

Distrito Federal, Mexico: Spotting the Ecobici racks in Mexico City made me acutely aware of how far behind Auckland lags in finding some kind of cheap, fun and accessible answer to city traffic congestion. More….

David Vaner and Sara Ellenberger Vaner

Written by . published on September 30, 2010. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , . No comments.
mexishoot2

Distrito Federal, Mexico: The way I met these two is a tribute to the awesomeness of social networking. In 2007, I interviewed Katie Taylor, a New Zealand graphic designer who lives in London. We bonded over peanuts and a bit too much red wine in a pub near The Green Space’s office, where she works, in Clerkenwell.

More….