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1 circoarts | ignition.ac.nz ignition ISSUE 7 FREE MisteR FASHION MisteR designers at NZ Fashion Week. CATS MUSICAL NASDA present ‘Cats’ for their final year production. DVPP Digital Video post production superstars.

Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

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The Ignition magazine showcases the fantastic and talented students, graduates and staff from the Creative Industries Faculty at CPIT. Ignition is the brand that represents their achievements and successes.

Citation preview

Page 1: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

ignition | 1

circoarts | ignition.ac.nz

ignitionISSUE 7

FREE

MisteR FASHION MisteR designers at NZ

Fashion Week.

CATS MUSICAL NASDA present ‘Cats’ for

their final year production.

DVPP Digital Video post

production superstars.

Page 2: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

2 | ignition

Nau mai, haere mai.

Welcome to another edition of

Ignition magazine.

Staff and students in the Faculty of

Creative Industries have obviously

found this a challenging year, and

it is not quite over yet, but we are

determined to participate actively

and enthusiastically in the process

of re-building an even better city

over coming months and years.

I have attended a number of

seminars and meetings recently as everyone in the city analyses

responses to the earthquakes and speculates about what the future

may and should hold. One thing does seem clear. Christchurch

will benefit most from strong, creative and decisive leadership. It

is certainly my hope and expectation that CPIT, and our creative

industries in particular, will be major contributors.

This magazine celebrates what we do. It is not possible to produce

it without the enthusiastic contribution, not only from staff, but also

students. In a small way it signals that we are continuing to work

positively and creatively building our new Christchurch to be even

better than it was before.

Dr. Jane Gregg

Dean

Faculty Creative Industries

CPIT

ignition.ac.nz | contents

EDITOR Martin Trusttum

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Alicia Erceg [email protected] Kelsey Koster [email protected] Jonny Waters [email protected] Kelly Johnson [email protected]

COPY EDITOR Hazel Barrer

COVER Johann Middlebrook

ISSUE 7 OCTOBER 2011ignition

04ARCHITECTURE

Emily Low, CPIT graduate working in Melbourne.

07

SNAPSHOTS

Have a look at what CPIT students and graduates are up to.

10

NEW MUSIC COLLECTIVE

Tamara Smith’s passion and life in the world of music.

12

ASHEI

CPIT students collaborate to make their own tracks.

14

VON VOIN STRUM

Making headway in the Christchurch music scene.

CONTENTS

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contents | ignition.ac.nz

17

20

22

24

28

34

32

35

36

CHAINED LION

Chloe Sawyer’s lion in print

CREATIVE KINGDOM

Finland now home for Visual Communication graduate Brett King.

DVPP

Digital Video post production superstars.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Anna Jamieson, photographs MisteR latest range.

FREAKY GRAFFITI

Bringing art to the walls of Christchurch.

CATS MUSICAL

NASDA present ‘Cats’ for their final year production.

WESTPAC YOUNG DESIGNERS

Georgia Currie has a taste of industry success.

HOKONUI AWARDS

CPIT fashion graduate Roberta Davids’ love of carefully constructed couture.

MisteR FASHION

MisteR designers at NZ Fashion Week.

36

38

GALLERY

A selection of work by Visual Communication students.

Page 4: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

4 | ignition

ignition.ac.nz | architecture

sky high

DREAMSEmily Low

Emily is a graduate of CPIT’s Bachelor of Architectural Studies. She is living and working in

Melbourne as an interior designer and PA.

Page 5: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

ignition | 5

architecture | ignition.ac.nz

sky high

DREAMSEmily Low

Tottori Flower parkElevli Cameron Architects

Page 6: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

6 | ignition

ignition.ac.nz | circoartsignition.ac.nz | architecture

Emily Low says Melbourne is the perfect city to gain experience and skills in architectural design.

Emily works as an interior designer and PA (architectural director’s assistant) in an architectural design and interior design firm, situated in Melbourne’s CBD.

The company she works for completes jobs ranging from small residential to medium commercial, and it follows the process from the beginning of the design through to the end. In part, because the director is Turkish, they get a lot projects designing Mosques, which brings a strong cultural design focus to the firm. They complete jobs from countries all around the world such as China, Vietnam, Istanbul, Turkey and New Zealand.

Emily’s involvement in the firm ranges from assisting client meetings, amending concepts and development of design ideas, producing 3D images and product boards, and managing the product library for both the interior and architectural side of the company.

This position has enabled Emily to become involved in all aspects of the firm, helping her understand and grasp the concepts of what architectural design is ‘really’ like in the big wide world after study.

She has found working and living in a design-focused city very inspiring. The cultural diversity of Melbourne has a strong influence on the quirky, unique designs produced by the many architectural firms.

CPIT has given Emily a good grounding in and understanding of architecture. CPIT has a focus on teaching students a wide range of subjects that are associated with the architectural industry. Emily believes the staff were exceptionally dedicated, liaising with students in and out of class time and providing many extra unscheduled tutorials.

Emily’s future plans are to increase her professional experience and knowledge of her industry, across all levels. She intends to come back to Christchurch in a couple of years and help with the redesign and rebuild of the city, bringing with her experience and the influences she has taken from living in a very multicultural design-focused city.

living and working in a design focused city has been very inspiring”

Moerenuma Park Glass PyramidElevli Cameron Architects

Page 7: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

ignition | 7

snapshots | ignition.ac.nz

JAZZING UP NEW YORK

A group of four second year Jazz School students, Ben (guitar), Harry (guitar), Anna (piano), and Tara (vocals) are about to embark on a two week journey to New York.

Harry Knight was the brains behind the operation. He had the idea of taking a group of Musical Arts School students to New York to inspire, motivate, educate, and experience the city’s abundance of music and culture first hand. Harry had been a part of organising some overseas trips in high school and thought it would be beneficial to organise one for Musical Arts School students. It is also an opportunity for them to discover personal strengths and learn new skills that will enable them to realise their potential as musicians.

From the moment students arrive in New York, they will be faced with challenges and opportunities that will make them grow and develop as people and professional musicians.

While in New York, the group will have the opportunity to visit some of the music schools and academy’s including NYU and Manhattan School of Music. They will be doing a song-writing workshop, which will improve their jazz-tune writing skills.

ILLUSTRATION BLOGSam Mulliss and James Squires completed the Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication in 2010. Their focus was Illustration & Animation. And they’re already ‘millionaires’.

Sam: “Munchscronch.com is a website we made. It’s amazing. You should go there. I started it shortly after finishing at CPIT in 2010 with James and dedicated ‘scroncher’, Julien Le Cocq, who deserves a mention. Each week there’s a thing, and this thing you try to draw. It also has a gross monster with no pupils. It doesn’t have a name nor is it the mascot, nor is it a representation of the scronching system. Yeah, that’s good, right? James?”

James: “Uhh. Munchscronch is mostly just an excuse to draw terrible pictures and put them on the Internet. It was intended to keep us drawing after we finished the degree, so we wouldn’t just collapse and watch Seinfeld DVDs all summer. There’s a weekly theme, and then anyone can submit an illustration (or photo, graphic, whatever), and then others can vote on which illustration is the raddest, and then the winner feels validated, like all the time they put into drawing Phil Collins wasn’t for nothing. Even though it probably was.”

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8 | ignition

ignition.ac.nz | snapshots

EXPLOSIVE

IDEAS

BOOK OF UTTERINGS

Rhoda Deed, a second year Bachelor of Design student studying Visual Communication at CPIT says, “the course has taught me how to think and process everything I design. I get to experiment across a broad range of subjects and techniques, which teaches me more than design skills alone.”

Rhoda loves the way she has been taught to look at and understand what surrounds us visually.

This year Rhoda and others have conceptualized and designed brochures, posters, logos, and unique typographic outcomes. They are currently working on web design. Rhoda says, “Since arriving at CPIT I’ve learnt that it’s about so much more than just the way something looks.” Her favourite part about the design process is coming up with the idea and then all of the thinking surrounding it. She says sometimes “it is the opposite from when I started.”

She gets her inspiration from nature, books, poetry, her faith in God and looking at people who design better than her. Her biggest focus in the big scheme of things, is designing for a purpose and thinking about how she can design to change her world in positive ways.

Rhoda says, “the tutors are really inspiring and I respect what they have to say, and nurture the advice they have to give. They are involved in the industry and are always pulling the best out of me and my class mates.”

The third year of the Bachelor of Design programme at CPIT is largely self-directed. Steph Baxter, a Visual Art student has found this approach suits her well.

Steph has based her work around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986. The work focuses on the aftermath and in particular the effect on the surviving animals.

She has created a series of origami stars that represent the explosion itself. The colours fade over time, alluding to the passing of time. Additionally the colour change represents birds feathers that are mutating and changing as a result of the effect of radiation. Her focus on this topic will continue throughout the year and eventually be portrayed in a concertina.

Steph enjoys the freedom to explore different techniques and processes at CPIT. She loves the vibe of the classroom and the people she has learned with over the last three years. They have become a supportive unit for each other.

Next year Steph is planning to move to Germany where she has a job lined up in book restoration, a component of her studies she really enjoyed.

Page 9: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

ignition | 9

snapshots | ignition.ac.nz

COUNTRYCRAFT

NO PHOBIA TO

PHOTOS

Ellie Morgan is currently in her third year studying Visual Communication at CPIT. Alongside this she has a passion for fabrics and sewing.

She first started making laptop covers because she got sick of carting her laptop around in a big heavy-duty laptop case. She wanted to make her own unique case that was nifty and reflected her personality, but also slim and snug fitting for the Apple Mac series of notebooks. She wanted to design them to be easy to carry around with books and other belongings.

Ellie believes in putting her personal touch into all of her work to make it unique. Each laptop case takes roughly an hour to make and she enjoys choosing the fabrics. Ellie has a suitcase full of off-cuts she has collected over time. She is currently making them for friends and family and would love the chance to sell them on a regular basis. She would love to develop her own brand that would focus on things such as bags and pencil cases using her own designs screen-printed on fabric.

If you are interested in purchasing unique custom made laptop cases priced at $50 each, then please don’t hesitate to contact Ellie via her e-mail address [email protected]

Johann Middlebrook’s interest in photography grew from his fascination with capturing and telling a story in one single frame.

Johann is a second year photography student at CPIT, currently in his final year with plans to move overseas next year to push for a career in the advertising and editorial industry.

This year Johann has focused his work around a range of portraiture subjects. His latest series is based around phobias. This project started from his fascination with how people can be ‘scared to death’ of something and how this fear can hinder their day-to-day activities. The series is based within a fictional setting where the subject is presenting strong emotions, acting on their particular phobia. Johann is currently looking for people who would be keen to participate in this series; you would need to act out a scared expression effectively.

You can contact him on [email protected] or check out his work at facebook.com/johannmiddlebrookphotography. Special thanks to Anna Jamieson & Emma Grigg (Models) and Georgina Price (Make-Up & Costume) for the ‘Clown Phobia’ photograph shown above.

Page 10: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

10 | ignition

ignition.ac.nz | music

WORLD OF MUSIC

Tamara teaches music to primary school children. She plays and composes professionally and for pleasure as well as hosting the Plains FM music show, Falling Through the Cracks, and she is a founder and organiser of the New Music Collective (NMC). The NMC presents a rotating programme of music every second Thursday in the CPSA, alternating with a fortnightly open jazz jam hosted by Darren Pickering. “A couple of years back, when I was teaching at Burnside High School, there were some really good musicians around, and we needed a forum where people could perform music they were working on and not just background gigs,” Tamara says.

The Honeypot Café, formerly in Lichfield Street, had been the original venue for the concept three or four years ago. Much has changed since then. With bassist Mike Storey, who had studied at Jazz School, and Andy Keegan (drums), she created the NMC at the start of the year. The Loons in Lyttelton was their first choice of venue, but the earthquakes saw to that.

The fact that NMC has ‘come home’ to CPIT has extra resonance. “We’re encouraging the jazz people coming through and using those who have been through the jazz programme before,” she says. Tamara graduated from CPIT Jazz School in 2001 with a three-year music diploma. Later, with further study and a teaching diploma, she turned her qualification into a Bachelor of Music Arts.

New MusicCollective

Dedication and passion are the impetus and inspiration for flautist Tamara Smith’s

life in music.

article by Rosa Shiels

Page 11: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

ignition | 11

music | ignition.ac.nz

The various elements of the Jazz School programme - theory, improvisation, arranging, performance, recording technology and so on – added depth and tonal colour to her ACTL (Associate Trinity College of London) in classical flute. The collegial atmosphere at CPIT was a huge bonus. “It was wonderful. One of the main advantages of the course is finding yourself among like-minded people,” Tamara says, “and I really enjoyed getting a sampling of the old jazz building in St Asaph Street. It had a down-home atmosphere and really nice vibe. My main musician friends all went through Jazz School at that time together.”

Tamara, who grew up in rural Cheviot with her guitarist brother Tyson, started on recorder and moved on to flute at nine. “The itinerant music scene was quite strong in the rural community and we had this wonderful guy, a Mr Judge, who rented both Tyson and myself our instruments.” The family piano was second favourite, often her composing instrument, and she and Tyson grew up trying out their compositions and early improvisational techniques on each other.

Tamara finished her schooling at Burnside High, playing classical flute in the school orchestra and also with the Christchurch School of Music. “When I was 15, I knew I wanted to go into other streams of music, because everything in classical music is so specific. You have to perform it in a certain way, whereas I wanted to be myself and perform in my own style, to create and compose my own bits of music and do whatever I wanted to do.”

CPIT Jazz School was a natural direction and outlet for her. While there, she and Tyson formed and recorded their original composition band, Pangolin, and Tamara also gigged with all-girl band Space Girls. After graduating, she worked as a self-employed musician, a teacher. Tamara also spent 18 months in France including some time working with a Cuban salsa band.

Returning to New Zealand she completed a teaching diploma, to give herself a solid profession to supplement her musician’s income, and was invited to join world-music ensemble Mundi (“mundi” means world in Latin).

Down the track, as different members have left to pursue their own musical agendas, Tamara has become the pivot of the group, orchestrating the launch of Mundi’s second album, ‘In the Blink of an Eye’, a few months ago to a full house at Lyttelton’s Naval Point Yacht Club. Music is an unlimited, transformative world full of ever-mutating, exciting possibilities. Tamara says “I just love how it can transport me to so many different places and times, and can make you feel amazing or different. It totally overrides any conscious thought.” For Tamara, the creative environment of CPIT’s Musical Arts Programme was a perfect fit, opening doors to many fields including music therapy, sound engineering, and different genres. “You are exposed to a lot of different styles, such as bebop, and you learn how to operate in them,” she says. “It is going to give you all these colours and spectrums you will be able to use later. Embrace it, learn from it, and later you can use whichever bits you want.” NMC: Live at the Christchurch Polytechnic Students Association (CPSA), Thursdays fortnightly, Rakaia Centre, Madras Street, $5 entry. More details at www.newmusiccollective.co.nz

I just love how it can transport you to so many different places and times. It can make you feel amazing or different”

Page 12: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

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ignition.ac.nz | music

MAKING THEIR OWN TRACKS

How did you guys meet and start up your band? Well it’s quite a long story, but I’ll try to shorten it. Basically Liam and Dan used to be in a band together throughout their later teen years called ‘Ample Cleavage’ (later renamed to Runway). In 2005, Emma and Dan met each other and they started a band together with a few other people, called ‘What Action?!’ That band eventually broke up, so they called Liam to see if he would like to join the band.

Some other things happened and we lost our bassist at the time, so we called on Dove, who Liam and Dan knew from Jazz School having just started that year. He was a good friend of Emma’s. So we had what we call our final line up by the year 2008 and we named ourselves Ashei! After the earthquake in February this year, Dove moved to Melbourne and Ben conveniently moved back to Christchurch from Auckland (where he had been playing in another band) so he joined us on bass.

ASHEILiam Muir, Dan Diggilo, Ben Malone and Emma Cameron

Page 13: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

ignition | 13

music | ignition.ac.nz

What have you been up to lately? We have been busy getting ready to release our third single, ‘Let Me Down’. We filmed a test music video for it a month back, and on October 6th we’re filming the final music video. Emma is co-producing the video with Villain Time Films (Wellington). We’re also putting some exciting plans together for the release but you’ll see them when they happen. And of course we’ve been writing more music and trying to prepare for some more recording up north in the summer so we have more material to release next year. What do you enjoy about being in Ashei? We like writing and making music videos and all that fun stuff, but I think we can all agree that the most enjoyable thing about being in a band is performing live to people who enjoy and respect your music. A lot of the time it’s not even that. A lot of the time it’s just being up on stage with each other and just having fun. It’s hard to explain, but it’s a very cool feeling playing live music with your friends.

What inspires each of you? We’re all inspired by different things and perhaps that’s why we’ve managed to hold it together for so long and still find enjoyment from it. We all write and play for our own personal reasons. It is these reasons that gel together and help us approach our own music with our unique perspectives and ideas. How has CPIT influenced Ashei? Well the classes got in the way of band practise a bit [laughs]. But, obviously CPIT has influenced our band a lot with Dan and Liam having attended Jazz School, which built up their skill set in performance, writing, and critical approach. It allowed them to really immerse themselves in their instruments which would obviously benefit our band immensely.

Emma’s studying graphic design at CPIT, which has helped the band’s visual image in print and screen. Most of our press photos are done by Ashe Grice, who is studying Photography at CPIT so we can thank her and CPIT for our photos too. CPIT basically helps us build our creative talents in our own directions.

What’s the future for Ashei? More writing, more recording, more live shows, more releases, more fun! We currently don’t have any gigs coming up as we’re using our time to sort out the release of ‘Let Me Down’ which will be released mid-late October.

Find Ashei on:facebook.com/AsheiBand. You can listen/download their past singles and acoustic/live album at - ashei.bandcamp.com

We all write and play for our own personal reasons...”

Page 14: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

ignition.ac.nz | music

14 | ignition

THUMPRATTLE& ROLL

Matt, Kurt, Sam, Jonty and Troy Von Voin

share their story with Ignition.

10 minutes with VON VOIN STRUM

Photography by Anna Jamieson

Page 15: Ignition Magazine - Issue 7

Ask anyone in Christchurch who their favourite local rock band is and you are only going to get one answer ...

Kurt and Jonty, how does studying at CPIT help or improve your performance with the band?

Well because we are studying music we’re constantly learning new things, and hopefully bettering our skills. I find it’s really good because your peers at Jazz School are always showing each other new music and exchanging new music, so we’re inspired by that.

How would you guys describe VVS’s sound?

(M) Organic Rock and Roll. Rock ‘n’ Roll Blues in a sense? It’s just how we feel; we play the way we feel. It’s quite honest. (S) I just think that we are kind of raw in a sense, not too commercialized. We’re unique I guess. We don’t really like to pigeon-hole it or anything by giving ourselves a genre; we’re pretty good to just go with our own flow and style. (M) We’re whatever people want us to be, you know?

music | ignition.ac.nz

So, would you say that’s your biggest feat to date?

Nah. It was a massive highlight at the time though. We have had other big highlights since then like playing at the UCSA Tea Party with a bunch of other New Zealand artists, putting out our EP, that was a big deal. Doing our South Island Tour was huge for us. And even playing Chartfest, that was big too, we basically headlined it. (J) We’ve all been working really hard. We have a manager now, and a contract that we are bonded to get some records out.

What are you all working on at the moment?

(S) We’re trying to do heaps of new songs. Big writing process. And, basically we’ve been trying not to gig too much. We want to make our gigs a spectacle for people, something people can actually get excited about and look forward to. We don’t want to end up being that band that plays every weekend at a pub just for an average income. (J) We’ve done enough of the

What are your main musical influences?

(S) Red Hot Chilli Peppers. (M) Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. I’m really in to Billy Idol at the moment too. (K) The Beatles. They take the cake for me. (S) Nirvana is a massive influence for how I approach this band. Dave Grohl is like, my idol. (T) More heavy music, such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Tool, Black Sabbath etc.

How long has Von Voin Strum been together?

With this group, it’s almost a year. But VVS itself has actually been around for almost two years. The difference being, Kurt was originally on the drums, Jonty was the fill in drummer. It happened one night, and Kurt asked me if I wanted to fill in because he wanted to play guitar, so I was like ‘yea… sweet as’! When we won Battle of the Bands, and Sam was away, that was kind of our springboard. That’s where people heard our name, and where we kind of got recognized I guess. Champions of the Universe.

ignition | 15

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GRAFFITI16 | ignition

ignition.ac.nz | music

freak-style

A proud traditionThe Press has been around for 150 years and has supported the

growth of tertiary education in Canterbury throughout this time. The Press is proud to support graphic and creative arts

at CPIT today as it has done in the past and will continue to do in the future.

gigging, we are all over it. We want to work more on getting some fresh material out there by having a break from it, writing, and recording. (M) It’s more about making an event for people to look forward to and get excited about, so that when you get there everybody is really pumped up to see the show, and we are really pumped up to deliver that to them. Have an experience with the crowd instead of a routine or work job. Quality over quantity you know?

Do you guys feel you are making good headway so far in the Christchurch scene?

(S) In Christchurch we are definitely, everyone here within the music industry will have heard our name. (M) You always want to be recognized for your passion, for your art and things like that, you know. You want to be respected musicians. You want people to recognize what you do and have respect for what you do. (T) At some of the gigs we play, people sing along to our own songs, and that’s quite a cool, but weird feeling. What are the things getting in your way?

(S) Cash is always a problem, especially in NZ, and being in Christchurch especially. It has been pretty difficult for us since February. (M) Life gets in the way of things sometimes. (S) Everyone has their own stuff they have going on behind the scenes, like jobs and study etc. So we can’t expect too much from one another sacrifice-wise, but we do what we can.

What’s in store for the future?

(S) Well we don’t generally look too far ahead. But just keep doing what we are doing. (J) We were under the impression we had to move out of Christchurch to do what we really wanted to do, and go bigger, but we don’t. (M) We see the current situation in Christchurch as a bit of an opportunity. There will be a lot more exposure on Christchurch as it rebuilds, so that can only be a positive for us. There will be a new scene with architecture and design, new venues will be popping up ...

Upcoming gigs?

We just played at the Rugby World Cup Final at the Fan-Zone with ‘The Dukes’, which was really cool. We are also going to play for the new re-opening for the ‘Dux De Lux’ 26th of November. So anyone can come along and see us all.

Last word from the frontman?

‘I’m on the razz now but should be home by 12. So text through, ‘Speckled’.

Find Von Voin Strum at www.facebook.com/vonvoinstrum, buy their ep from itunes or marbecks digital online, and for bookings contact Marc at [email protected]

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graffiti art | ignition.ac.nz

Wongi ‘Freak’ Wilson and the

DTR crew shed their light on

the Christchurch streets.

GRAFFITI

freak-style

Photography by Emma-Jayne Irving and Rebecca Preest

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ignition.ac.nz | graffiti art

18 | ignition

Why did you come to CPIT and study design? I had been practicing my art for a few years, and had already had a few exhibitions, but I just wanted to extend myself and take it all further. Originally I started off in Visual Arts because I wanted to add to what I already knew, but then I switched over to Visual Communication to reach in to a whole new realm, and learn something new. I still utilise my creative potential, just in a different way.

What would you consider your favourite part about the course?

I love the type work so far, especially the project last year - 42nd Street. Playing around with the letter forms and learning a more commercial way of thinking about the design of type. The graphics and communication classes are also really helpful with finding other angles I can explore. Its good and I enjoy it, but they are really challenging. I often struggle with layout in class because, with the walls, normally you try to fill up all the space so there are no obvious gaps for a kid to tag. So these classes are doing a good job of helping me actually get out of that habit and embrace negative space a little more.

Opinion on Banksy?

Back in the day I wasn’t a huge fan of his stuff, but now that I’m older and I’ve gained more maturity I guess my opinion has changed. Its amazing, the guy’s making a huge income from his graffiti art, the only difference is he cuts stencils and does his art that way on the street. The best thing about him is that its so secret, his name and everything, and his tight circle of friends that have all that trust in one another to keep his identity under wraps.

Visual Communication

Design student Wongi ‘Freak’

Wilson, further explores his

creative potential.

“No matter what people say, or how many people say it. If you love it, and it’s what you want to do,

keep at it”

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graffiti art | ignition.ac.nz

ignition | 19

What is the most memorable project you have achieved to date?

My favourite wall that DTR has done would be the ‘Black book’ wall. It was a photo-realistic piece with a bird’s eye view of an open book, showing sketches and pens on a wood grain table so you were looking down on it. It was by far one of the most memorable, spectacular walls we have done. Earlier to this there was another wall, where I painted a massive Hulk character. This was the first time I realized I had the potential to do huge, dope pieces.

Where do you see graffiti art going in to the future?

Its going to grow, and its going to hang around. It’s never going to go away. Lots of people try to get rid of it, especially the tagging side of it, but hey that’s the beginning. You can’t get to the stage that I am actually up to now, without the tagging and the throw-ups and all of those development stages. In New Zealand its good to see that it’s getting more positive exposure. The mature side of graffiti just needs some more attention I think. It has the potential to really thrive and become something big. I read somewhere that it’s the only art form for generations that has been solely created by youth, and it’s all about the youth. I reckon in 100-200 years it will just be labeled like every other famous movement. It’s got unlimited possibilities, but it will definitely develop and morph through time.

Any advice for anyone that want to pursue graffiti art as a career?

Just keep at it, no matter what people say, or how many people say its bad. You’re always going to get people that are going to say you shouldn’t be doing it and its really bad for society. If you love it and its what you want to do, keep at it, get a black book, draw away, chip away at it and eventually you’ll end up with something strong. Definitely develop your own style, use other graffiti artists for inspiration as well. Sketching, drawing and play are what will help you develop your style and keep some fresh ideas coming through. Pick inspiration from anything. You might be walking down the street and see someone doing something, or a funny looking dog, you know, and if you like it just use it for an idea. Let your imagination run wild.

What’s in store for the future?

I just want to keep painting. I want to be able to make a solid living off it. I want to pick up canvasses and exhibitions a little bit more because they help bring in the coin. And obviously heaps of walls still with commission work. Eventually we would like to get our own business up and running and tearing it up. I think we would like to stay in Christchurch for the next few years with the rebuild anyway, there’s so many blank walls, and its just a good place and time to be painting. It will help promote it really well, and hopefully it could help the Christchurch Graffiti Community thrive again. Wongi would like to give a big thanks to the DTR Crew, Ikarus and Dcypher. Much love to Mum and Dad, and also to Emma, who gave me the support and encouragement to start the degree. www.wongi.co.nz

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ignition.ac.nz | visual arts

Chloe Sawyer, first year visual arts woodblock print

Chained Lion

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CREATIVEKINGDOM

CPIT Visual Communication graduate Brett King, is stirring up the creative waters of Finland.

Introduce yourself...

Hi I’m Brett. At the moment I’m living in Helsinki, working as an art director and illustrator for the largest digital agency in Finland. But before I got sucked back into the agency world, I was an artist for a small but amazing illustration and animation studio called Pinata.

What made you choose graphic design as a career?

I guess It all happened by accident. I really wanted to be an architect but I never had the maths skills. I could kind of draw so my mum enrolled me at CPIT. Despite me thinking I’d never get in and preparing to be a carpenter, I got accepted. Looking back though, I was always interested in graphic design and illustration, so I guess I ended up in the right place.

How did you find your time at CPIT?

I remember having fun there, being tired a lot and making some good mates. Most of my time was spent dealing with the consequences of my terrible time management. Surfing in any spare daylight moments and doing all my work till the early hours in the morning. From what I hear the CPIT atmosphere doesn’t change much, there’s always a healthy competition between students, a good crew to hang out with, drive you, and sink some beers at the end of a massive project dump. Its interesting to see the design quality increasing. Perhaps this could be due to the exposure design blogs have these days. When I studied it was more of an old school approach to conceptual thinking, these days with a click of a button you can be overloaded with inspiration.

Did CPIT prepare you for the industry?

Well I would say yes and no - but mainly yes. CPIT was great, hands on, and concept driven, pushing you creatively to think about the big idea. It was really skills based so you knew how to use freehand better than art students at university. If you want some advice I would say do something that you might not get to produce in the real world, then when you are looking for work, it will set you apart and you will never regret not being an experimental student. It would have been good to have an internship for all the students as part of the degree, so everyone gets out there and gets a bit of a feel for what its like in the real world. For example Hyper Island in Sweden is an amazing way to study, using real projects as your student work. You work in teams competing for the job. I learned so much from my first few jobs.

What is your favourite pantone colour?

I don’t really have a favorite pantone colour. But I like the standard registration black, its kind of satisfyingly nice.

What did you have for lunch?

Lunch? I had reindeer balls with lingonberry jam. Much better than Swedish meatballs. The greatest thing about eating in Helsinki, is that companies pay for your lunch every working day with vouchers you can redeem in any restaurant nearby, from michelin star, to kebab stalls.

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The most recent thing/person/song/ that gave you inspiration?

I’m surrounded by inspirational people in Helsinki, but I would say above all, my little brother B-rad. He is like a jazz bug, drifting along and creating what he wants, I guess we inspire each other really. There isn’t a day, after we have had a yarn that I don’t feel like creating something. When he makes something and sends it over, it pushes me to make something new and better like some sort of graphic jam from NZ to hell and back.

What are the 5 most interesting items around you right now?

Well I’m at work in an old beer factory built right on the seafront of the old harbour district in the 1800’s, so that’s pretty cool. My Cintiq tablet is rad: I couldn’t work without it. There’s some Aalto lounge chairs, an Eames rocker, and um my desk is pretty bare apart from pencils and work books, so the trusty 2B pencil would be the fifth and most interesting item. I do enjoy a nicely sharpened pencil.

Future plans?

Well I’m pretty established in Helsinki for now, but I plan to return to Christchurch to start something some day. I would love to make Christchurch a better design orientated city and really push the design culture in NZ, making the general public appreciate it and create a good scene that draws designers to NZ and not just

because of its ‘nature’ appeal or earthquakes. For example, Finland has such deep design roots, you couldn’t go to any household without finding a proudly displayed design item, lamp, chair or textile. They are so inspired by the Finnish environment, my theory is, because its so minimal and peaceful compared to NZ’s wild and rugged terrain. But you can check out my blog of NZ design culture thesourcenz.blogspot.com. Its a start at least of documenting good things made by and in NZ. And last but not least who would win a fight between a taco and a grilled cheese sandwich?

The taco always wins.

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BIG SCREEN Digital realism on the

As a compositor and compositing supervisor on feature films, Jesse Parkhill finesses frames and sequences before they are recorded to film, finely mixing all the components so that each element of the shot is logical and seamless. As one of the last people on the filmic assembly line, it’s the compositor’s job to iron out the glitches. “There’s a whole range of different challenges you come up against,’’ he says, “but largely it’s about combining real shot elements with computer-generated elements. “It’s getting to the stage now that photorealism is demanded, it’s standard, whereas even three or four years ago you used to be able to get away with something which looked a bit more artificial.”

Jesse Parkhill lives in London where he has worked as a compositor on such high-profile movies as ‘Where the Wild Things Are’, ‘Clash of the Titans’, ‘Conan the Barbarian’, and the Oscar Award-winners ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and ‘Avatar’. The road to mainstream cinematic projects started for Jesse Parkhill at Canterbury University, doing law for one year. By then he’d decided he wanted to move into film and three years later he graduated with a BA in Film and Media Studies at Otago University. His next step, undertaken in 2003 – the one-year Digital Video Post Production Diploma at CPIT’s New Zealand Broadcasting School would be what crystallised his career direction and gave him the practical skills to pursue it.

“It gave us a lot of practical skills,” he says. Jesse Parkhill found a job with an Auckland digital production company within two months of finishing at CPIT. It was his first step into the film industry proper, although he was on the bottom rung as a runner.“I was lucky enough to get a job making coffee for everyone with a company called Digital Post,’’ he says. ”The short film that I made at CPIT was what really got me the job.”

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When Jesse Parkhill is doing his job properly the cinema-goer should never notice it.“If I hadn’t done the course, I wouldn’t have known about that area of visual effects and I wouldn’t have approached that particular company for a job. It’s very hard, unless you have some practical skills, to get into the film industry.”

It’s exponentially harder in London, too, even though the film industry is large and well-established. It’s where Jesse began to look for work after ending up there with his girlfriend on their European OE. “It took me about two months to get the job over here, but after that it was plain sailing pretty much. I haven’t been out of work since.’’

The small start-up company Jesse works for currently is in the throes of major change. “I’ve been part of large teams, I’ve been part of small teams and I’ve worked on small shows and big shows, but at the moment our London office is currently merging with an American company, Digital Domain, one of the biggest in the world at what they do. The work we’ll be doing from now will be for big films.”

“When I joined, there were five or six people here, and now we’re 15 to 20 and we should be getting bigger and bigger as the years go on. It’ll be quite a different place this time next year.”

“It’s quite exciting. I’ve worked for five different companies since I’ve been in London. You can jump from one to the other quite easily.’’ Jesse is not at liberty to talk about forthcoming projects, but he is looking forward to starting them and seeing the finished product. “That’s the buzz,” he says, “seeing the final film after you’ve been through what can sometimes be quite a stressful and full-on situation with a lot of these films. As they come towards the end it all gets fairly tense. But it’s great to see the final work up there and it’s always great to see your credit at the end of a major picture.’’

article by Rosa Shiels

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“This is the World Cup and it’s only six weeks we’ve got to showcase ourselves to the world, so the buzz is everywhere.’’ Scott Milligan, a 2010 Broadcast Communication and Journalism graduate, is in his element. Based in hometown Auckland, at the time of writing he was collecting vox-pops and reporting on the atmosphere and events in and around the Rugby World Cup matches for Radio Sport, one of his current employers. Scott goes to the games, interviews people on the street, collects content and passes on his impressions for the radio reporters, who write a story from the information he’s collected. “I’m there getting the atmosphere,” he says. “They’ll ask me questions and then they’ll go on air, giving updates of the situation around town.”

Not a bad gig for someone whose end goal is to work in sports journalism. “On Radio Sport I’m a casual journalist and I do producing and online editing – web content managing, part-time.” Scott knew he wanted to be a journalist midway through his high school years and picked subjects to this end: “English, writing, media studies, history and geography – anything to encourage and influence my media writing.”

Television journalism has been a primary aim, working in sports or current affairs, and for the six-month internship, as part of his two-year journalism course, he worked at Country 99 Television in Auckland, which goes out to the rural and agricultural sectors on Sky.

He honed his to-camera skills at Country 99 before moving on to Radio Sport and Newstalk ZB, where he is learning all aspects of radio behind the scenes as well as gaining on-air time.

“It’s more of a radio student-type role where there’s a host and you’re the one that’s in charge of making sure the phone calls go to air and the ad breaks are played, and the set-up behind the scenes – making sure that the show runs smoothly,’’ he says.“I’m one permanent shift a week and I’m basically a ring-in if anyone calls in sick.

Online or on-camera, a clear focus has helped journalism graduate Scott Milligan achieve his immediate career aims.

Scott’s next step will be to head offshore and seek work in Sydney at the ABC or at Fox Sport, armed with the multi-media journalistic skills he gained at CPIT and his on-the-job experiences in radio and on television.

The opportunities at New Zealand Broadcasting School at CPIT are endless, he says. “They have connections everywhere in New Zealand and in Australia as well. If you want to do this, they help you in any way get to where you want to go. Take every and any opportunity you can and there’s no harm in going and working for free, because, at the end of the day, they will remember your face and your name. I committed myself to TVNZ and in the next couple of months there may be something there which I could work my way through.’’

EYE ON THE BALL

If you want to do this, they will help you in any way to get to where you want to go. Take any and every opportunity you can.”

article by Rosa Shiels

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Light sabres to

LIVESTREAMIntergalactic action movies sparked Isaac Spedding’s career in video and CPIT honed his talent and sharpened his craft.“Blame it on ‘Star Wars’,’’ Isaac says.Wellington-based video producer Isaac Spedding has George Lucas to thank for the impetus to get into video. The ‘Star Wars’ space opera drew him in early on, and his passion for film has not left. “I just loved it heaps and made my first ‘Star Wars ‘film by drawing in the light sabres over the top of sticks that my friends and I fought with, when I was still in primary school,” he says.

“We filmed us having a fight on the beach with some sticks and then I took the footage and imported each frame and drew the light sabres in on each frame with Microsoft Paint.” Isaac, who graduated in 2008 with a diploma in Digital Video Post-production from the NZ Broadcasting School, already had his direction mapped out with his own company, Spark Productions, set up and ready to go before he had left Hutt Valley High School. “I registered the company in seventh form with the help of my parents, because I wasn’t old enough.”

While still at high school he won the opportunity to undertake a short internship with MTV in Germany as part of the company’s Get Made programme, which helped high school students’ achieve their dreams. As part of Isaac’s winning package, he had a four-day experience with MTV in Germany, including filming the Foo Fighters. “We filmed TV shows, hung out with celebrities and travelled. I’d just turned 18, so that blew my mind. I decided that I’d like to pursue that as a lifestyle and got to work, figuring out how to get out there again.”

In the short few years from then till now, Isaac Spedding has amassed a mountain of credits in pre and post video production for web content such as the making of Rugby Challenge with Jonah Lomu, television commercials, documentaries and live broadcasts with a client base that include Panasonic NZ, ASB Sponsorship, MetService and the New Zealand String Quartet.

He has undertaken diverse roles, from camera assistant and operator to director, producer, motion designer, editor, voice recordist, sound design and even composition. “I learned a lot of the post-production, editing and motion graphics, completely at CPIT. It’s where I learnt a lot of really handy post-production skills. I picked up camera by working with talented camera operators and other crews.”

He made the most of his time at CPIT and encourages all students to do the same. “I would say it’s equally important going with your own ideas and multiple avenues while you study,” he says.

article by Rosa Shiels

“There were 17 or 18 people in my class, and there were some who did the bare minimum and others who were actively pursuing other options throughout the year, like talking to clients, doing external work – not necessarily paid, and working with other CPIT students. I started working with the circus school a bit. Bits and pieces like that made it 10 times more valuable being there, just having that big community of other creatives.’’

Spark Productions is essentially a one-man show. “We get people in, depending on what the job is. We’ve just started doing livestream with the Davis Cup tennis.”

Livestream is broadcast online via Facebook and it’s interactive; for the tennis, which screened a couple of months ago, you could watch the match and ask questions of the commentators, which they’d respond to as the match continued. “Early this year I worked with ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’. A whole bunch of people came from LA to Weta Workshops and we did a livestream and a little interview with Andy Serkus.”

“We set up what you’d normally see in a ‘making-of’ DVD, except that we were broadcasting it live to 22 million people on Facebook. I was pretty blown away by the technology.” The 22 million were ‘Avatar’ fans. “Because all the special effects people were from ‘Avatar’, they decided that that user group would be interesting.”

Isaac hopes to head offshore soon with work at Livestream.com in mind. “They run a big server in LA, but they also run Facebook Live, where people like President Obama come and talk online. It’s very big and I think that’s where broadcasting’s heading - interactive online.”

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The ultimate MARATHONWhere horror and zombies meet comedy is where you will find filmmaker Logan McMillan.Rather than working his way up through the ranks, filmmaker and photographer Logan McMillan chose to create his own signature visuals for a showreel. “My goal was to shoot feature films, so I just shot as many films as I could.” He started out working for a company shooting video footage and worked for himself on the side, making a short film and shooting music videos.

This approach meant he had a few lean years after leaving CPIT’s NZ Broadcasting School in 2003, where he studied video post-production, but he is making a steady living from his craft now with several major projects under his belt and a second film in the works. “The last eight or nine years have been just doing what I want to do, and the fact that I’m now making money from it is a bonus,” he says.

He was still based in Christchurch until the earthquakes shook him out of his CBD studio, where he lost his living space and some of his equipment. Since then, he’s been on the move, going wherever the work takes him. “I had a job in Australia, a shoot in Hong Kong and a couple of shoots in the States. I went to LA and shot some video there and shot the Mel Parsons video in San Francisco. Then my buddy and I bought an old Cadillac and drove across to New York and shot another music video.”

Logan is also concurrently polishing a script for his second horror-comedy feature film. “It’s going to be shot in Hanmer Springs this summer. I had a 90-minute film that came out in 2008 that was based in Christchurch, a horror-comedy called ‘Last of the Living’. It was really low budget and it made a profit worldwide in sales.” This movie was picked up by a Los Angeles distributor and sold through DVD markets internationally.

“It went straight to DVD but it made a profit and in Los Angeles that’s the key to getting careers,” Logan says. “So I’ve pitched another film to the same guys and we are in the process of getting some funding.” A spin-off from his favoured movie genre in the form of a multi-part interactive promotional video for Hell’s Pizza had unexpected YouTube success.

I had an idea for a zombie-comedy interactive movie and instead of wasting all my money on it and it ending up a real nightmare, I thought Hell Pizza would be a corporation I could probably pitch it to. So, along with Katie O’Brien, the producer I work with, we flew one of the Hell Pizza CEOs down to Christchurch and did a PowerPoint presentation for him. He loved it and gave us $80,000 to shoot it.” The clips were linked with a competition to win a year’s supply of pizza. Initially, the company had asked Logan how many hits he thought they could expect and Logan pulled the figure 200,000 out of the air.

article by Rosa Shiels

“It’s like running a marathon; it’s pretty satisfying.”

“We launched it and within the first weekend it had over 200,000 views,” he says. “It’s now been online for about a year and the whole series has had 16 million viewers on YouTube. It did surprise us how much it took off, but I also put a lot of work into it, all day, every day for the first two or three weeks on forums, on horror forums, posting it and discussing it. If you’re doing that on multiple sites and you’re putting the work in, it will get out there.”

Logan is living the working life he aspired to when he joined up for the CPIT programme. He has a clear vision of where he wants to go in film and while he develops his own projects he works for others in video or with stills photography, making music clips, promos, behind-the-scenes videos, and designing websites. It’s all pursuant of his ultimate goal of directing: “It’s like running a marathon; it’s pretty satisfying.”

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JAMIESON ANNA

Anna Jamieson Photography // MisteR Fashion Design

In the following fashion spread Jamieson conveys MisteRs’ style of “an artful collision between the heritage of British

tailoring and the experimental quirky nature of Asian fashion.”

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Than

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Cal

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Mey

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& La

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Mod

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Launch your own label and show at New Zealand Fashion Week – it’s the path most fashion graduates dream of taking. CPIT graduates Mickey Lin and Ra Thomson from MisteR have done just that and Next Top Model judge, Colin Mathura-Jeffree, has already singled them out as a label to watch.

MisteR’s fashion week debut was the culmination of hard work, talent and support from CPIT. Ten years on from CPIT’s fashion technology and design course and five years after launching MisteR, Mickey and Ra were keen to raise the profile of their exquisite menswear range at New Zealand’s premier fashion event.

MisteRMisteR’s New Zealand made, natural fibre, fitted and beautifully tailored menswear contrasted the boxy shapes and loose styles that dominated menswear five years ago. Suddenly, tall, skinny boys had something to wear too; something with colourful silk and cotton linings, structured international style and simply joyous details. Marvels in Wellington first stocked MisteR, closely followed by Ballantynes Contemporary Lounge.

“The first two seasons we made pretty much everything - it was a smaller scale than now,” Ra said. Ra and Mickey still make several styles themselves. The rest they outsource – the jeans to Nelson, the shirts to Hamilton, the jackets are made in Christchurch and the knitwear goes to Auckland. “We think the places we have found are the best,” Mickey said. MisteR has collected more retailers and their temporary post-quake relocation doesn’t seem to have slowed them down. They stay in touch with their former classmates and tutors.

“We always speak very highly of our time at CPIT,” Ra said. “CPIT created a community for us - that is one of the best things about it. The skills you learn there are probably some of the best in New Zealand because of the hands-on approach to how fashion is done. Other courses are more design-oriented.”

“You can pretty much walk into a design workroom and take up any job,” Mickey added. Mickey and Ra have worked for other companies (Jockey children’s underwear, Starfish – Ra, Ballantynes and New York’s Gam and Gale – Mickey). Now they’ve taken their own label to fashion week, the future looks bright.

“The main thing is to make MisteR better known locally,” Mickey said, “but if we get international orders it will be awesome. Every designer wants to get to New Zealand Fashion Week. Hopefully in another five years for us it will be New York Fashion Week or London.”

CPIT created a community for us - that is one of the best things about it ”

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MisteRWeek.Fashion

MIXING BUSINESS

Josh has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair, however he is keen to explore his boundaries, if he has any that is. He’s been helicoptered onto mountains so he can ski down them and now he’s modelled at New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW).

“I just like doing different creative things,” he said. To accomplish his goal, Josh rang NZFW and expressed his interest in being a runway model. Christchurch label MisteR, run by CPIT graduates Mickey Lin and Ra Thomson, responded and invited Josh to be part of their debut fashion week show.

Josh admitted to some butterflies leading up to his first ever modelling gig, but was also very excited at the opportunity. “We would like it if our dreams came true, so why not help someone else achieve theirs?” Mickey from MisteR said. “We like to be outside the box. Our label is for all sorts of different people and we are looking forward to making him look great!”

“It is also a reflection on our business,” added Ra. “There‘s this idea that fashion doesn’t relate to real people, but we like to be approachable.”

Photograph by Ruby Jack.

When CPIT business management student Joshua Perry gets an idea into his head not much can stop him. He loves to prove to the world that disabled people can do anything they want to

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WESTPACYOUNG DESIGNER

She is yet to graduate but third year fashion technology and design student Georgia Currie got a taste of industry success when she was awarded Westpac Young Designer 2011 during the Red runway show at New Zealand Fashion Week. Seeing three outfits from her mid-year CPIT collection Wonder Axis on the runway was “really emotional” and “magical” for the twenty year-old student. Georgia was ecstatic about just going to fashion week after reaching the top three of the award and took a while to absorb the fact that she won. “So… no, I couldn’t explain it. I felt kind of numb!”

Georgia wins $5000 cash, mentoring from leading designer and business woman Angela Lewis and an amazing start to a fashion industry career. Last year’s winner, Jess Britten, who also studied at CPIT and inspired Georgia to enter the competition, is now working with the label Lonely Hearts.

“Georgia worked so hard on her collection and developed some very original and sophisticated concepts. She has certainly come a long way during her studies at CPIT and we are very proud of her,” Fashion Programme Leader Nicki Chrisp said. Georgia spent the weekend after the win, shopping and relaxing with friends in Auckland before returning to Christchurch. Next it will be back to the drawing board as she develops a new collection for another runway - CPIT’s end of year fashion showcase PITCH.

Georgia Currie gets a taste of industry success

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CPIT fashion graduate Roberta Davids’ love of carefully constructed couture saw her walk away with a gong at the recent Hokonui Fashion Design Awards. Roberta took out the ‘Heartlands Hotel Croydon Nightlife Award’ for a stunning gown from her collection for CPIT fashion show Pitch last year. Meanwhile, a flair for flamboyance landed CPIT second-year fashion student Sarah Odering the ‘Fredricks Menswear Section’ at the awards. “The theme I researched was clowns and I think that comes through,” she said. “It is basically my style of clothing. I’m a student and I don’t have to worry about whether it sells, so it was a chance to play.”

Sarah was “over the moon” to receive the $1000 prize money and the all-important exposure the award brings. Roberta was similarly “just blown away” by her award. “Obviously what I design I love, but to have the recognition and get my name out there is fantastic and just opens so many doors,” she said.

This is Roberta’s second Hokonui after she won the Merino Award in 2009. “There is a moment of sheer joy and peace when you win and you just want to do it again, create another design and make it happen.” Learning how to turn designs into wearable garments during her training had been challenging, she said, but the support of the tutors had been invaluable. “They make it an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said. “They are so positive and encouraging. The course, especially the third year, takes commitment and sacrifice, and you have to give it everything. But, it is definitely worth it in the end, I think the course covers everything. You get an insight into the industry; it’s not only about designing. Everyone I know who is into fashion, I tell them to do the CPIT course.” The Hokonui Fashion Design Awards, held in Southland at the end of July, offers important opportunities to young designers. The total prize package is over $26,000 and some 1200 people attend the event over two nights.

HOKONUIAWARDS

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With a cast of 75 performers, finding a Christchurch venue for the CPIT National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA) production of CATS was no small mission. So organisers looked south and were welcomed with open arms by the Ashburton Trust Event Centre.

Months of logistical preparation and rehearsals have preceded the performances on 3 to 6 November.

Soloists Kelly Mahoney and Shaan Antunovich said the production was physically demanding and that finding fresh interpretations of roles and songs made famous over countless international seasons was also challenging.

CATS, by Andrew Lloyd Webber, debuted on London’s West End in 1981 and played for 21 years, garnering numerous awards and passing into history as the second-longest running show on Broadway.

Shaan plays Grizabella, “the old cat who sings Memory,” a song immortalised by Elaine Page in the original production.

Working with freelance director Stephen Robertson was invaluable experience when recreating the roles, Shaan said. “Working through Memory, it started to make sense because Stephen knows the musical inside out. We had to be very strict when learning the songs because the notes on the page are sometimes different to the recordings that everyone knows. The songs are part of the story, and have to be performed as such, but they often get taken out of context.”

Like countless casts before them, the NASDA students were asked to undertake characterisation homework. According to Kelly, who plays Griddlebone, “we were told to go home and study cats, how they sleep and walk, the way their backs arch,” she said.

Shaan and Kelly have both performed in CATS before, but said that the process of working with an industry director had given them valuable insights.

The cast, from all three year levels of the Bachelor of Performing Arts (Music Theatre) programme, also worked with three different choreographers on CATS, experiencing a range of dance styles.

The NASDA programme focuses on singing, dance, acting and theatre studies and incorporates regular performance opportunities from musicals to avant garde theatre.

CATS launches CPIT’s Creative Festival, which celebrates the Creative Industries Faculty with concerts, exhibitions and other events.

For more information see www.ignition.ac.nz.

To book tickets for CATS (adult $45 student $30), visit www.ticketdirect.co.nz or phone 08004TICKET or 0800 224 224.

NASDA presents a night to remember with their rendition of CATS

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ignition.ac.nz | design

Visual Communication Gallery

Joshua O’Neill

Jacqui Nicholson-Mcrae Lauren Dunell

Richard Burson

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www.crownrelo.co.nz

Whether you’re moving across town, across the country or around the world, let us show you why we are considered the very best in the moving business.

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