Timezoneone Blog

They (we) constantly bust their (our) brains over which road is the road less traveled and why. Oftentimes, what makes madmen and women so damn mad is that while the crossroad torments us, there’s no other place we’d rather be.

The reason why is because we know that creation for us, is far more progressive than duplication. We know that while experience is massively important, it rarely tells us what to do. We should only give experience an extremely limited tip of the hat so that it merely informs us as to what to watch out for. To the creativity minded, which is apparent in all functioning facets of TimeZoneOne, merely existing on experience is like driving on tracks down the same road-over and over and over and over again. You’ll get there, you’ll be safe. You’ll be sound. And you’ll be bored.

Which brings me to something not at all boring: Madmen.

Madmen is a true crossroads drama in that its purpose is to entertain, delight, and inform the world of our business through fresh faces, fashion and film. It dares to be different. It dares to sidestep the status quo. It depicts those creative spirits who, with confidence, bravado, cigarettes, booze, and unbridled creativity in a world of unbridled new media (television, at the time) took the roads less traveled and won-big.

This show is a very well done reflection of real Madmen and Madwomen. Madness with real names-George Lois, Jerry Della Famina, Mary Wells, Sir Frank Lowe, and the Cohen Brothers of advertising, Saatchi and his younger brother Saatchi. The maddest of the mad men who set out to break the rules for these crazy, rule breaking bastards was Bill Bernbach.

The attached clip is a bit of work he lead that, like Robert Johnson, changed the way we do things today.

You”ll see the Levy’s Rye Bread work in this clip.

The line he created is “You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s”.

Bernbach was Jewish. He made himself a sandwich of corn beef on two slices of Levy’s and wrote the line, “You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s…because no Jew would ever eat this shit”.

He said the most creative thing we can do is tell the truth about what you’re trying to sell. If you can’t tell the truth, at least tell a half truth.

See you tomorrow.

Lor Goldstein

Its that time of year again when local artists and designers get to show us the best way to wear and model everything from t-bags, insulation pipe, and feathers to fiber optics and plastic bags. The annual wearable art extravaganza originally began in Nelson, New Zealand and has grown from strength to strength. It is hard to describe the award ceremony, a montage of theater, dance, color, movement and art, a theatrical spectacular.

Kim

Ruba and Rose going to the islands

Anna creating a new bedroom

Andy chief wall paper cutter

The Kingswood story

After 14 hemisphere-hopping winters in a row Alex Herbert fell in love with the Canterbury club fields and made Lyttelton, New Zealand his home.

He started a repair workshop, the Ski & Board Surgery, in central Christchurch in 1999 and it quickly became the city’s busiest workshop.

When fat skis appeared in the late 1990s, Alex wanted them bad, but they were scarce.  Eventually, he took matters into his own hands and decided to make them himself.  Taking his knowledge from 14 years at the tuning bench, Alex set to work.  The first step was to take his favourite pair of skis and cut them into 86 pieces to see what was inside.

The first press was made from two pieces of rolled steel sandwiched together with car jacks.  Though the start was rough, the aim had always been to make the highest quality skis possible.  Alex was convinced skis could be better, stronger, more durable.  He wasn’t willing to put his name to them unless they were the best ski he could imagine.

And so he experimented until he got it right. The first ski was good, ski-able and strong.  The hard part wasn’t making a ski… it was making a great ski.  That took three more years.

Kingswood Skis hit the market in June 2005 but the search for perfection continues.  In 2007, the topsheets were improved, new shapes added and old ones tweaked.

Alex runs the company with his wife Kris. Alex hangs out in his big ski factory, rides his skateboard from one end to the other and makes all the skis.  Kris does pretty much everything else.  Kris says it’s her job to take Alex’s ideas about ski making and their combined ideas about life in general and translate that into running a business.  Alex says he’s lucky to have her.

Andy out testing

I love random crap and I love the internet.

I think it is the most powerful tool for inspiration and possibly destruction, so to round the week off (or get it started) heres a few things that excite and inspire me:

Sweet gifs, those annoying flashing ads on the web have been turned into somthing “sweet “. Bands performing in the back of londons black cabs. French guy making people in the 3rd world famous and happy. Stories advertised on a stove. Random fun things and random fun vending machine. Make things. Photography things. Typography things. Emotional user fed interface We feel fine. Drain pipes in dresden. Animals on the underground. And some great flickr groups, plastic mascots , neon signs and my favorite entoptic phenomena.

Brett King

Its winter over here in NZ, and what a winter it has been. Canterbury has been the place to be! With fresh snow dropping weekly, most little canterbury clubbies boasting triple the amount of snow than the Queenstown massive.

Right up there on my inspirational hero’s list, along with “Kevin Bacon” is “Frank Bare “, who in 1983 completed the first quadruple tiple twisting backflip on skis. Truly inspiring, he doesnt muck around, and nails it on his first attempt.

Make sure you check out his trademark “goggle pump” and pre jump ninja moves. I often immitate these stretches in front of my computer each morning before creating amazing graphics.

Interesting facts currently quad flips are not legal in competition and a great event we all miss is Ski Ballet , its no longer a part of competitive freestyle skiing, (I wish it still was) but was conducted from the late-1960s until the mid-1990s. Ballet involved a choreographed routine of flips, rolls, leg crossings, jumps, and spins performed on a smooth slope. After the mid-1970s the routine was performed to music for 90 seconds.

If you are feeling the chilly winter fingers ravaging you, Simon has just informed me of a good supply of “under one’zies ” (complete with comfort flap) to keep you toasty.

 Brett “airblaster” King

Here’s a great example of internet television production and distribution. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a 43-minute tragicomic musical produced exclusively for Internet distribution. It stars Neil Patrick “doogie howser” Harris and tells the story of Dr. Horrible (Billy), an aspiring supervillain, Captain Hammer, his nemesis, and Penny, their mutual love interest.

The movie was written by writer/director Joss Whedon, his brothers Zack Whedon (a television writer) and Jed Whedon (a composer), and Jed’s fiancée, actress Maurissa Tancharoen. The writing team penned the musical during the WGA writers’ strike. The idea was to create something small and inexpensive, yet professionally done, in a way that would circumvent the issues that were being protested during the strike.

The results were ground breaking with 200,000 hits on the site in the first hour…so much activity that the server crashed! You can enjoy Dr Horrible’s sing-along blog at http://www.drhorrible.com/

Dr. Nigel  

Known best for it’s Hobbits, New Zealand’s creative industry is an extremely diverse sector which currently contributes around 3.1% of the country’s GDP. Along with film making and screen production, industries include music, fashion, textiles, television, digital content and our favorite, design (to name a few).

NZ’s sporting achievements are well known worldwide and are backed up by a nation of new thinking and fresh ideas. An America’s Cup win in 1995 highlighted the country not only as a sporting nation but also as one of design and innovation with the revolutionary Virtual Eye 3D animated graphics that accompanied the television coverage. Over the years New Zealand has also become one of the world’s leading locations for super yacht construction, leading in naval architecture and interior design. Award winning vessels such as Fitzroy Yachts ‘ Salperton (which recently won Best Sailing Yacht in the 30-44 meter class at the World Super Yacht Awards ) have become the standard for high performance technology.

Captain Matt Sparrow

 NIGEL FOLEY

1. What are you wearing today?

Jeans and a cord jacket because I’m cool!

2. How many brothers/sister do you have and are you first born, middle, youngest or only child?

1 brother, I’m the oldest. 

3. Where were you born?

Jean Todd wing, Timaru Public Hospital

4. Tell us one thing not many people know about you?

I was dux of my school.

5. What are you like at parties?

I’m in between party animal and wallflower. What is that? A great mingler - can hold my own.

6. Tell us your favorite drink?

Margaritas!

7. Who is your ‘Go to’ person? 

Peter Davis

8. What was the last song you downloaded (or CD you bought)?

Amy Winehouse Back to Black

9. Tell us your pet hate?

Hate Passiveness…Hate whinging with no solution.

10. Vegemite or Maramite?

Vegemite

11. Best piece of advice your mother ever gave you?

Always have clean underwear and a clean handkerchief.

Plan your work and work your plan.

12. If you had a ’shin-dig’ at your house and could invite 4 famous people (dead or alive) who would they be?

Jake Gyllenhaal, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland, Anika Moa, Hugh Jackman

13. What is your favorite place in the world and why?

Italy. Food, culture, vibe, attitude, style.

14. If you won a million dollars tomorrow, what would you do with the money?

Spend some of it…move to Melbourne…share some of it.

15. Do you have a nickname? (and if so what is it?)

No….but Tatt’s calls me ‘Foley Moley’…don’t know why!

16. And lastly who would you turn straight for?

Kate Bush….who would I stay gay for…Jake Gyllenhaal floats my boat.

 LYE 

MATT HERIVEL  

1. What are you wearing today?

Black T-shirt, Jeans, ski socks (gotta keep warm!)

2. How many brothers/sister do you have and are you first born, middle, youngest or only child?

1 brother. I’m the oldest and the smallest.

3. Where were you born?

Alderney, Channel Islands.

4. Tell us one thing not many people know about you?

I can wobbly my eyes.

5. What are you like at parties?

All good until the Tequila comes out.

6. Tell us your favorite drink?

Guiness, Lager, Tequila (not together).

7. Who is your ‘Go to’ person? 

My wife, Danni.

8. What was the last song you downloaded (or CD you bought)?

It’s been a while…Tim Armstrong, I think.

9. Tell us your pet hate?

Opening car doors in the cycle lane,

I know I’m gonna eat it soon!

10. Vegemite or Maramite?

Maramite (the UK stuff!)

11. Best piece of advice your mother ever gave you?

Don’t eat yellow snow.

12. If you had a ’shin-dig’ at your house and could invite 4 famous people (dead or alive) who would they be?

Homer Simpson (drinking buddy), G-Love (for the tunes), Bill Hicks, Gordon Ramsey (For the F***in BBQ!)

13. What is your favorite place in the world and why?

Douglas Quay, Alderney. It’s beautiful….Danni and I were married there. (aaahh!)

14. If you won a million dollars tomorrow, what would you do with the money?

Take Danni surfing in Costa Rica…no, she’d love it!!

15. Do you have a nickname? (and if so what is it?)

At school it was ‘Plank’ due to the shoulders…kind of morphed into ‘Plankton’ - don’t know what that was all about….

16. And lastly who would you turn gay for?

Stay-Puff Marshmallow man. He works that sailor look!!

LYE