Beers 'n Ideas stays at home

Wow......

It's been a month of turmoil in the land of Beers 'n Ideas..... our home base the East Village closed down for a while, but has now reopened so (despite a frantic month of searching for alternate venues) the Mothership is back on course, with B'nI retaining its home base.

With the changing of hands at the Village comes the changing of times/dates for Beers 'n Ideas this month. the first Tuesday is Melbourne Cup (such as it is this year!) and due to booking conflicts, the date for November B'nI is 7pm, WED 14th NOVEMBER.

We've got a lucky door prize this time..... POL Oxygen have very kindly offered up a subscription to a lucky attendee, and Aaron Nicholls from Format Furniture will be speaking, along with a mystery guest presenter.

Though today is a rainy-day-blues kind of vibe, fingers and toes are firmly crossed to ensure we have a balmy-late-Spring kind of evening, so come along and soak up some creativity.

WOW - We need a new venue

The East Village Hotel is closed until further notice. This is a bummer. We suffered through the winter months on the roof so we could take advantage of the amazing summer evenings - only to be dashed by unexpected closure at the last minute.

If you have any suggestions for a venue please contact us. Stay tuned for the new beers 'n ideas venue

Elvis Di Fazio - Who is the man?

Elvis Di Fazio grew up in Raby, in the western suburbs of Sydney. He completed a diploma of fine arts (Majoring in silkscreen printing) at campbelltown TAFE. Di Fazio is part of a new generation of people who are not inhibited by the institutional hierarchies, boundaries and definitions that can often limit creative expression. Distinctions between art and fashion or shop and gallery are of little consequence. What matters to this growing group, who operate outside of the establishment, is conecting with people-having something to say, finding the most interesting way to say it and sharing it with others. Di Fazio has Exhibited in galleries including the Campbelltown City Arts Gallery, Blacktown Arts Gallery, Gladstone Regional Arts Gallery, The Sydney Opera House Gallery and the Mueseum Of Sydney were his screen prints were included in the recent "Italiani De Sydney" exhibition.

For Di Fazio, the idea of making art on T-shirts seemed natural and logical. He saw so many screen-printed t-shirts but so few that appealed to him. At the same time he paticipated in an exhibition in the city that drew a good crowd on the opening night but far too few people for the remainder of the show. He says, "I thought the best way to get it out there would be on a t-shirt....like a canvas on someone's body. the people who I am directing my art towards are never going to see it in a gallery; they go to shops were they buy fashion." The first designer clothing store he approached, Crazy Horse in Darlinghurst, not only agreed to stock the T-shirts but also invited him to design part of the interior of their new store. Another of Di Fazio stockists Hanksta in surry hills, has also been very supportive and has helped secure orders from several European retailers.

Most of Di Fazio's work is inspired by an obsession with the 1960's. This interest in the decade of free love and revolution (well before his birth) was driven by a strong personal reaction to the depressive blandness and angst he confronted in the 1990's. "It was a total overnight change for me, I ripped down my room, which was a collage of heavy metal posters, painted my walls lime green, laid down shag pile carpet and just thought yep, this is the way to go....i've never looked back." He has also obsobed the art history of the era and is currently influenced by American Pop artist Andy warhol, Claes oldenberge, Robert Indiana and Robert Rauchenberge.

When producing the T-shirts Di fazio ensures that each one is a variation on the last "Each T-Shirt is a direct expression of what I am feeling at the time, so it is an artpiece, not something mas-produced." He sources his imagery from original pulications and photographs from the 1960's and 70's. He even takes his own time period photos of friends ala 1960's 1970's portraighture. from these he developes finished designs, which are then exposed onto silkscreen. he does the printing from home and will often paint directly onto the printed shirts by hand.

Growing up in Sydney's western suburbs and having a strong sense of family with both Italian and South American backround, Di Fazio's sense of personal identity is strong in his work. Many of his t-shirts in the past have featured images from family photos and he always prints his name prominently on the back. "I like my name so much, it's woggy, it's different. I use it to my advantage. My cultural heritage feeds directly into my work."

Check out his Blog at ttp://e-difaz.spaces.live.com/

Elvis does Beers 'n Ideas

Graphic Design by Toko

Graphic Design By Toko

Just in case you cant get enough of Toko

Contact / About Toko
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Level 1
72 Campbell St
2010 NSW, Surry Hills
Sydney, Australia

T. +61 (0)4 136 133 81
info@toko.nu

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• When did you get started?

Toko was established in 2001 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and is now operating out of Surry Hills, Sydney, where it relocated in the beginning of 2006 to pursuit new (geo)graphic adventures.

• What about the name?

The name Toko has a strong Dutch-Asian historical background and is common Dutch slang for "shop".

• What do you do?

Toko is a multidisciplinary design studio with the emphasis on print design.
What more do we do; signage and environmental graphics, editorial, book and magazine design, identity and concept design, poster, flyer and invitation design, music and fashion related design and more...

• Does Toko have artistic models?

We don't really work according to artistic models. We strive to execute unique, conceptual work for each individual project, large or small.

• What does "good design" signify for Toko

Good design is the right balance between a good idea and strong execution.

• How can you describe your intervention area?

We would like to maintain our intervention area as broad as possible because every field has it's own unique set of opportunities for interesting and challenging outcomes.

• What place does typography take into your work?

Typography plays a significant role in our work. If possible we like to experiment with it or create an unique typeface per project. Typography is much more then just getting information across.

• Who are/were your clients?

City of Sydney, Westfield Doncaster, Architecture Institute Rotterdam, The City of The Hague, The City of Rotterdam, MTV Music Television, Code Fashion Magazine, Bold Publishers, TMF Music Television, Studio Dumbar, Theatre Group ZTHollandia, ShopAround Creative Agency, Great Agency, UWV / CWI Social Security The Netherlands, ACME Chicago, EMI records, ID&T Records, Theatre Group Het Zuidelijk Toneel, ToDo Artprojects, Lot Sturm Interior Design, Orange, Gallery Blik, Nature Museum Rotterdam, Carp Magazine, Heineken FFWD, Zoom Kitchen Chicago, Lamot Gallery Brussels, PLAY The Brand Experience Agency, Playstation and more...

• Favorite cocktail?

The mix of creativity and a down to earth approach.

Beers 'n Ideas is now on facebook

We all know that facebook is now one of the best ways to stay up to date with the events and the social issues that are shaping our future.

Not be out done by the bevy of social design groups already on facebook, Beers 'n Ideas Sydney is now open for membership .

So make sure you stay updated with all of our latest event and contributors.

See you tonight