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

Beers 'n Ideas in October

This month we have:

Craig Allchin from Six Degrees coming to talk about the project he's been working onto activate Sydney's Laneways. Following on from last month's heavy-ish debate on the proposed changes to the NSW Liquor Licensing Act, Criag's got some ideas about how much that could affect us, as designers and lovers of holes in the walls.

Michael Lugmayr from Toko, a multidisciplinary design studio originally harking from Rotterdam, now based in Surry Hills. Us B n' I ladies saw these guys present at Semi Permanent this year, and they made such a lasting that when we saw Michael at the Hollywood a week ago, we balled him up and made him agree to share with the rest of you.

Now I've looked at the weather forecast, and we're looking at a balmy 23 degrees on Tuesday, so no excuses!

Think of it as tonic stave off the the onset of the "real week" after the long weekend goodness.

Trust me, you'll love it.

Kate, Michelle, Christie, Annabel and Adele

Where have you been?????

Beers 'n Ideas started in Melbourne originally, but in its Sydney incarnation, it's essentially a series (2 or 3 per night, once a month) of very loose, informal presentations by a variety of people involved in all aspects of design (and culture)...... We want to use it as a forum for cross-pollination in design, a way to excite us all about what we do.


Some people/topics that have been presented to date:

• Sam Crawford from Architects without Frontiers, talking about a proposed orphanage/adolescent education centre in Malawi
• Jeremy Somers from People Like Us Collective - online T-shirt design company that commission artists and designers for their ranges
• David Royle, who bought a coach and is completely kitting it out as a new movable home
• Kate Hogan (me) - Interior Designer at Group GSA, with a rundown from this year's Milan Furniture Fair
• One Fell Swoop - amazing emerging fashion label from Perth
• Students from the Whitehouse Institute of Design, presenting their Furniture Design pieces
• Bronwyn from Karolina York Print Studio, showing their work and discussing their trials and tribulations as a new business in the design industry
• Kimmie Neidhardt, one of the creatives behind the new Tooheys Extra Dry ad (the guy who grows clones of himself on a farm - quite a cool ad, as far as beer ads go)
• Robert Barton - one of the guys behind the amazing Rooftop Cinema in Melbourne
• Photographers and graphic designers WILK and Simone Mandl, previewing their current exhibition LIGHT BRIGADE, showing at the Chalkhorse Gallery
• Architect and sculptor Chris Fox, discussing his work, featuring an installation in Townsville that reflects on his infamous ancestor, Captain William Bligh
• Jonathon Larkin - People Like Us Collective and intern to Clover Moore, discussing the proposed changes to the NSW Liquor Licensing Act
• Dave Gravina - Digital Eskimo, and co-founder of Raise The Bar - citizen action group lobbying for the changes to the NSW Liquor Licensing Act
• Elvis Di Fazio - photographer, stylist, print-maker, t-shirt designer - this man does everything.
  

People talking in October and November:

• Craig Allchin from Six Degrees Architects,discussing the project he's been working to activate Sydney's laneways once the liquor act is revised (fingers crossed!!!)
• Jeremy Hughes from Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, the architects behind the new Carriageworks complex at Redfern
• Michael Lugmayr from Toko, a multidisciplinary design studio originally harking from Rotterdam, now based in Surry Hills
• Aaron Nicholls from Format Furniture, recently returned from living in London, talking about the state in design in London and Europe.
• Brianna Pike and Anna Harves from Six Hands graphic and print studio
  

So you know a little more about us, here's a quick run down:


The group is made up of:

• Adele Winteridge (ex Futurespace, now Interior Design lecturer at the Whitehouse Institute)
• Christie Coleman (ex Haworth, now Director of Ground Floor Collaboration)
• Michelle Gilmore (ex Haworth and Wovin Wall, now Director of Ground Floor Collaboration)
• Annabel Hammond (ex Kann Finch, now account manager at Interstudio)
• Kate Hogan (Interior Designer with Group GSA)