A HEARTBEAT short of the Anzac Day centenary celebrations getting into full swing, CC’s eye was caught by an email titled “Urgent ANZAC Article Submission”.

Gripped by curiosity, the email was opened to discover that former Canberran turned Sydney milliner, Amelia Hughes, great granddaughter of Prime Minister Billy Hughes, just had to let us know that she had designed a custom slouch hat as a tribute for the 100-year anniversary of the Anzac landings in Gallipoli by “synthesising her own sense of style into a historically and personally significant garment”.

“I am quite a gypsy, which is great for keeping my finger on the pulse trend wise”, she  tells us.

 

Grey days end

ADVERTISING practitioners John Attard, Phil Selby, Julia Unwin and Gabrielle D’Ambrosio were left without jobs when Grey Advertising unthinkably closed the doors of its Fyshwick office in December and sloped, beaten, out of town.

The global advertising agency also appeared to “sack” some of its clients, leaving local land development company CIC Australia, developers with Mirvac, of Googong, without agency representation.

Not for long, though, the former Grey foursome secured the CIC Australia business and has combined resources with an Adelaide outfit to open a new agency, NATION Canberra, based in Allara Street, Civic.

 

Say cheese…

WHILE CC can imagine only how unutterably dull the world’s first Photo Booth Expo in Las Vegas earlier this month might have been, Canberra start-up Red Robot’s Phil Preston was enthusiastically there as a speaker and with colleagues Duncan Amos and Peter Walsh showcasing the innovation that’s apparently made RR the largest photo booth manufacturer in the southern hemisphere.

“With social media and green-screen integration, we’ve reinvented the photo booth for the digital age,” said Phil.

“Not only are the booths great for parties, bars and the like, they are a perfect business marketing tool due to their portability, flexibility, ease of set up and the opportunities for brand interaction and engagement.”

The team has built customised booths for brands including Lipton and Lotto West, and even a “Dr Who”-inspired Tardis photo booth for the BBC.

These boys are going places beyond Las Vegas by last year winning both the Sydney and Melbourne Design Awards, the Canberra Business Point Awards for High Growth and Overall Business of the Year, and the Australian Startup Awards Product Business of the Year. Say cheese.
Leaking logos?

A CHARITY flyer arrived in the inbox and there, hailing its sponsor, was Icon Water’s unseen, unlaunched new minimalist logo. Has there been a leak?

Since last year, the confusingly named, Government-owned ACTEW Water has been rehearsing a name change to Icon Water. And now the big relaunch is set for May 4.

Iconic MD John Knox, washing his hands of the old name, said at the time the rebranding had provided “the opportunity to refocus the organisation for the next 100 years”.

ACTEW Water launches the logo to 400 staff this week and then the organisation’s first day as Icon Water will be May 4, when there will be a “symbolic changeover mini-launch event” at the Mitchell office with the Chief Minister.

The senior comms snout was sanguine about the charity stealing the corporate thunder.