Design Assembly tonight (March 18 2009)

Design Assembly is a graphic design event. An evening of talks and discussion run by Graphic Designers for Graphic Designers that is held four times a year. The evenings provide the opportunity for Graphic Designers to meet and connect with other Graphic Designers in Auckland. It also provides a forum to listen to three speakers each evening on a variety of topics relating to Graphic Design, with the purpose of educating and inspiring.

Graffiti in context – Elliot ‘Askew’ O’Donnell
In the wake of the Pihema Cameron and Bruce Emery case, graffiti has cemented itself back into the mainstream psyche - re-igniting public outrage and prompting radical law reform. Graffiti writers are beginning to understand that documenting and presenting the history of the movement is in their hands. Bringing meaning, valid critique and context to the work is vital. Askew is one such artist advocating this approach. He combines a host of todays available technology and ‘Real World’ design to realise and document his work.

Why ideas are king for telling stories – Simon  Shaw
Looking forward with image creation and new crayon technology. Illustration in NZ - how we use illustration in a country with a very young and fragile illustrative history.

Let’s Change the Flag – Paul Newfield
Paul Newfield and a group of his colleagues at Morrison & Co are aiming to reignite the debate about New Zealand’s flag.  Back in 2004 Lloyd Morrison, the founder of Morrison & Co and Infratil, launched a campaign to change the flag. The campaign failed - mainly because we underestimated the huge effort required to communicate the aims, objectives and benefits of the campaign to the masses. Four years later the underlying issues haven’t changed. New Zealanders are still not emotionally connected to their flag, and are still dissatisfied with its design and with what it represents.  We believe that choosing a new flag is an important step in defining our identity and aspirations as a nation.  We’d like to challenge New Zealand’s design community to play an active role in the process.