Interview – Amanda Henderson of Gloss Creative

By Andrea McArthur

CWC Member Amanda Henderson is the Founder and Creative Director of Gloss Creative (Melbourne), one of Australia’s leading visual houses specialising in three-dimensional design and custom made brand environments. Everyday Gloss Creative forges the path for the cross over of Visual Merchandising and Design.

Gloss Creative’s client list is impressive and spans many of Australia’s most style conscious companies in the fashion, luxury and travel industries. Their portfolio includes designs commissioned for brand marquees at the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, runways, set and event  designs for Myer, Penfolds and Omega as well as fashion window concepts and installations for Kookai, Sportsgirl and Emporium.

Simply put, Amanda and the Gloss Creative Team create environments that dreams are made of, and worlds that envelope you in total sensory experiences.

Thank you Amanda for your time and sharing your story with the Creative Womens Circle. There are so many pieces of wisdom in your writing.

Tell us about your background.

I think my story might be typical of many creative people of my generation. I got through my schooling by connecting with all the ‘extra curricular’ activities our school had to offer – I hung out in the drama group and the art room at a time when they were not considered to be ‘real subjects’ or at least not the beginnings of any kind of sustainable career path. I was lucky enough to have forward thinking parents and teachers that validated and encouraged my interests and was I was free to explore the possibilities that might lie ahead.

After a very short year doing drama and economics subjects at uni, I realized that the working world would provide me with a better structure for learning and experimentation than a university.

I had been working at Sportsgirl while I was at school giving out fitting room discs on the weekends, and it was there tht I had wide exposure to complete retail marketing wizardry and creative growth. It wasn’t long before I had entrenched myself in the creativity that visual merchandising provided.

The process of team-based ideas generation and concept development was a critical learning for me at that time and still is the basis on which my team and I design today.

After the birth our two children I returned to work and held National Visual Merchandising Manager positions and Creative Development roles at Sportsgirl and Country Road.

In 2001 I started my best role to date – Founder and Creative Director of Gloss Creative.

Have you always wanted to be a creative business owner?

Not initially. I could say I was looking for a platform where experimentation and collaboration was the everyday. I also was looking for individual recognition for my work – large companies are amazing to be apart of, but sometimes it’s hard to get credit for what you’ve achieved.

As Gloss Creative grew I realized I enjoyed both the creative and business challenges of a small business. We are proof that high quality small design business can successfully work with large organisations.

My business allows me to immerse myself in all aspects of our projects, designing and working with our team. The freedom in the way we work has meant we have been able to work across many different disciplines.

How do you balance your creative projects with the administration / organisation / planning aspect of creative work?

Luckily, Visual Merchandisers have combined skill sets of creativity and practicality - I think this is because we have to deliver dreams into reality. Planning and organisation come naturally as a part of our process.

I’d like to debunk the often misguided theory that “creative types” can not also have business skill sets. Some of the most visionary professionals I know are brilliant business people!

Our team are highly diverse creative people - no one person can have all the attributes to complete a business. It’s the combined headset that makes the magic.

What have been some of the challenges or blessings of keeping Gloss Creative running since 2001? And how has your business focus changed since the beginning?

Honestly, I can only think of blessings. I’ve been able to run a high quality small business together with an amazing team of people and suppliers who have loved creating installations for all some incredible brands. We have had so much fun while we have worked over the last 14 years.

I guess the only continuing challenge is that you’re only ever as good as your last project. Despite our significant body of work we need to prove ourselves for every project, maybe this is why we put so much into each project, so we keep on our toes, we constantly try to bring newness into our work, we love trying new things on every project, its not always comfortable but it can be rewarding!

Our business focus has always been constant: we create ‘Grand Simplicity'. We create emotion with sophisticated visual impact.

How has your employee base grown or have you chosen to keep creative control of your business?

When I started it was only myself and my niece Kimberley Moore. On any Thursday now you’ll find seven people working in our studio. We are still small enough to act like a tribe, so creative control is no problem within our team.

Creative control beyond you team depends on the brands you are working for and the skill level and stakeholder interest for a particular project. You will have radar for this as you grow in experience. Always trust your gut instinct.

You need enough creative control to ensure that your idea remains strong, some times collaborators influence can make things even better! You don’t have to be a control freak but you do need to stick with your creative intent.

What has been you main form of business marketing to date?

Early on I decided that taking high quality photographs of our work by architectural photographers was useful as a record of our work.

I began by sending these images to the design press and they published them. We have always just ‘put our work out there’. Dianna Snape, Marcel Aucar and Rocket Mattler have been  constantly photographing our work over the last decade.

We’ve had a website since 2006 and blog since 2010. We are really enjoying the community that Instagram has created!

Gloss Creative is diverse in its scope of work. Has there been a major project that you are particularly proud to share with us?

Mostly I’m proud that each project our team works on is considered with intelligence that each brand deserves. Diversity has provided us with long term inspiration and has meant we haven’t been type cast - every day is interesting.

There are some projects that stay with you as ‘milestone’ projects, the ones that take you to another level of believing in yourself.

Winning a 2013 Australian Interior Design Award for Installation Design for Myer's ‘Shadowlands' was pretty special. I loved that design for its visual emotion and simplicity, and for visual merchandisers to be considered a part of the design industry was a milestone for us. We are proud that maybe in some way we have widened the scope of Visual Merchandising over the last decade, pushing into design markets normally handled by interior designers or architects.

What advice do you have for others who might be considering a jump into a creative business?

You will know when the time is right - a wave of confidence and momentum will over take you and the fear of not following your dream will become bigger than the doubts you may have.

On a more practical level: get a bookkeeper, and hone your craft. Make relationships with people you trust and have fun with.

Always be close to your client. The further away from your client you are the more risk you take on.

What passions keep you creative?

I’m inspired by originality. I’m inspired by anyone who’s creating beauty. Both locally and globally I love theatre, ballet, set design, art, craft, fashion, accessories, store design, illustration, music, should I go on?

What is a typical day for you at Gloss Creative?

Our day starts with coffee and post Offspring analysis usually – no seriously we talk a lot in our studio! Then we get down to it. We talk about designs, we draw and plan, we come up with some bad ideas then work on them until we love them. Steff Dalberto and I might meet with suppliers, present to clients or install our projects. We spend quite a bit of time going up and back to Sydney.

I’m always on the phone talking about our ideas. It’s my role to manage expectations, which is time consuming and often challenging in an environment where creativity and financial management are both important. We love clients that are strategic thinkers, the results are magic if your clients are collaborators !

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Make sure to check out Gloss Creative’s posts on the studio blog and all of their sneak peeks on Instagram (@theglossarium).

Andrea McArthur (www.andyjane.com) has a passion for all things visual and works as a Senior Graphic Designer in Dubai. Type is her true love and goes weak at the knees over beautiful design. You’ll find her sharing design related musings on Instagram @andyjanemc.

Interview – Tina van den Broek, illustrator and artist

By Andrea McArthur

'Doing what you love' is paramount to artist and CWC Member Tina van den Broek, who also goes by the pseudonym The Food Artist. Tina creates tasty illustrations for businesses, products and services that are looking to spice things up. It's a new and unique industry niche she calls 'Food Communication'!

Tell us about your background. What has led you to starting The Food Artist?

I have a background in visual arts. I did a fine arts degree in Auckland, New Zealand, majoring in sculpture, with minors in printmaking and fibre arts. I also have a keen passion for making food. While studying I worked part time in a restaurant and worked in southern France for six months where I would cook, clean and entertain guests. I gained advertising and marketing skills while working for a boutique agency in New Zealand, and also larger companies like gumtree.com in London. In the last few years I have been working in online marketing.

I decided I wanted to pursue my creative interests by creating a business and life that I loved. Something I did because I enjoyed it, which was extremely specific and told a story. In order to articulate what it is that I do and can offer people, I had to think long and hard about my core values, beliefs and passions.

All my life I have loved food. I enjoy freestyle cooking where I whip something up based on the ingredients at hand. I can cook for hours and be in that same ‘happy place’ I go to when I am making art. Previous to this I was working under the name The Visual Citizen doing illustration, visual arts and face painting, which I still do. It made sense to bring my two passions together: food & illustration. Which is how The Food Artist was born.

What skills have you brought into starting The Food Artist and what business skills are you developing?

I bring with me a lifetime of customer service skills. From the age of nine I worked weekends or after school hours in my parents' milk bar and bulk food store serving customers. I have a love of travel, meeting new people and learning about their life and experiences. I like to use my artistic and creative skills to help people and continue to refine and grow these skills. The Food Artist is quite new actually - I started the business in February 2014 and I am currently trying to develop my business and financial skills.

What mediums do you work in?

I like working in black ink pens, fine-liners, watercolour paints and pencils, metallic pens and coloured pencils.

Who are your main clients at the moment?

My main clients are independent food producers, life coaching mentors, health & wellness bloggers/practitioners, chefs and caterers. I look forward to adding many more in the future.

Tell us about a favourite project that you have worked on.

A favourite project of mine would have been creating illustrations for a forthcoming eats, treats and edible beauty recipe book. I was lucky enough to taste a lot of the recipes and I believe that helped me draw them! I also got to try the edible beauty treatments, which blew me away with their tasty ingredients that I just wanted to eat. I learnt a lot about ingredients from this job as the author has food intolerances.

Do you have a favourite restaurant that you frequent or a favourite recipe that you cook?

I’m more of a 'whip something up at home' kind of girl and I enjoy cooking ratatouille, home made banana ice cream, or kitty cat pikelets (which are pikelets made in the shape of a cat).

What advice do you have for others who might be considering a jump into a creative business?

My advice would be that you can’t do everything yourself so get help – a business mentor/coach, have people you can rely on for support and outsource what you can. There is always something you can work on so accept it and set yourself tasks rather than working yourself into the ground in a never-ending attempt to finish just one more thing. Last but not least, believe in yourself and never give up, sometimes things just don’t work so you learn from your mistakes and try another approach.

What future goals do you have for your creative pursuits?

My future goals are to illustrate a colouring in book and children’s book. To take my illustrations from 2D to 3D and do visual merchandising, styling, installations, collaborate with set designers or prop makers on TV, film or music videos. I would also like to license my artworks for use on products.

Thank you Tina for your time and sharing your story with us! Follow The Food Artist adventures on Instagram @thefoodartist and Facebook /TheFoodArtist or for more foodie goodness and to see Tina's work, visit www.thefoodartist.com.au.

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Andrea McArthur (www.andyjane.com) has a passion for all things visual and works as a Senior Graphic Designer in Dubai. Type is her true love and goes weak at the knees over beautiful design. You’ll find her sharing design related musings on Instagram @andyjanemc.

Tools of the Trade: Melanie Stapleton & Cecilia Fox

By Brianna Read When I meet Melanie Stapleton she was hard at work putting the finishing touches on the brand new premises of Cecilia Fox. I know a little about florists, they work harder than most people imagine! The common perception of florist as a romantic career path filled with fragrance and beauty simply doesn’t cover it – there are early hours, really long days, hard physical labour and perishable produce. The reason I point this out is that Melanie sits opposite me in a café neighbouring her new shop, days from opening, nine months pregnant patiently waiting for my questions and not once do I sense an air of stress. This is one creative woman who has mastered the art of juggling – she looked serene!

I admit I was quite familiar with Melanie’s work before we met – I have long admired her work, documented beautifully on her blog. I was very curious to hear about how she arrived at her particular design sensibilities, I always like to ask if the tools used by a creative have any particular history. When I point out that there have been no great advancements made in the tools used in floristry Melanie chuckles and replies ‘No, just a pair of scissors really!’.

Melanie has been running Cecilia Fox from a Brunswick workshop for over five years. Prior to going out on her own she spent years in Auckland, Sydney, London and finally Melbourne learning from others in the industry. She cites London as a turning point for her, here she discovered what floristry could be like. ‘I learnt that it was ok to specialise,’ She says ‘not in an exclusive sense, just that it was good practice to do what you do well rather than do many half-heartedly.’

This particular quality is reflected so well in the lovely photographs of her designs. There is a distinct Cecilia Fox floral stamp and many other creative have recognised this. Since going out on her own Melanie has had a number of clients she lists as inspiring – all of which have recognised her keen design sensibility and asked her to bring a little into their worlds. Cecilia Fox was responsible for the floral designs in Husk for a number of years, she regularly works with the event coordinators Georgous and also works with Kuwaii for their eye catching window displays.

The new shopfront for Cecilia Fox can be found nestled between New Day Rising and Triple R headquarters on the thoroughfare from Brunswick to Northcote and is sure to attract many folk overjoyed with a lovely splash of colour and perfume in the neighbourhood.

Melanie described the ethos of her approach as one driven by bringing beauty, understanding the client’s needs even when they are unsure. Most importantly, what I took from this inspiring interview was that when you remain true to your creative sense you will attract projects and clients which inspire and add fuel to the fire you laboured to build.

Cecilia Fox - Out of the Woods can be found at 221b Blyth St Brunswick. Melanie and her wonderful staff are instore from Thursday through Sunday with the following hours: Thu 9-6, Fri 7-7, Sat 8-4, Sun 10-2

Brianna Read is a designer/maker based in Melbourne. Her knitwear label Jack of Diamonds  employs traditional hand-made techniques in combination with machine knit technologies. Brianna’s multi-faceted creative practice encompasses design, production, works for exhibition and machine knitting workshops. 

Tools of the Trade: Carli Hyland & The Grim Press

By Brianna Read Who better to discuss tools than a woman who grew up on a farm!  Carli Hyland of The Grim Press was kind enough to allow me to quiz her about the tools of the print trade. The Grim Press, so named because of its beginnings in a disused funeral parlour, was created by Carli and unites her many talents into one creative practice.

The aspect of Carli’s practice which first piqued my interest for this column was the fact that she uses both high and low tech tools to create. When pressed to narrow down her ‘can’t do without’ tool she replies “computer and pencil”. I am sure most creative folk are now nodding in agreement; most of us cannot do without either of these rather brilliant tools. One look at the beautifully crafted pencils made by Carli and the reverence is obvious, the humble pencil is given a whole new meaning when viewed through the lens of The Grim Press.

The toolkit of The Grim Press certainly does not end there. I enquire after a foil lined box housing an ultra violet globe on a long power cord and discover that Carli is quite at home in a hardware store. This contraption (another great word for a tool) was crafted entirely by Carli as a makeshift exposure unit for the print plates she hand makes. This is where the process really starts to sing… Carli sketches using a pencil, refines a design using the computer, prints the design, exposes the design to plate then prints the inked design onto paper using a small hand wound press. There is a wonderful blend of the old and new, the latest, greatest and the makeshift at The Grim Press!

I mentioned that Carli grew up on a farm and she credits this upbringing as the source of what she calls her ‘How can we make this work with what we’ve got?’ approach. The can-do nature of folks who have had to make do is a common thread in stories about the origin of a tool. I must point out that this aspect of Carli’s creative practice is not the first thing you would assume when viewing her work – the ideas of do-it-yourself and makeshift often bring to mind phrases like ‘not quite right’ and ‘rough around the edges’ – and while evidence of the handmade is present, all her designs, prints and publications are immaculate, high quality professional pieces. When I mention this nature of her work a discussion on the merits of mastery ensues…but that is fuel for another column I think!

With a background in visual arts, photography, book making, illustration and graphic design The Grim Press is a rare design practice offering clients a diverse range of design and print services. Carli’s clients can have custom made gift cards, logo design, hand bound books and publications and since the recent acquisition of a new printer using archival quality inks The Grim Press is also offering a high quality art printing service too. This is the made to measure of graphic design and printing!

Adding another string to her already full bow Carli is preparing to run workshops teaching willing students how to design and create their very own hand printed stationery and hand bound journals.

Carli's printmaking and bookbinding workshops begin in October at The Gasworks in Albert Park, Melbourne.

Carli Hyland and The Grim Press can be contacted by email at info@thegrimpress.com or through her website contact form here.

Brianna Read is a designer/maker based in Melbourne. Her knitwear label Jack of Diamonds Knits  employs traditional hand-made techniques in combination with machine knit technologies. Brianna’s multi-faceted creative practice encompasses design, production, works for exhibition and machine knitting workshops.