Poster Sunday

It seems so inevitable. The arrival of asylum seekers in Australia has once again spun into a political frenzy. Throughout the whole saga surrounding the latest of the arrivals, I kept thinking about the relative numbers of these refugees in comparison to the population, physical size and wealth of Australia. It's a staggering difference. And, to quote David Marr, they are refugees. 90% of those who seek asylum are granted refugee status. Michelle Grattan in the Age:

April 17, 2009

A DISASTER has catapulted border protection into a risky issue for the Government.

While boat arrivals are increasing, we are talking hundreds, not the thousands of earlier years. And the rise reflects a worldwide trend. It's a long bow to make too much of Kevin Rudd's limited changes removing the harsher edges of earlier policy. But this has been a hot-button issue that worked against Labor in 2001 — although it turned against the Coalition later.

The Government is taking great care in its public handling of the tragedy. It refused to speculate on the origin of the fire. But it wanted to appear open and so promised to release any visual material.

The mistakes and misinformation of the "children overboard" affair drove this approach. The caution was sensible, even if it did mean a torrid news conference for Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus and the head of Border Protection Command, Allan du Toit.

The Government will be under pressure to examine whether its policy needs change. It should resist being spooked, just as the Opposition should be wary of letting self-interest compromise national interest.

Sunday Is Poster Day

From now on, Sunday will be poster day. It will mean a new poster from me tackling some of the issues of the week. Or none of them. I'm taking suggestions now on content, form or styles for the first few, so drop me a line at the regular contact points. Maybe a guide could be developed for categorising them? Thoughts, followed by yet more thoughts.

Mambo Manifesto

Reg Mombassa

I was reading through the Mambo book Art Irritates Life, which is a really great look at the graphic foundations of the surf fashion brand. It's interesting how the style of one clothing company (and, to an extent, one artist) can define the style for almost a decade. A shame to see that they have shifted from their roots, then. Where are the loud shirts? They also produced a manifesto of sorts, which I'll reproduce here:

1. Revere the past only where profitable.
2. Sell to Satanists only for as long as they pay their accounts.
3. Directors should avoid driving cars costing in excess of creative staffs' average annual income.
4. Use metaphors only when wanting to be thought ironic.
5. Use irony when drawing big jugs.
6. Know how to hold a grudge.
7. An office relationship should involve no more than two members of staff at a time.
8. Only plagiarise the corporate logos of companies unlikely to be able to afford legal action.
9. Invoke principle only where profitable.
10. Only staff of exceptional talent are permitted to be surly and indifferent to personal hygiene.
11. Nicotine patches and stairwells have their place in the creative process.
12. React vengefully when condemned by a spokesperson for an organised religion or the gun lobby.
13. Vulgarity finds its own context when helping to shift some big units.
14. All good T-shirt prints should follow the viewer around the room.
15. Be referential if you can't think of anything original.
16. Create within the context of coherent self-referentiality to cut down overheads.
17. Don't offend the rich until they've bought something.
18. Good taste is fine for some.

I wonder how truly Mambo have stuck to this in the intervening years...

You Might Know Dick

Just a quickie—my review of the Dick Smith rebrand is up over on Brand New. Thanks must go to Armin for giving me the opportunity to write it.