Sydney Architect, Simeon King spotted this example of the new being stalked by the old, in Sydney. The ANZ Bank has been italic for some time now, circa 2000. The guys at the bank scrubbed and scrubbed and the old one just wouldn’t go away.

by Owen Ridgwell, the studio’s intern from UniSA, Adelaide

I like Adelaide. I don‘t mind Melbourne either, but it just isn‘t the same as Adelaide. Melbourne is a vibrant, multi-faceted, contemporary Australian city, becoming a bit of a mover and shaker on the international stage. It is reminiscent of lavish, high fashion, always something new even if it‘s been done before; it‘s always ‘different‘ in Melbourne.

Adelaide, on the other hand (the right hand, not the left) is like those favourite pair of jeans you have. Maybe they‘re a little worn, but you just can‘t seem to find another pair that fit so well, that make ‘you‘ feel so good. God, if only SA Great (Adelaide‘s centre for propaganda) could hear me know, how proud they would be.

It‘s nice in Adelaide because…

• Not a day goes by that you don‘t meet someone you know whilst strolling down Rundle Mall.
• You don‘t need to organise where to meet up with friends when you go out, you‘ll all be going to the same pub anyway.
• A cabby can‘t rip you off taking you into the city from the airport, because you‘ll have landed right in the middle of it.
• Winter only lasts for about 2 months, it doesn‘t snow, and until recently it didn‘t rain either.
• The summers are long and hot, but not Darwin hot, they don‘t make people go crazy.
• The majority of the population is old, so it feels a bit like grandma‘s place, only all year round.
• Adelaide is the city of churches. If Jerusalem was wiped out tomorrow, Jesus could always launch his comeback tour here.
• Speaking of Jesus, Adelaide is the home of the blood of Christ. Wine labelling also being the one staple income for graphic designers here.

So while I immerse myself in the hustle and bustle of big city life, I remind myself from time to time of some of these quaint little traits of Adelaide

This image was made when we were revisiting a song by Britpop sensation Suede — She’s in Fashion. It was one of those songs that caught your attention, while one was in a potentially self conscious situation — like being single in a to-be-seen bar, or waiting in the supermarket check out queue with your weekly shop — a can of tuna, toasting bread, toilet paper and some deodorant.

This image of Ian Thorpe was advertising one of those lifestyle magazines. At the time he was a swimming superstar retiring on a high with a big future ahead, a picture postcard and in fashion. Just add a mobile phone camera.

As Suede put it…

She’s the face on the radio she’s the body on the morning show
She’s there shaking it out on the scene
She’s the colour of a magazine
And she’s in fashion she’s in fashion

She’s employed where the sun don’t set
and she’s the shape of a cigarette
And she’s the shake of a tambourine
and she’s the colour of a magazine
And she’s in fashion and she’s in fashion

Except she is a he.

The studio is very excited to announce its inclusion in the English broadsheet publication — The Drawbridge, Issue 5, Summer 2007: Freedom. “Forget the shibboleths of absolute liberty. We are free only in chains and shackles, governed by the limits of true desire.“

In response to the Freedom theme, we developed a satirical drawing in a book, in a paper, titled Acts of Freedom, part II. It’s a familiar diagram. The idea of freedom has many interpretations in human culture. On one side of the planet you have people fighting for freedom. Whilst on another quiet side of the planet; you have a band of commuters fighting their boredom — scrubbing through their Ipod menu, engrossed in a book, or zoned out in a passing urbanscape.

The Drawbridge is an exciting read with, or without, our contribution. Get your hands on a copy, it will change your expectations and perceptions of a broadsheet publication. Thanks again to Paul Davis at The Drawbridge for throwing the brief our way.

Visit and subscribe to The Drawbridge here

While most newspapers have become more compact in recent years, The Drawbridge bucks the trend. A quarterly printed on a parchment whose girth commuters haven’t encountered since Pooter was sauntering down the Holloway Road, it’s a journal that thinks bigger than most, and in more ways than one… Travis Elborough, 10 March 2007 The Guardian