Nice capsule

The renovations at Collins St are still ongoing. At the moment the builders are installing cupboards which bear an uncanny resemblance to a Japanese capsule hotel. Tired after a hard day at the Mac, Toni decided to put our new capsules come cupboards to the test.

Knock Knock...

Word of warning to the Wunderkids of Melbourne - if you don't bring your swipe card you ain't getting through the back door.

Radelaide

Matt Batten, Creative Director of Wunderman Sydney, travelled sou'west to judge the AADC Awards in sunny Radelaide – yes, they still think the word 'rad' is rad in Adelaide.

Unable to divulge the results upon pain of death from Jay Wheeler of the AADC Committee, he reports that the quality of work was outstanding and hopes to show some of it to the agency as soon as possible. There were certainly some world-class pieces and a few destined for Cannes Gold among the mix.

While there, he caught up with ex-colleague Dale McGuiness (now with KWP!), who showed him around the town from which he once escaped – yes, Matt is a former crow-eater – as seen above in the mini montage.

Wunderfoos

The Sydney Wunderkids held their second dodecannual (that is, twelve times a year, also known as 'monthly') Wundergames evening. There was talk of Twister en masse, but instead the crew put together a mini foosball comp of eight teams. Hard fought to the bitter end, bets were placed on the three-match shoot out for the final. Paul Hayes, Producer, and Chris Jerochim, Senior Devigner, proved victorious.

What games will be in store for next month?

A game changer

Our Melbourne creative crew pitched a terrific iPad based idea to a client this week. As you can imagine, we've all got our fingers crossed that it gets a green light. Much like the amazing Microsoft Surface, the touchscreen of the iPad offers some very exciting opportunities for interactivity as this demo of a motion magazine for Viv Mag shows.

Balloons!

Last week, Wunderman Sydney celebrated the birthday of Jo Lloyd, Managing Director. She tried to keep it quiet, but the team surprised her by covering her office with balloons and banners.

You can't keep anything secret.

Look who's back

Yes folks, those rumours are true. It's the real Slim Sheedy and he's back at Wunderman.

Poker player, football pundit and sometime DJ, Slim Sheedy has returned to the fold to help us keep the Wheels of Wunderman turning during what can only be described as a period of business hyperactivity.

He says he'll only be with us for a month. Guess we'll have to wait and see on that one.

Welcome Wunderkids

We're busy, busy, busy at Wunderman these days, with several new faces joining the Melbourne team.

Pictured clockwise from top left are Digital Designer - Silvia Susen, Account Exec - Julia Sheehan, Account Manager - Victoria King, Producer - Nicole Ross and new boy in Creative - Karl Blankley.

With no shortage of work to be done at 162 Collins these new Wunderkids have all hit the ground running. And with some big news on the new business front about to break, there may well be even more new faces joining the team shortly.

Wunderful fashion

Many of our younger Wunderkids may not realise it, but the Melbourne office is situated in what used to be one of the worlds best department stores - Georges.

With the Melbourne Fashion Festival in full swing, the Georges building has been chosen to host The spirit of the little black dress. An inspirational exhibition, where ten emerging designers were invited to re-envision the popular fashion staple.

The show runs from the 12th o 21st March, so be sure to swing by 162 Collins St and take a look.

Wunderman spikes interest in Earth Hour

Hot on the heals of last year’s award winning augmented reality project for Earth Hour, the team at Wunderman Sydney have broken more new ground.

Developed in conjunction with STI Lilyfield, the Earth Hour Spike helps raise awareness of environmental issues whilst feeding a plant as it biodegrades in the soil.

For more detailed info click here.

The Melbourne Storm

Our Sydney CD Matt Batten was in Melbourne for a wild weekend. Here's his story:

Now I know how Melbourne's NRL team got their name. I was in Melbourne for the 16th Annual AIMIA Awards on Friday night. On Saturday, I got caught out in the worst weather the city has possibly ever seen.

I've never seen weather turn so violent so quickly before in my life.

The day was overcast and had the air of rain about it, so we headed for a store to buy an umbrella. While my wife stood at the register, I cast a look out the window and saw the light instantly sapped from the day. It was like the sun had just set. At 3pm.

In the short seconds it took for me to get to the shop's door, the skies opened with hailstones the size of 20-cent pieces. Within a few minutes the stones were accompanied by a downpour.

Here are the photos I snapped of it.

Little Bourke Street became a raging torrent within a minute.


This driver heads upstream along Little Bourke St to escape Elizabeth Street which lies at the lowest point.


That's not just water flowing down Little Bourke St to flood Elizabeth St, it's a sludge of ice. Note the sulo bins floating away.


Elizabeth St is now under a foot of water and ice. The Elizabeth St glacier.


Ten minutes later, it all ended. The Plane Trees along Elizabeth St had been almost stripped of their leaves.


Any underground access acted like a drain. You wouldn't want to have been down there during the storm.


This Melbourne winebar had a sense of humour about it.

Drink up girls

Huge couple of weeks at 162 Collins, with barely a free moment to grab a bite to eat. Although somehow Carly, Toni and Mishy still managed to find time for a quick Margarita at lunch last Friday!