Roadkill

Happy Easter from the team at Boheem.

Oscar & Lucinda

Some of us like to think that we were amongst the more academic elite at school, and how we scoffed at the simplicity of the cheap page-turner that was "The Time Traveler's Wife". This book, Oscar and Lucinda, brought each member of the Boheem Team back to reality: we're perhaps not actually that keen for a literary challenge after all. We liked the idea of pouring over an Australian Classic like this one more than, we have to admit, the actual act of absorbing the words on paper. Kass observed one day in the studio that she found herself getting to the end of a page and then realising she hadn't paid attention to a single detail... and ashamedly we could all relate.

Since we had been bold enough to invite St John client Ellen Gregory to our group, we felt some responsibility to at least try. Claire watched the film at 11pm the night before our book club meeting – a wonderful Aussie make, incidentally, if you'll really never read the book.

Between us we had all read enough of the book (or at least the Cliff Notes) to chat about it. Together we worked through the unusual story and its very complex and peculiar characters, and and marvelled at Peter Carey's genius as we discovered the delicate parallels he made between the fragility of Oscar's life and the glass with which he worked. We also enjoyed the historical context within which this book was set; it was nice to imagine old Sydney town in the time of horses and carts and sinking glass church/rafts. It seems like this is a book which, for anyone who is prepared to invest themselves into reading it, offers high reward. Boheem is, er, unqualified to rate this book.

Next book: The Cat in The Hat, by Dr Seuss

Boheem in the Park

Last Sunday, we donned our designer black tees and sneakers to take part in St John's Walk & Talk. This was a long awaited day -the result of many months of planning with St John to brand the event and raise money for a new bus. Badges, waterbottles, hats -our playful little logo was everywhere and it was great to see it all come together.

The weather was glorious, the enthusiasm of all the volunteers and members was remarkable to see, the sausage sizzle was oh so satisfying after a long walk in the sun, and the St John band was just a delight.

Cheers to St John for putting on a great event.

St John Ambulance Interiors

Boheem have recently been responsible for the design and production management of the interior graphics at the new St John Ambulance headquarters. Our concept was "Hands that help", a tribute to the life-saving efforts of St John, and each design element was hand-written or hand-made.

For the cafeteria areas (top), we covered the walls with charming watercolour trees, hand-drawn creatures and foliage. These spaces are wonderfully bright and fun, and with astro-turf flooring and timber park-bench style seating, it's a great break away from the usual corporate social areas. The glass wall decals (middle) which provide privacy between rooms was treated with a very subtle continuous line of scribbly text reading "hands that help". Finally, the walls of the the staff working areas were decorated with a tile acrylic artwork (above). We wanted the staff members to feel a sense of ownership over their new space, so each person was given a few tiles to decorate. It was a great team building experience where the staff were given the opportunity to add their own 'creative input'.

Studio Manager Position at Boheem

You may already know that after 2 years, Jane is moving on to greener pastures (literally: she's heading north to live on a farm..!) and so we'll soon be (re)opening the position of studio manager here at Boheem.

We will be interviewing through March and planning for a 3rd May 2010 start date.

We are a small, happy team of girls working in Surry Hills with really great clients from a variety of industries. We're thinking this would be a permanent part-time or full-time role. It's a perfect opportunity for someone with a creative edge and a background in management wanting to work in a place where they'll feel busy and important – because that's indeed what they'll be!

We're looking for someone mature, organised and level-headed who can show initiative to 'get things done'. This position is client facing and involves budgeting, scheduling and reporting for individual clients. They will be required to foster client relationships, as well as having input into longer term marketing projects. Often the role is heavily account handling focussed.

Here's a list of the sorts of day-to-day tasks a studio manager here undertakes:

Project Management

• Meeting / corresponding with clients to collect all briefing information/content for projects

• Organising content and preparing brief/ job bag for use in the studio

• All quoting including printers & other suppliers

• Supplying quotes to clients and following up

• Liaising with clients on projects, ie sending initial concepts pdfs, seeking feedback, managing amendments which may include briefing session with designers or marking up draft PDF's

• Time management - tracking jobs to ensure they are completed on time and that extensive changes are managed & billed, keeping the client informed at all times where a job is at

• Expectation management for the Studio and clients - ensure it is aligned

• Follow-ups: checking that clients are happy & satisfied with processes & final product, addressing any issues raised

• Keeping Filemaker up-to-date and directing Monday morning WIPs

• Helping clients with all their needs & making them feel special

Supplier Management

• Meeting with printers

• Print sample checking and sending via courier

• Sourcing suppliers for unusual requirements ie special envelopes

Studio Management

• Creation/development of studio work systems

• Assistance with Boheem marketing

• Stationery and post office purchases

• Invoicing

Wrap it up with style

Those clients who've been with us for a little while will remember the wrapping paper we designed a few Christmases ago. It's now available to purchase from our website: www.boheem.com.au/shop .

We're planning to create some other interesting gift and homewares in the coming months and make them available on the wonderful world wide web too.

The Time Traveler's Wife

The first book for Boheem Book Club was The Time Traveler's Wife. We chose it because it seems to be a fairly popular read at the moment, and with the film just released it was 'time' to find out what it was all about.

The Time Traveler's Wife is a love story about two people whose lives are overtaken by a genetic disorder: time travelling. As the name of the book suggests, the male protagonist, (Henry) is the one popping in and out of the past, present, and future; and his wife Clare is the one left picking up piles of clothes on the floor when he departs, and pieces of their lives as the confusion between predictability, predestination and hope gets the better of what is otherwise a seemingly normal, mostly healthy marriage.

We felt that this book was overall an enjoyable read and we'd recommend it to anyone wanting a good yarn. It lacks the more delicate, poetic treatment of a story which jumps around in time which perhaps Michael Ondaatji (for example) has mastered. Its easy reading is a bit of a trade off with depth and resolve, and there are moments when it feels ever so slightly trashy, or even creepy (what exactly was going on between our naked 40-year-old Henry and 8-year-old Clare in her backyard?). Boheem gave this book three stars.

Next Book: Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey...

Mind the gap in the Boheem Studio

There'll be a gap indeed in the Boheem Studio for the next couple of months. Chantel is heading overseas to London on a Boheem-endorsed self-discovery design adventure. She'll be taking her laptop and after a little holiday in Europe will be settling down in a corner of London where she'll be meeting UK designers, getting involved in local design events, seeking short-term work experience in London agencies, and just generally absorbing what's really happening in design and creative culture on the other side of the world. It follows Kass and Claire's 3 month 'sabbaticals' in New York, when each director took time out to allow themselves to be influenced and inspired by the goings-on in the Big Apple. Check out Claire's blog here: http://clairebonnor.blogspot.com . We're hoping that Chantel finds plenty to write home about: head back to this page in a couple of weeks to find out what she's been up to. We can all live vicariously through her for a while.

Later this year, Mei will be heading to New York for an experience of her own as well. They grow up so fast, don't they?