The Flasher

Creative bounty hunt, Naked style

 

Creative-in-training, creative student or just starting out in the industry? If so, we want to speak to you.

 

Naked Communications is holding an ideas generation session – so gathering some creative voices, giving them all the same brief and seeing what we can come up with.

 

We’re looking for fresh new talent to join us for an interesting project or two, from creative areas including:

-          design (especially industrial design)

-          advertising

-          marketing

-          art

-          engineering

 

You’ll need to be available in Sydney on the evenings of Tuesday 7th and Tuesday 14th December and we’ll pay you handsomely for your time.

 

If you’re keen, email [email protected] for more details.

The Office - Where We Work

 If your cubicle is feeling like a prison, and the fluro lights above are feeling like an inerrogation lamp then you may want to get inspiration for a new working environment.

Ian McCallam has just turned his cool This Ain't No Disco website into a lovely coffee table book called ‘Where We Work: Creative Office Spaces’. If features the raddest work environments from around the world – and yes we are giving it a plug because Naked Sydney features prominantly. 

Anyway, apparantly it’s available form all good bookstores near you.

IBS Homeschool

The bell rings and students drag their feet for the first day of class, internal training with a classic, quirky Naked take on it. Every few months, a pillar within Naked takes turns in spilling the contents of their minds to provide some comprehendible and insightful output in order for students to soak up as much of the information as possible, which trust me, is an awful lot.

This semester was all about Insights and Brand Strategy (IBS) where students learnt from two inspiring academics and practitioners, Adam Ferrier and Mel Barden. Lessons were broken up in to sections ranging from “Insights” to “Good Briefing” and for those who didn’t apply themselves, a cane was positioned on the sidelines (albeit in vain).  For three solid days chosen students in need of a good dose of IBS were given instruction on the subject. We were not only presented with novel hints of nostalgia such as ties, note pads, lunch boxes and apples but also less tangible and more valuable pieces of knowledge which will be massively beneficial not only for us but also subsequently our clients who will reap the rewards of our growing minds. Well there were workshops, brainstorms, class discussions and debates; not to mention a grueling test to finish it all with, but, like all things Naked; it was a learning experience made fun.

And so, now graduated with an IBS certificate and a mind buzzing with thoughts on Insights and Brand Strategy. I hate to say it but sometimes you’ve got admit – school really can be cool.

- Jess

Dogs Day Out

Having the dogs in the office really changes the energy in the office; everyone loves to have them around for a pat or a rumble.

When Sky and Boston come in together for they play and play and play…..they both are exhausted by the afternoon and just sleep.

Skyla loves to stay close to me; they often call Hungarian Vizslas “velcro dogs” as they are very affectionate.

- JD

Bye Naked. I love you.

Intern

It’s a well known fact that interns are generally the bitches of the office. Like the ‘fresh meat’ in a gaol of hardened prisoners, they are forced to do unholy, godless acts. They make countless cups of coffee, run errands, mindlessly plug in data – all in the hope of not being stabbed in the kidneys with a rusty screwdriver, or worse, not having a graduate job when leaving uni.  And this was what I expected on my first day of work experience at Naked.

However, as soon as I was led through the secret bookshelf in the conference room and saw the bar stocked with alcohol, my paradigm quickly shifted. You guys get smashed at work? Awesome. But no one ever did get smashed (during working hours anyway). And I quickly learned that this was because everyone was on top of their game, that they all loved their jobs and wanted to be there. Before long, I started to feel the same way, and stopped sneaking hits of whiskey under the bar.

My first bit of work was with the Ideas Pillar, where I decided to stay for the rest of my internship. There, I was assigned real, creative work to do, like coming up with names for sausages or brainstorming reality television show concepts. And for the first time in my life, I felt like I was making a difference in the world. Something else that I became aware of while working at Naked was the vast amount of work constantly going on, the undying momentum of the agency. There is that strong sense of ‘there’s always something else to do’, and being surrounded by it, I felt motivated and inspired. It was in this way that I spent the rest of my time; working hard but creatively, with cool, motivated people in a positive environment.

And then Friday night came. And everyone finally did get smashed. Especially the partners. But it was ok, because on Monday, the office regained its momentum and continued as if nothing had happened.

I have always had a fear that I’d find myself in a job I hated, in a boring environment, with unfriendly people. But interning at Naked has given me hope that this does not have to be the case. Even if they don’t offer me a job afterwards...

...but seriously, those bastards better offer me a job. - Gavin, the Intern

The Ideas Finder

Right from the beginning we've been banging on about the fact that everyone at Naked Australia is responsible for ideas. But as the agency grows and new people join how do you retain that culture of creativity? I'll tell you how, you build a shrine to ideas!

A couple of us here have spent the last six months developing a truly unique ideas generation product. In order to build a sense of suspense and expectation amongst you I won't go into details right now (but do feel free to drop me a line to know more). However what I will tell you about now is one component of that product, a space we have had specifically designed and built to create the optimum conditions for ideas generation. It's what we call The Ideas Finder.

Now, I could talk at length about the emphasis we have put on maximising natural light and the investment we have made in state of the art temperature control, audio visual technology and lighting solutions, I could bore you with information about the four separately themed breakout spaces (all based on everyday environments where ideas are conceived; like the golf course, or artist's studio). I could literally drone on for ages, about our clever use of metallic paint or the way we have use shapes and dimensions to create an environment that stimulates and surprises, but I'll spare you that and instead show you some pretty pictures and invite you to give Hayley a call (on 0405 710 317) if you are interested in using The Ideas Finder, either with Naked involved or simply as a space for you to use for your own devices. - Paul