Photo Rehab Weekly Photo Challenge: Cover Makeover #4

I love this shot of my son. While his dad and I were enjoying the sunset, he was happily engrossed in the music coming from his iPod. It’s certainly the most cheerful of my interpretations of the challenge. Image: Su Leslie, 2012.

I’ve been enjoying Lucile (bridging lacunas) and Desley’s (Musings of a Frequent Flying Scientist) weekly Cover Makeover challenge, but hadn’t really thought about joining until last week.

I had a long (and quite frustrating) conversation with a colleague who wanted me to do quite a bit of (pro bono) work on a brochure re-design — on the basis that it was “only changing the cover shot and updating the text a bit.” In trying to explain that design is a lot more than slapping a photo on the page and adding a few words (assuming we could even source an image of the subject she was suggesting), I realised I needed to adopt the writer’s maxim;  “show, don’t tell”.

So I created a few alternative cover designs for The Invention of Solitude and talked through “my working out” with my colleague. I’m not going to bore you with all the iterations, but will share my “final” designs.

The least successful cover — but the most successful teaching moment with my colleague. Image: Tom Gray, 2011.

The above is, I think, the least successful cover (and so the most useful for my teaching purpose). I like the image, which my son took of me a few years ago, but struggled to make the required text fit the space — while being visible on a background of both dark and light.

Boats moored off Birkenhead, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2015.

This was my “late entry”– the image shot at the weekend. It is the closest to the mental image that the book’s title conjured for me.

What do you think?

This post was written for the Photo Rehab Weekly Photo Challenge: Cover Makeover #4.

 

Travel Theme: Toys — they don’t make ’em like that anymore

Looking a bit the worse for wear. Much loved Fun Ho! front end loader from the Big T’s childhood. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015

In these days of global brands and game-slash-movie-tie-ins, kids toys have a sort of universality.

From Taipei to Taihape, Moscow to Motueka, you’ll find shops full of the same kid-magnet merchandise: Minions, Frozen, Transformers, Jurassic Park — everything from figurines to lunch boxes. Even established toy companies like Lego seem to be creating more and more themed ranges — including Minecraft, Disney Princess, Star Wars and even Scooby Doo.

Toys that are locally-themed, let along locally-made, seem increasingly rare.

Fun Ho! a company in Taranaki, New Zealand, started making sand-cast aluminium toys in 1942. According to the company’s website:

During the 1970s, over a million Fun Ho! toys were sold annually each year, but in the late 1970’s, import restrictions were lifted and people started buying the cheaper imported toys which flooded the local market, instead of buying the Fun Ho! aluminium or diecast toys.

By 1982, toy production ceased and in 1987 the factory finally closed after over 50 years of manufacturing.

Since then only small quantities have been made as reproductions for the collector market. (Fun Ho! History)

There can’t be many Kiwi-raised adults who have never owned (or at least seen) one of the cars, tractors, fire engines or other vehicles made by Fun Ho! — even if they don’t recognise them as such.

Model 105 Large Fire Engine by Fun Ho! , Taranaki, NZ. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015

Today, Fun Ho! toys are very collectable, and those aren’t too well-loved can fetch high prices in antique shops. The Big T obviously enjoyed his Fun Ho! toys quite a lot — they are all much too well-loved for resale.

Tip truck; although I can’t find this one on the Fun Ho! website. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015

This post was written as part of Ailsa’s Travel Theme at Where’s my Backpack. The theme this week is toys.

 

Daily Post Photo Challenge: half and half

Half for you, half for me. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015

Love shows itself in the smallest ways. A piece of ginger crunch, cut in two equal(ish) pieces and shared.

 

This post was written for the Daily Post Photo Challenge: theme half and half.

Here are a few other bloggers’ responses to the theme that I particularly like:

https://doublewhirler.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/half-and-half/

https://marantophotography.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/weekly-photo-challenge-half-and-half/

Daily Post Weekly Challenge: Half & Half

http://blog.photographybyalexk.com/2015/07/21/sunset-reflections-at-karekare-beach-in-new-zealand/

https://squarelamb.wordpress.com/2015/07/20/tallinn/

https://senkaustav.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/two-to-tango/

https://akebild.wordpress.com/2015/07/20/weekly-photo-challenge-half-and-half-3/

Split on the Diagonal

https://memoriesaremadeofthisblog.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/weekly-photo-challenge-half-and-half/

https://catiehannahphotography.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/weekly-photo-challenge-half-and-half/

https://jaapkroon.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/weekly-photo-challenge-half-en-half/

Half and Half

https://winedrinkingmummy.wordpress.com/2015/07/17/weekly-photo-challenge-half-and-half/

 

WP Photo Challenge: symbol

Kowhai: the unofficial national flower of New Zealand, and symbol of Women’s Refuge NZ. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015

The native New Zealand Kowhai tree is known and loved for its healing properties and beauty. Our logo features its delicate, vibrant flower in the universal symbol of women — the perfect portrayal of Women’s Refuge and our values. — Women’s Refuge NZ

Symbol: noun. something used for or regarded as representing something else; a material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign. Source: Dictionary.com

Logos are a particular subset of symbols; a visual representation of a brand, rather than a concept. In the case of Women’s Refuge, it’s a social, not a commercial brand; a symbol of hope and healing for the thousands of (mainly) women and children in this country who are affected by domestic violence.

I have a strong connection with Women’s Refuge through my involvement with NZ Sculpture OnShore which raises funds for, and awareness of, the work Refuge does.

It is in part because of these fundraising efforts that Women’s Refuge has been able to develop a source of sustainable income.  Yellow Belle (a very apt description of the kowhai flower), is a chain of upmarket recycled women’s clothing boutiques. The stores accept donations of designer clothing and on-sell it — generating valuable income and helping to increase awareness of domestic violence and Refuge’s work. A second brand, Kowhai Tree, is currently being developed to focus on sourcing, warehousing and distributing household goods and clothing to women and children leaving Refuge — many of whom arrive with no more than the clothes they are wearing.

Single Kowhai flower. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015

So for me, seeing Kowhai trees in bloom — as they are at the moment —  is especially meaningful.

Kowhai buds. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015

This post was written for the Daily Post weekly Photo Challenge. The theme this week is “symbol.”

PS: this is the actual Women’s Refuge logo.

Logo of Women’s Refuge New Zealand.