I make websites.
Its actually my full-time job, and I couldn't think of anything I'd rather be doing. Occasionally I do some freelance website designs too, so if you'd like me to give you a quote on designing one for you, then write me an e-mail: sighmon //at// sighmon.com
Here are some of the websites I've been working on recently.
New Internationalist Magazine - www.newint.org
The NI magazine reports on all sorts of injustice around the world. From environmental issues to exploitation, corporate corruption and pharmaceuticals. The stories make for pretty heavy reading, but the perspective you get from them really is empowering. I work with Charlie in the UK & Phillip in Toronto to keep this 7,000 page site running. We use Bricolage (an open source CMS) to power the main website & blog.
New Internationalist On-line Shop - www.newint.com.au
Another NI site I work on is the Australian shopping site. This ethical, Fair Trade shop helps support developing world producers by giving them a fair price for their products. Its also one of the ways NI funds its magazine production, as it is a non-profit and completely independent co-operative. I built this with Brian from the Adelaide office. It runs on a custom home built CMS that intergrates with our suscriber database.
Format Festival - www.format.net.au
In my spare time I help out organising the annual Format Festival in Adelaide. The two week long festival of DIY (do it yourself) is a fantastic combination of workshops, exhibitions and talks on zines, street art & literary culture. I designed the website for the 2009 Format Festival, and am currently working on a site to document all the amazing things that the Format Collective get up to.
Home Slice - www.home-slice.net
This is a little side project I've been working on, intially created with my partner in crime Simon Hunt, and most recently revived with Dan Gladys. Its a cheeky little email newsletter that we send out roughly fortnightly to help keep people in the loop of underground events that go on in Adelaide. Its heavy on arts and music culture, but we're hoping to take on a few extra writers to cover street fashion and literature. E-mail me if you're keen.
I'm a graphic designer.
When I'm not busy designing websites I'm usually creating graphics for printed catalogues and magazines. Occasionally I get to design diaries and posters too. Here are some of my designs that I'm most proud of.
New Internationalist Planner 2008 & 2009
These two diary/planners were probably my favourite things I've worked on to date. The brief was to create a diary aimed at a youngish audience, with lots of street art and provocative photographs from around the world matched with inspiring quotes and interesting dates marked throughout the year. They were on sale around the world, and were an instant hit, selling out in most countries.
New Internationalist ethical gifts catalogues
Working for NI is a real pleasure. Every year I get to design 4 gifts and books catalogues full of amazing Fair Trade, organic, ethical, solar and educational goodies.
Reconciliation Art Project - Flinders Medical Centre (FMC)
Sally Francis from the Arts in Health department invited me to work on this amazing project to create a huge 8 x 2 metre artwork with 2 indigenous and 2 non-indigenous artists. The finished artwork was then photographed and digitised, and I got to work with each artist to remix it to their digital vision.
Street Art Workshops
I've always had a fascination with free art made on the streets. I started photographing it 10 years ago and made a little bit of my own 5 years ago. In the last couple of years I've been running Street Art Workshops with Matt Walker. We run workshops for all ages, teaching the basics of stencil making, paste-ups & spray painting.
Cost
Most of our workshops have been run for around 30 participants from ages 5 to 50 years old. We love working with people from all cultures and backgrounds, especially those less privileged than us. Our workshop price includes hiring two local street artists to teach their techniques, plus all paint, canvas, gloves, masks, paper, markers and some drinks to keep everyone hydrated.
Workshop price: $1,300
Experience
From humble beginnings running a small illustration and street art group called ex-a-sketch, we've grown into an experienced little team. We've had the privilege of running workshops for:
- Feast Festival
- Adelaide Fringe
- Adelaide Cabaret Festival
- Arts Access SA
- SA Museum
- SA Art Gallery
If you'd like us to run a street art workshop for you or your organisation, drop us an email.
Scribbles
When my body is resting, my mind tends to wander. Here are some of the scribbles that I've made from the blerg that comes out. If you'd like to add to my brain fodder, email me: sighmon//at//sighmon.com
Jelly Adelaide
A creative spot to come and work, share your ideas, help others on half-finished projects, and come up with new ones. Its happening in other cities, and its called Jelly. It doesn't seem to be happening in Adelaide yet, so I'm planning on setting it up as soon as Format has its space organised. Entry will be gold coin donation, and there'll be free internet, a fridge and a kettle for hot drinks.
Mesh brain sustainability application
Sustainability questions answered by a logic brain. This is a project I'm working on with my friend Kuba. The idea is that we enter a heap of data based around sustainability. We also open the data up so that people can add their own personal lifestyle data to it. Then we create a nice smart engine to answer questions from this data. So next time you have a lifestyle sustainability question, instead of listening to emotion fuelled answers, ask mesh logic brain.
Blog
Oh lucky you! You've found the most official blog of sighmon // Simon Loffler on the whole of the internets. I could have used one of those fancy blogging engines like blogger, drupal or wordpress.. but instead I've chosen to make a hand made blog (complete with RSS*), just for you. I hope you enjoy it. *RSS coming soon. :P
Renew Adelaide. // Thursday, 3 December, 2009
There's a pretty exciting movement happening in Adelaide at the moment. Its based on the Marcus Westbury model of Renew Newcastle, which is based on the idea of reclaiming vacant, disused or awaiting development buildings and turning them over to artists for short or medium term leases. Thanks to some legal smarts, the landlords don't lose their beloved tax benefits of keeping the buildings vacant, and the spaces become artist run spaces that can then be transformed into creative realms for art, music & experimental culture.
The people driving the Renew Adelaide project are the Format collective, a non-profit DIY arts body who have noticed the decline in arts & music street culture over the past decade and want to do something about it.
Would you like to get involved? Join the Facebook group and pop a note to show your interest.
Transplant. // Tuesday, 29 September, 2009
I'm going to be performing a transplant early next year. There'll need to be quite a bit of planning and research before I attempt it, but it should be very satisfying.
Yes, that's right, I'm going to transplant a normal petrol engine for a beautiful electric engine and controller, so that I can enjoy driving through the amazing Adelaide hills without the black oil guilt.
So here's where I need your help. I need to decide which car will be the recipient of my transplant operation. I could just operate on the car my girlfriend and I share, but its a pretty efficient little car as it is (about 6L / 100km), and ideally I'd love to get a classic show car that would draw some attention.
So if you have any suggestions, flick me an email. Thanks!
John Butler and his Seed. // Saturday, 22 August, 2009
And the winner is... ADELAIDE! Yes, that's right, we've been given a grant to run the Adelaide Street Art festival in 2010. If you're interested in helping out, exhibiting artwork, running workshops, selling your street art zines, canvas prints or photos, please get in touch.
Email me at: sighmon //at// sighmon.com
Street Art Festival in Adelaide. // Friday, 31 July, 2009
And now the waiting game begins. Matt and I applied for a $5,000 grant to run the Adelaide Street Art Festival in 2010. We've scheduled loads of fun stuff like box walls, exhibitions, workshops and maybe even a projections evening.
So cross your fingers and hope that we get it!
Hello world. // Friday, 3 July, 2009
After years of owning a pretty minimal little website, I thought I'd better pull my finger out and create something slightly prettier and more useful. Sure, its still pretty minimal, but at least there are some nice new features.. like an official blog, some information about what I actually do.. and even an RSS feed!
If it all looks completely stupid on your browser, or I've missed anything out that you really wanted to see on my website, then email me and let me know!
About me
I'm a designer from Adelaide. I have a bachelor of Design, majoring in Industrial Design which means I can design physical objects like computers, bikes & mobile phones. I have also completed courses in graphic and multi-media design, which means I can also design posters and websites.
I'm a bit of an environmentalist too. I support The Wilderness Society, Trees for Life, I'm a vegetarian, and I try to live a sustainable lifestyle.
Name: Simon Loffler
Email: sighmon //at// sighmon.com
Username: sighmon
Location: Adelaide, Australia
Job: Designer for New Internationalist
Other versions of me
Here are some of the other places you'll find me on the internet.