MONEY OCT/NOV 2014 ISSUE 27

BUSINESS | LIFESTYLE | DESIGN

THE CREATIVITY AND DESIGN ISSUE ISSUE 27 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

OFFICE DESIGN CONTAGIOUS CAMPAIGNS

START-UPS INTERVIEWS:

HARLEQUIN DESIGN, DUNCAN BONE, NOMAD

WELCOME

CONTENTS

Some nurse the opinion that there are those who are creative and others who aren’t. Well, it is an opinion – and we all know how that bit of urban wisdom about everyone having an opinion goes.

But I don’t agree. I think everyone is creative in their own way. It is, after all, what makes us human: this ability to dream, imagine, pursue and transform our creative ideas into something which we can experience with all our senses.

In this issue of Money, we celebrate creativity in all its forms, from design and architecture to game development and offices.

Shopping is usually a semi-conscious affair. If we like something, we rarely think about it – we just take out our money and buy it. However, there is more mental backstage work than we think. Take window displays, for instance: what effect do they have on our shopping?

In this issue of Money, we interview senior designer Moe Krimat from London-based agency Harlequin Design. For more than 20 years, Harlequin have been designing award-winning window displays for world-renowned brands such as Selfridges, Hackett, Anya Hindmarch and Thomas Pink. Krimat outlines the ideas and work which go into creating an attractive window display.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 31 THE CREATIVE WAY TO DO BUSINESS

We need to take a creative approach to generating the local economy, says Reuben Buttigieg.

9 A TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE

Branding is a science which translates abstract concepts into physical elements, says Francesco Cusumano, founder and creative director at Nomad in Barcelona.

13 FLESHING OUT BONE

35 CULTIVATING CREATIVITY IN PHOTOGRAPHY Victor Paul Borg gives a photography tutorial.

38 GAME ON

Valéry Bollier OulalaGames CEO, says that he is confident that Malta will soon become a major digital hub in Europe.

A successful campaign always tells a great story, says Duncan Bone.

In this issue of Money, we also meet Francesco Cusumano, founder and creative director at Nomad in Barcelona. Cusumano shares his views and ideas about what he says is one of the most complex fields in the marketing industry: branding.

The views from Valletta can be staggering. However, balconies sometimes get in the way, obstructing the view. Architect Chris Briffa has come up with a solution which while retaining its vernacular and traditional values, offers a full take on a magnificent view. On the architectural front, architect Konrad Buhagiar explains the rehabilitation process that transformed two early British period houses into beautiful and functional offices while Justine Bartolo offers design solutions for small offices.

In this issue of Money, Victor Paul Borg gives a photography tutorial, George Larry Zammit plans a contagious marketing campaign and Mona Farrugia travels to that most inspiring city: Paris.

Read on and enjoy.

17 A WINDOW ON DESIGN

For 20 years, London-based agency Harlequin Design has been designing award-winning window displays. Senior designer Moe Krimat opens a door on window design.

22 A VIEW TO A THRILL

The Gallarija Miftuha project by Chris Briffa Architects celebrates the traditional Maltese balcony.

Editor Anthony P. Bernard anthony@moneymag.me Consulting Editor Stanley Borg stanley@moneymag.me Design Roderick Peresso Design Studio www.peresso.com / m. 99258825 Printing Print It Distribution Mailbox Direct Marketing Group

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25 GETTING CONTAGIOUS

Was the ALS ice bucket challenge just a fluke or can you also create a viral, contagious campaign, asks George Larry Zammit.

42 ALL WORK AND SOME DESIGN PLAY

For offices to be productive spaces, they need to be creatively designed.

Money goes to work.

46 GO NORTH

Creativity and Canada do make for good neighbours in the same sentence.

59 JOIE TO THE WORLD

Paris is where women fall in love with themselves, says Mona Farrugia.

62 THE BLUESMAN’S BLOG

The Bluesman tries to find some smiles in his good-news tray.

47 PATTERN OF BEHAVIOUR

This winter, the McIntyre Mansion Gallery in Ontario, Canada will host a retrospective of Jeff Bao Nguyen’s trademark repeats, which have been commissioned by a variety of charities, universities, personalities, and socially progressive entrepreneurs.

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Money is published by BE Communications Ltd, No. 81, Howard Street, Sliema, Malta SLM 1754 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without written permission. Opinions expressed in Money are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. All reasonable care is taken to ensure truth and accuracy, but the editor and publishers cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions in articles, advertising, photographs or illustrations. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome but cannot be returned without a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The editor is not responsible for material submitted for consideration.

4 - Money / Issue 27

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CREA -TIVITY

Interview

A TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE Branding is a science which translates abstract concepts into physical elements, says Francesco Cusumano, founder and creative director at Nomad in Barcelona.

How did the Nomad story begin?

Our idea for the Nomad project was conceived back in 2007. A number of us had just graduated from university and we were being exposed to new work experiences in the design industry. Back then, in a small studio in Milan, Italy, we fervently thought that it was the right moment to use our experience and knowledge to create our own firm. The following year, we decided to set up our new studio in Barcelona, Spain, and kicked off our project.

Our concept soon started taking shape at a fast pace, especially when we recruited a professional team of people with different backgrounds and expertise in the visual communication field. This contributed to our vision that a design idea could only be more complete, interesting and satisfactory when multidisciplinary members are involved.

At the time, we were being commissioned on various projects, including art direction, branding and visual identity, graphic design and advertising campaigns. Indeed, the Nomad project was and can still be deemed to be ambitious given the complexity which stems from its innate multidisciplinary nature. We are often asked whether it is actually possible, and how we manage, to successfully cater for creative projects which cover such a wide range of disciplines.

This does not imply that we intrinsically have a solution to every problem. As the Nomad

Photo shoot for an Italian fashion magazine.

project matured, we developed a methodological approach essentially based on “design thinking,� which up to this day gives us the tools to analyse the creative problem or deficiency in each specific case. Through this process, new solutions are created, developed and produced.

Branding: what is it all about?

We consider branding to be one of the most complex fields in this industry. We believe that the notion of a brand should encompass the values, qualities, language and performance of a particular product or service available. Moreover, branding is a tool which allows a product or service to make a stand in its market.

However, the intricacy of branding is interlinked to the fact that nowadays the scenario has changed.

Before, we would make reference to consumers through the market demand and supply of a particular sector. However, consumers have now become sophisticated individuals while various market sectors are composed of microcosms that are constantly changing.

Essentially, the rules and formulae have changed.

In the past, marketing agencies would define the parameters and set up foundations on which the

market economy was based. Nowadays it is the individual consumers who provide the information required for the creation of new products or services which will satisfy their needs.

As a creative agency, we strive to be at the fulcrum of these elaborate worlds so that we are in a better position to seek and find common ground between the two. To this end, we firmly stand by the principle that branding a product or service today means creating successful unilateral links between consumer and business.

How does your creative process vary from one brand to the other?

In practice, the creative process does not vary extensively. We choose to apply a particular creative methodology which through the experience gained from trial and error, is further developed and refined as we embark on new projects. The vast information and understanding we have accumulated through the years is essential to the improvement and success of our creative process.

This may be compared to an artisan who, on crafting his thousandth violin, knows that he has imparted his acquired skill and experience onto the instrument. Consequently, the instrument

Money / Issue 27 - 9

CREA -TIVITY

Interview

Logo design for a tourism platform in a small fishing village in Sicily, Italy.

Branding and layout design for Panenka magazine, specialising in the culture of football.

Fhaus is a platform for the development of bespoke homes based on the sum of experiences, innovation, good design and excellence.

emanates a sound which is more refined than the very first few he created using the same method.

Every design concept we envision and every project we deliver is different from another as each tells its own story and being. As creative experts, we have a deep understanding of the product or service we have been commissioned to promote. With this information in hand we can then successfully transpose its characteristics into tangible communication.

Red: Photo-shooting for an Italian fashion magazine.

10 - Money / Issue 27

process which maybe reaches its full potential in the creation of a work of art. On the other hand, we consider branding to be a science, comparable to an engineering feat, where the intricacy of the work lies in the translation of abstract concepts into physical elements such as signs, symbols, colours, materials, odours, sounds, words, actions and behaviours.

How can branding enhance customer experience?

A brand is a pledge which promises to satisfy a particular need. It promises an experience and in this day and age it even promises transformation.

A brand can only improve the experience of the client if it is capable of keeping those promises.

Given that our job is to always find innovative and distinctive ways to promote diverse brands, we often find ourselves delving into the roots of clients’ firms so as to extract information which can be transformed into a concrete idea for a particular project. The solution is always present at the heart of each business.

We are all recipients of hundreds of messages every day. How can a product or service achieve added visibility through marketing and branding?

It is a job that needs to be executed meticulously and straight on target. Despite the whirlwind of messages and stimuli we receive every day, marketing and communication professionals have developed techniques which allow them to effectively reach their final goal, spot on.

How do you translate inspiration into a tangible brand?

We don’t think that the procedure of creating a brand follows a metaphysical path determined by a strong idea. The latter is a much more complex

It is no longer a matter of randomly putting up a campaign for a product or service out there, in the hope that the crowds will simply gravitate to consume it. At present, we are witnessing the very targeted ways in which marketing messages are

“WHEN A BRAND’S PROMISE IS TRANSLATED INTO A REAL EXPERIENCE, THE CLIENT FEELS LIKE A STAKEHOLDER IN THE SUCCESS STORY OF THE BRAND.” Definitely yes, there exist various marketing platforms, which may be still considered in their initial stages of development. Sophisticated and personalised marketing strategies will increasingly continue to determine the changes in schemes and methods we have applied up to this day.

Photo shoot for an Italian fashion magazine.

For a long time, due attention has been given to what to communicate, neglecting the channel of communication used. It would be useful to rethink and return to basics when contemplating how to communicate. In my opinion, the giant leap forward will be to apply a new discipline, which bases its theory on the notions that allow the design of these new platforms. That is, thinking of new ways of planning and executing the how. The inception of innovative marketing platforms will be the key to success.

communicated through the use of channels and methods which are incessantly becoming more insidious and directed to a specific kind of recipient.

Censi, which collect personal and contact data, tastes, wishes, objectives and dreams pertaining to groups of people, are actually being drawn up by various marketing agencies. This valuable information specifically facilitates the development of marketing aimed at targeting the individual. These days, this is the only way to hit the proverbial bull’s eye.

Does a marketing platform depend and vary from one audience to the other? And what, in your opinion, is the next big thing in branding and marketing?

With respect to branding, the way forward, which is probably already taking place, is related to the nullification of the physical distance between product or service and client. When a brand’s promise is translated into a real experience, the client feels like a stakeholder in the success story of the brand. In this way, borders and territorial boundaries cease to exist between the sender and the recipient.

The future, and moreover the present, leads us to come to terms with the fact that rules are written by the clients. We are faced with a scenario where the rule “a brand for a client” is no longer valid and has been replaced with the understanding that “the client is the brand” is the new reality.

To view more of Nomad’s work, visit www.welcometonomad.com.

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Money / Issue 27 - 11

DESIGN Interview

FLESHING OUT BONE A successful campaign always tells a great story, says Duncan Bone.

What first fuelled your interest in working in the creative industry?

From a very young age, I was always into art, creativity and technology and I’m glad my parents understood and nourished this in every way they could. My uncle was an architect and for a while I really wanted to follow in his footsteps when I grew up. However, I decided to explore other creative venues and a mixture of music, photography, filming and eventually graphic design led me to where I am now.

Creating a brand or developing a campaign is about communicating a product or service. But how do you make your message heard?

The market changes and grows in different ways with new products and new methods of communication being introduced faster than ever before. However, the roots for a successful campaign will always be good storytelling, experience and understanding your audience, and finishing it all off with a good level of craft. Like any other creative output, shock tactics or other quick fire methods will always come by but generally are not as effective in the long run.

Apart from the message, a brand or a campaign also says something about its creator. What does your work say about you?

I think you could say you might pick up that I have some form of obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to detail. I decided to recall everything back on a campaign I was just working on recently because the sizes for the typography and margins were not correct by a few millimetres across the various print executions.

You need to find a balance between delaying process and seeking perfection, but the devil is in the detail.

You have been living and working in London since 2000. How have you seen the capital change since then, especially with regards to the creative industry?

One of the main changes which I can directly relate to is was how people looked at someone like me 15 years ago versus nowadays. Growing up in Malta and landing in London with a portfolio showing graphic design, photography and film confused some of the initial people I met in interviews. People find it easier to pigeon hole

DUNCAN BONE

is a Maltese Creative Director with a background in art direction, photography, film and digital creative. He has been living and working in London for the past 14 years. His work has been nominated for and won numerous awards, including a Cannes Digital Lion and a One Show New York Silver Pencil. His work ranges from film marketing for Tony and Ridley Scott, to making films for London Fashion Week and working with clients such as The Barbican, GARAGE Magazine, FairTrade, Sony PlayStation, Nokia, Nike, Honda and Google.

Duncan Bone

others. You were expected to do one thing.

Coming from a small island meant I had a more hands-on approach and would come up with ideas and execute them myself, including shooting photography and film for local campaigns. This was frowned upon in most cases when mentioned in London. A decade later I was hired by Weiden + Kennedy London exactly for being that kind of person who could cross over easily and have a good understanding of the full creative process.

The late Andy Cameron was one of the first digital artists and a good friend of yours who ran Benetton’s Fabrica for 10 years.

In his comments about you, he said that you are, “Equally at home with innovative new technology and good old-fashioned advertising.” Is this down to your ability to adapt and master new platforms, or is it due to the creative industry never changing its essence but only its clothes?

Andy was an incredible man, and we had the opportunity to work together when he left Italy to head Weiden + Kennedy’s digital department. I think his comments came in part due to what I mentioned earlier about the core values being the same but it’s also about understanding new mediums.

A shoot in Lithuania for Flofferz, a New York/Moscow-based magazine.

Money / Issue 27 - 13

I have always had an interest in technology and excited by new possibilities . This in turn allows me to play with new tech and weave that into my work . A good example is the Honda Jazz campaign which was a world first in allowing people to communicate and play a game directly with a TV ad on their mobile device while the ad was playing on air or online I based this on a simple understanding of how technology like Shazam (the music search engine) works to figure out what music or sound you’re listening to. Then I married that with Audio water mark technology and the simple way an accelerometer works on mobile devices. All this meant you could catch the animated characters off your TV screen when you swung your phone at the right time thanks to your microphone listening and understanding at what point in the ad you’re doing this action. I spent a few weeks in San Francisco working with the same people who built Shazam to build this app for Honda.

At the end the campaign was translated into eight different languages and was a great success for Honda who’s aim was to sell a new car aimed at families with its main selling point focusing on how many things you could fit in a small space.

Hence the TV characters all landing in a top down view of a small car on your phone.

Nowadays, most brands and campaigns aren’t just local: they speak to a global community.

Does travelling help you communicate in a universal language?

More than anything else, travelling makes you grow and understand yourself better. I just came back from a massive trip this year directing a film for a client, where I went from shooting a Pygmy tribe in central Congo, all the way to the cotton fields across Atlanta and coffee plantations in Colombia.

I don’t think any of that will make me direct my work differently, but it definitely gives me a greater understanding of how we all communicate as people and has changed me as a person.

14 - Money / Issue 27

There are specific markets where one has to think about colours, messages and the communication used, and in those cases you cross reference your ideas with local creatives as well as user groups. Like the last project we had a number of German creatives and producers specifically working on this as that was our target market.

What can you tell us about the Google project that you’ve recently worked on?

I worked with 72andSunny’s Amsterdam office for a campaign for Google to celebrate the 25th year from the fall of the Berlin Wall. We had to find a way to celebrate a new Germany without focusing on the past. So we based the campaign on the stories of 25 people around the age of 25, to show what a new generation born in a new Germany is about. Stories ranged from a German girl who organises cooking workshops to bring immigrants and their traditional recipes to a wider German audience to stories about sexual expression and education.

We had some amazing talent to shoot the films and stills for the campaign which is now running on all major German newspapers every day till November 9. The site uses a Google borderless map (between countries) which allows anyone to leave their comment and be part of this historical anniversary. On November 9, the campaign goes global and we invite everyone to comment from across the globe. It was an honour to be Creative Director together with Gregg Clampffer on such a campaign. (http://www.g.co/deutschland25) You have also kept your ties with Malta, even doing some local creative projects. How important is it for you to keep an open line with Malta?

I think it’s very important for me to be able to still feel like I can give something back in the way I know best. There are some very talented individuals locally and when it comes to collaborations with interesting people and clients,

Part of the campaign for the Marcel Duchamp season at the Barbican London. This was the first time the museum showed posters without its name and branding. When we presented the idea, my former business partner at my old studio DISARM told me, “I know you’re Mediterranean, but to walk in there and tell them their posters don’t work anymore is pretty full on.” Then we won the pitch. They were aiming to attract a younger newer audience. The posters were a huge success and featured on numerous design blogs and in Wallpaper and Creative Review and were printed and sold inside the Barbican Gallery Store as well. The tease posters were followed by the reveal campaign which showed the across 500 sites across London.

I’m always open to have those conversations.

From working on Casa Ellul and Harbour Club with Chris Briffa to directing Bus Terminus with Emma Mattei, I will always make sure to find time to work on these projects as they keep me in touch with home and who I am.

Bristol sofa, Tribeca coffee table - design Jean-Marie Massaud. Mad Chair armchair design Marcel Wanders.

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Money / Issue 27 - 15

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CREA -TIVITY

Interview

A WINDOW ON DESIGN For 20 years, London-based agency Harlequin Design has been designing award-winning window displays for brands such as Hackett, Thomas Pink, J Crew, M&S, Banana Republic, Selfridges, Puma and Anya Hindmarch. Senior designer Moe Krimat opens a door on window design.

What stories do retail window displays tell?

Retail consists of such a wide range of brands and each wants to tell its own story. While the target market across many of them may overlap, each brand needs to try and create a unique personality through these stories for shoppers to either relate to or be inspired by.

Depending on the brand, these stories can be quite literal sometimes while others are very abstract. Either way the display needs to speak for itself in a very short amount of time which makes it crucial for your concept to be legible.

At Harlequin, we’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with numerous retailers across the market, from high street to high-end designer brands and sometimes non-fashion related.

One of our most recent award-winning windows actually came from our work with Patrón, the

Joseph Fashion

Patrón

Moe Krimat

world’s top ultra premium tequila, for a Selfridges window in London. The brief was to encapsulate the craftsmanship involved in producing a single bottle of Patrón tequila. Through further research we found that this process goes through sixty hands from start to completion, which became the prime inspiration for our final design.

Do retail window displays have to be consistent in design and promotion, or can they tell a different story every time?

Part of the stories or displays that we create are also influenced by current trends which are forecasted at least a season ahead of the product launch. These are usually dictated by trendsetters in the product and fashion design world, most prominently during their shows across the globe. As these trends evolve we are constantly researching relevant colour schemes, materials and new technologies to tell these stories in a different way visually.

This year we saw luxury handbag designer Anya Hindmarch use vintage graphics from consumer products like cereals, matches and Bourbon biscuits – even Tony the Tiger appeared on her catwalk. So of

course these trending elements became a huge part in the windows when we produced Anya Hindmarch’s windows across Europe.

Seasonal changes are the most obvious change in stories across window displays. Within each season there’s also a change in looks more relevant to the time of the year. For instance, our work with Hackett has a clear distinction in the windows across the season: earlier in the autumn/ winter season we would have a more gentlemanin-the-country look which includes products like tweed while the holiday windows promote more formal attire for the party season.

A retail window display only has a few seconds to grab the attention of a passer-by. What are the main attention-grabbing elements in a window display?

An eye-catching production is what every retailer would look for in window design, and usually these are the most fun to work on. Of course each brand has its own respective budget to achieve this. Personally I would say the best way to grab someone’s attention so quickly is through movement and scale.

Money / Issue 27 - 17

Hackett

Anya Hindmarch

Over the past year we’ve had the privilege to collaborate with Hackett in creating a number of great pieces that stopped tourists and shoppers in their tracks down some of the busiest streets in London. These included windows with an 18-foot wide airplane inside of them (inspired by Hitchcock’s North by Northwest) through to a mechanically operated swinging chandelier with a mannequin riding it.

My favourite would probably be our transitional (AW13/SS14) window scheme which had two large rain windows that had water coming down on mannequins holding umbrellas and wearing macs: a tongue in cheek nod to the British weather for a quintessentially British brand.

18 - Money / Issue 27

How is window-shopping translated into real sales?

This is definitely an important part of window productions as you can’t maintain a budget to design and produce great windows without any feedback on sales. Our clients are probably better suited to answer this question, as it can be difficult to judge how much windows play a part in sales. Increase on door counters is a good sign and maybe the most effective judgment on the contribution of windows to sales is usually when a particular product in the windows starts flying off the shelves.

Some of your retail window displays can be considered as art – yet do you consider it as

such, or is its primary function still that of visual merchandising?

Like in all forms of design, I think window design needs to be as aesthetically pleasing as it is practical. To create a beautiful window display that doesn’t complement the product can be a huge waste of resources. Every window should also serve for brand building as it’s the best opportunity to constantly remind shoppers of the brand’s essence and personality.

You can fit a piece of art into almost any brand’s windows – however I’ve learnt that if your window design can be used for more than just one brand, then you’re doing something wrong.

“THE BEST WAY TO GRAB SOMEONE’S ATTENTION SO QUICKLY IS THROUGH MOVEMENT AND SCALE.” Joseph Fashion

Retailers’ windows can be so different and you need to be able to visualise the space provided in the brief using scaled visuals from site surveys.

For instance, our client Joseph has a great window on Sloane Avenue with a huge footprint that needed serious consideration in the production of the Lace Tunnel Window. Using scaled models and prints we were able to iron out the finer details.

Once designs are approved and move into the prototyping phase, it’s crucial that you possess some knowledge of materials and their limitations. Quite often you find certain elements can only be produced using particular materials or processes which are out of budget or simply aren’t delivering the desired effect.

With experience you learn more about the production process to avoid losing time which quite often is very valuable in retail.

If the stock displayed in a window is not working, do you change the window or the stock?

Luckily I don’t think we’ve ever been in this situation. However, it’s very possible for our client’s visual merchandising teams to refresh some of the looks in the windows – usually it’s for commercial reason as it gives them a chance to display different product which works well with the display. Some clients request the addition of promotional messages during the campaign’s lifespan – however this is more frequent during the sale season.

Anya Hindmarch

What skills come into play when designing a retail window display?

You need to be quite flexible as a designer when it comes to window design. Before you get to the drawing board you need to make sure you understand the brand and the brief. This requires research on the brand, its stores as well as what its competitors have been doing in the past year.

Once you have the brand’s objectives in mind you’ll need to be able to create basic sketches and mood boards in order to visualise all your ideas and briefly discuss them with the team. The next stage usually requires more elaborate visualising using Photoshop, Illustrator and various 3D software packages.

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Money / Issue 27 - 19

20 - Money / Issue 27

Interview PROMO

THE ART OF TRAVELLING

Innovation needs to be supported by design and vice versa, says Paola Brunazzi, Vice President, Global Design and Research and Development, Samsonite.

What made you opt for a career in luggage product development and design?

My desire has always been to personally follow the development of the products that I have designed.

I first started designing shoes: shoe design is very similar to luggage design as there are proportions to follow and priority functions to respect.

Technical innovation versus pleasing aesthetic: how do you balance the equation?

Innovation needs to be supported by design and vice versa. In each project these two factors have to be in equilibrium.

Any particular luggage model that has given you most satisfaction when developing?

The B-Lite was the first important project. It involved very intensive teamwork where the help of super experienced technicians allowed us to innovate in terms of lightness and shape design. The inspiration came from the construction of pure fashion design studio clothing and the result was a true success.

Ever considered designing a luggage with an independent designer or studio?

When we start a luggage project, the first important thing is to have a research and development team that can technically support the designer. The designer choice always depends on the project features: we now take advantage of both an internal design team and of some external freelance designers.

The tumble test

Any designer or architect you particularly admire or look up to for inspiration?

I love all the modern architecture, including that

by Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, Robert Aish, Alejandro Aravena, Barry Bergdoll and many others.

How many pieces of luggage do you own?

I own few pieces of luggage, because I grow fond of them and I change them only when they have been re-engineered to make them lighter and more silent or handy. I always travel with my Samsonite B-Lite as cabin luggage and Cosmolite as checked luggage.

At which stage of the design process do many new luggage designs fail to make it?

The design projects that fail are those created by ideas that are not well shared with all the research and development and marketing teams.

How do you see the integration of mobile technologies – smartphones, tablets, smartwatches – into luggage and travel accessories?

I have worked a lot on the concept of integration of technologies, and I believe it is the future in everything, but mainly in everything used in the business travel segment.

How do you imagine luggage evolving in the years to come?

A luggage without gravity force is my futuristic vision.

Of course it is only a vision. However, let’s not forget that the big inventions were always born from dreams.

The drop test

Money / Issue 27 - 21

Interview CRAFTS

A VIEW TO A THRILL The Gallarija Miftu a project by Chris Briffa Architects celebrates the traditional Maltese balcony.

The history of balconies tells us of a feature that addressed the need to see and not be seen. In much the same way as the hasira or the Arabic muxrabija, a balcony seeks to give the viewer full view, while keeping them hidden. And yet, in Gallarija Miftu a, you give the viewer a view of the outside, but simultaneously put the viewer on show. Within this context, is the Gallarija Miftu a still a balcony?

You are right in saying that originally, the gallarija gave its inhabitant privacy and the ability to see but not be seen. The downside, however, was that one would need to stand close to its openings to be able to look outside.

With the Gallarija Miftu a, the original function is retained when the balcony is in its closed position.

Only when you choose to open its moving parts will you be exposed to the outside. This, of course, only holds if you are standing close to the balcony because, as soon as you step back into the room and, say, sits down on the sofa, you are once again hidden from view while still enjoying your view to the outside.

Is it still a balcony? No, it’s not just a balcony anymore: it’s a device with an on-off switch that transforms a traditional interior into a contemporary one.

Would Gallarija Miftu a work in a setting that is not a Valletta street with a magnificent Grand Harbour view?

The original idea was designed around vernacular buildings with a view: Valletta, Vittoriosa, Senglea, Sliema or even Mdina. Our first client wanted to enjoy his Grand Harbour view from all around in his living space. However, recently we even had an enquiry from someone whose balcony doesn’t face a view, but only wants to enjoy more light and ventilation in his kitchen, when he decides to.

How does Gallarija Miftu a celebrate vernacular craftsmanship?

The proportions, structure, panelling, and glazed parts are identical to its predecessor: there is no way anyone will be able to recognise a Gallarija Miftu a when it is in its closed position. It celebrates the vernacular by giving it a new meaning, while at the same time retaining its original form and function.

What various crafts and skills went into building Gallarija Miftu a?

The prototype was a scale model built by my father – a carpenter and boat-builder-enthusiast – under the supervision of my architectural team while

22 - Money / Issue 27

consulting a commercial joiner. From this model, we discovered ways through which to improve its structural stability and ease of opening and closing, and the balancing of its moving parts.

property enjoying a grand view, it will become progressively arduous for future owners to pay the price of this traditional feature which is blocking their view.

After copious meetings, sketches and drawings we developed a hinge system that split the top and bottom parts of the balcony and packed them to the side. The traditional metal locks and hinges have been manufactured by a local blacksmith and the closing system is based on the spanjuletta method (espagnolette), which secures the large folding parts in place. The remainder is all reddeal construction, built by a local joiner.

Like language or food, tradition can be saved by making it relevant to contemporary needs. How does Gallarija Miftu a seek to achieve this?

We are optimistic that our small invention can develop into an object that not only speaks of its time while respecting that of its ancestors, but also one whose functionality adds value to a dying inheritance. If successful, this added value could sustain its longer lifespan.

“IT CELEBRATES THE VERNACULAR BY GIVING IT A NEW MEANING, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME RETAINING ITS ORIGINAL FORM AND FUNCTION.” Gallarija Miftu a was awarded a special mention in the Din L-Art elwa awards, and awarded at the Premju ie l-Arti janat Malti in 2013. We are now in possession of a patent and it is available for sale, in partnership with a local manufacturer.

What is causing the slow demise of the traditional Maltese balcony?

In past building booms, the longevity of the balcony was perpetuated in metal and aluminium typologies which, unfortunately, degraded its value, not only in respect of its singular proportions and tactility, but also its chromatic effect within its indigenous landscape.

In more recent cases, owners of properties with sea and country views are allowing their old timber balconies to disintegrate, while installing large glass apertures behind them.

This is a shameful tactic which, nevertheless, will eventually secure their unobstructed view.

While authorities attempt to safeguard its survival, there is an increased risk that market forces will have the upper hand on the survival of the balcony. With astronomical market prices of seafront properties, and indeed of any old

BE THE ONE Onepercent showroom in Valley Road, Msida has been relaunched to the public. Around 250 VIP guests were treated to a night of absolute splendour and elegance, from the atmosphere and set-up in the showroom, to the little surprises the directors had in store for their guests. Guests feasted on fabulous food with various live cooking stations by chef Marvin Gauci from Tarragon and Caviar & Bull while upstairs guests found a sushi station from the talented team at Zest. Molecular cocktails were served and a stunning performance by international soprano Lydia Caruana captured the glamorous tone of the event.

Following the recent management takeover, the company has been totally reinvented and relaunched. Noel Pace, director at onepercent said that, “Onepercent has taken a new direction and the refurbishment of the showroom and total transformation of the space showcase our new vision.”

The cold and sterile atmosphere of a showroom is gone and in place are stunning displays and room sets filled with life, atmosphere and fantastic ideas. “We wanted to provide our guests and clients with a feeling of warmth and of walking into a fabulously finished home,” he added.

Onepercent represents exclusive international brands such as Poliform. Onepercent is open from Monday to Friday from 10am till 7pm and on Saturdays from 10am till 2pm.

Money / Issue 27 - 23

v

Workbays Developed by Vitra in Switzerland Design: Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec Available through the following Vitra dealer:

Dex27Workspaces Mdina Road · Qormi · Malta · QRM 9011 · T. +356 22 77 3000 · www.dex.com.mt 24 - Money / Issue Member of the Vivendo Group

www.vitra.com/workbays

George Larry Zammit is a chartered marketer who invigorates businesses through his consultancy Tiki-Taka Marketing (www.tiki-taka.com.mt)

MARKETING

GETTING CONTAGIOUS

Was the ALS ice bucket challenge just a fluke or can you also create a viral, contagious campaign, asks George Larry Zammit.

S

o you have this creative idea. This innovative product. Or maybe a truly revolutionary service. You want to go to market and hit the ground running.

You are committed. You are focused. You are set on where you want to go and how you want to get there.

A disruptive marketing campaign can do the trick.

Something that will cut through the clutter. Something that will get your product or service noticed.

Something that will get consumers so engaged that they too become ambassadors on your behalf.

We are going to create a contagious marketing campaign. Something trendy like the ALS ice bucket challenge. At the end of the day who knew anything about ALS and the ALS Association? Loved it or hated it, the ALS ice bucket challenge effectively

SOCIAL CURRENCY

The first attribute is social currency. The consumer wants to increase the proverbial points for any action done. Obviously people want to look good. They want to be seen as smart not dumb, rich not poor, cool not geeky. This is how people want to look when they talk or share information about a product or idea.

An example is when you get a prize for participating in an online Facebook game. The Kenko Casino comes to mind as a local initiative which utilised the power of gamification through social media to motivate consumers to pledge their social integrity in return for free products. Other examples are like when you receive a freebie at a restaurant or an upgrade in a hotel in return for a review on TripAdvisor.

TRIGGERS

Triggers are the next attribute for a contagious campaign. How do we remind people to talk about our product or idea? What triggers can we associate with your product, service or brand?

This can be a specific colour for instance pink is associated with breast cancer. Or an individual like Joseph Calleja, the Maltese Tenor, whom Germans associate immediately with Malta. It could even be a generic phrase. What do you remember after reading 'Life is Now'? Or 'I'm Lovin It'? Simple words which trigger your association towards a brand. In these cases they were Vodafone and McDonald's respectively.

EMOTION

Emotion is another possible attribute for contagious marketing. Let's face it. We are human beings and when we care we share. If used wisely, and most importantly responsibly, emotion can be an effective

harnessed the potential of social media with over 28 million people joining the conversation, a staggering 2.4 million videos shared, and the ALS Association collecting a whopping US$115m in donations.

If ALS could do it, then why can't you? Or was the viral sensation just a fluke?

Coincidentally, this summer, in the thick of it all I was fortunate to get my hands on a book called Contagious (Simon & Schuster) written by Wharton Business School professor Jonah Berger.

For a book written one year earlier, Berger lays out the key steps that makes a contagious marketing campaign. As acronyms are the norm for marketing concepts, Berger proposes STEPPS as the framework to make your campaign a contagious one. characteristic which prompts a required reaction.

Classic examples are charities like L-Istrina and Puttinu Cares. By using examples of how common people have benefitted from the good intentions of the charity, you are instantly motivated to do your part and donate. Through emotion a sense of guilt kicks in and your cognitive prompts an action to do your part and contribute to a good cause.

PUBLIC

The next attribute is the involvement of the public.

Have other people been seen with the product or using the service? Monkey see, monkey do.

Going back to the ALS ice bucket challenge, one main reason why the initiative was a success was because of the great amount of interest generated by famous people in sports, entertainment and business. They all rode the wave and did their part to keep the challenge going. The power of the people.

The right people of course.

Even though we cherish our individuality, ironically we do have the tendency to follow the flock. Therefore if others do it, then so do we.

Classic examples in Malta is the flow of party scene, from which brands we choose to shop from, and the holiday destinations we select.

Without us knowing it, we do have a tendency to follow what others are doing.

PRACTICAL VALUE

Practical value is our next attribute. How can we craft content that seems useful? People love to engage and share useful and relevant content.

A local example was when a while back local wine producer Delicata carried out a TV campaign dedicated to wine tasting and pairing with food.

The TV ads did not primarily focus on the brand or its range. The purpose of the ads was to educate

Maltese wine drinkers by offering practical value through interesting and engaging content. In return Delicata strengthened its legacy as a leading Maltese wine producer.

It is the same case when food brands offer free recipes.

Or banks offer complimentary services such as a repayment calculator. These are all tools to engage with the consumer through useful content and tools.

STORIES

This is the last attribute to consider for a contagious campaign: have a story. Personally I believe this is and will always be the most important. Always have a good story to tell.

People are not just interested in you. They are interested in where you are coming from. What are your values? Make your mission known.

What broader narrative can we encompass our product or idea? People don't just share information. They like to tell stories. The story is the vessel to transfer the product and brand to the end user. Make sure you have a good story.

Actually make sure it is a remarkable one. You are the author of your story.

CONCLUSION

We have gone through the six STEPPS to make a contagious campaign. Not all attributes are actually needed as even a selective mix could be effective too. The concept is much more to provide you with a framework to encompass your concept or idea to take it sensibly to market.

I recommend you to get yourself a copy of Jonah Berger's book Contagious. The book provides a lot more insights on the concepts explained above complimented with several interesting and relevant examples. It is not a New York Times bestseller for nothing.

Money / Issue 27 - 25

26 - Money / Issue 27

CREA Interview -TIVITY

OF BEHAVIOUR This winter, the McIntyre Mansion Gallery in Ontario, Canada will host a retrospective of Jeff Bao Nguyen’s trademark repeats, which have been commissioned by a variety of charities, universities, personalities, and socially progressive entrepreneurs.

T

he McIntyre Mansion is a strange beast.

Located in Halton Hills, a charmingly bucolic small town about an hour from Toronto, it’s an epic accomplishment of Queen Anne-style architecture. Built in 1867 without much modernisation to its exterior, it stands out like a sore thumb, the last historic home in a neighbourhood that before the 1950s wasn’t a neighbourhood at all. It was a farm, owned by the town’s founding families, the Reids.

But then, as World War II drew to a close and North America fell under the thrall of suburbanisation – its vaguely Germanic emphasis upon efficiency, consistency, and connections to terraformed nature – that farm gave way to low bungalows, just a few by the 1950s, a few more throughout the 1960s, a full-blown grid by the 1970s.

For many children, it’s their first encounter with anything older than a century. Passing by, on their way to the elementary school just a couple of blocks away, they can often be heard saying things like, “Mummy, that’s so pretty! What is it doing here?” and “Daddy, is that a haunted house? I want to live in a haunted house! Let’s go inside!”

This winter, they’ll have their chance, because that’s when the McIntyre Mansion is set to open its gardenlevel gallery space to the public. Its first show, STEP + REPEAT, features the work of board president Jeff

SNGNATURALS

“I LOATHE MINIMALISM AND SO DO MOST OF THE PEOPLE FOR WHOM I WORK.” TAHDAHLIA

Bao Nguyen. But of course it does, for this is a man who wears many hats, preferably ones that he has designed and fabricated on his own.

Born in Saigon and raised in Toronto, with stays in Amsterdam and Manhattan along the way, Nguyen has worked as a sous chef, shopkeeper, martial artist, personal trainer, tennis instructor, fitness executive, and go-go boy, which he claims to have been research for Torso + Moreso, his debut (and eventually infamous) series of Tom of Finland Award-winning illustrations.

Eventually, fine-art aspirations turned into commercial-art ambitions, fuelling the development of high-end embroidered-activewear line, Jacques of all Trades. Retail, charity, and editorial assignments ensued.

In 2011, Nguyen opened a design studio, nicknaming it The BAO House, an amalgamation of his own name and the legendary art school. Before long, the atelier found its focus in food, health, beauty and wellness, serving private clients and developing its own branded properties like Cafe BAO, BAO Fit 90 and The BAO Institute for Healthy Living.

A couple of years later, Nguyen’s husband Sean Patrick Sullivan – who had been acting as his business manager and strategic advisor – launched his own consultancy, with a very different (primarily corporate, editorial, and institutional) clientele. On a lark, Sullivan hired Nguyen to design jackets for cultural critic Dahlia Schweitzer’s highly visible Lovergirl book series.

Today, the two hire, fire, and rehire each other with such frequency that it’s sometimes difficult to tell where one business ends and the other begins.

The same can be said of Nguyen’s signature repeats, which began as fine art installations, evolved into embroidered and silk-screened mass-market applications, and eventually became his stock response to poorly designed social-media profile pages.

“I was crafting identity systems for Sean’s clients, my own clients, the clients of a branding agency with over-flow issues. Nothing clean and simple – I loathe minimalism and so do most of the people for whom I work. Anyway, we had these ornate, colourful logos and marks that we wanted to show off to the world.

But, you know, across social media, everything gets cut off and resized in weird ways, especially the two extremes, mobile devices and smart TVs. I just couldn’t bear to look at it after a while. But then I said to myself, let’s make something that looks better when it’s cut off. Let’s do virtual steps-and-repeats.

We did, and it just kind of took off.”

Humorously, cartoonishly, shamelessly luxurious, Nguyen’s best repeats look and feel like Warholian remixes of revered old-money labels – Fendi, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton – with a technicolour brightness that, as of yet, most luxury brands have been too timid to adopt.

“That’s starting to change, though,” says Nguyen.

“I just started working with a top-drawer skincare company. They want me to redesign everything: packaging, merchandising, the works. Their only demand is that I find a way to pack as many fonts and colours into each unit as possible. A decade ago, that never would have happened. Everyone was obsessed with minimalism. But the world’s more complicated now: branding needs to reflect that.”

Money / Issue 27 - 27

Interview PROMO

A KEY SERVICE

Mary Bezzina

Leonard Grech

Mary Bezzina and Leonard Grech from Frank Salt's Home Interiors Consultancy Service department can help you finish your property on time and within budget.

An old house in Mqabba which Frank Salt Home Interiors Consultancy Service department was entrusted with to finish and furnish.

B

uying property is fun. There is the pleasure of going around Malta looking for property, the excitement of finding the right house, and all the planning of how to turn a house into a home.

But that is where the fun ends. Even though doing up a property is an adventure, it comes with the baggage of having to deal with workers and contractors, going around showrooms trying to find the right furnishings, and trying to stick to schedule.

28 - Money / Issue 27

That headache can soon go away thanks to Frank Salt Home Interiors Consultancy Service department. This department has one primary objective: to help you convert your newly purchased property into a stylish, comfortable and practical home.

"The prospect of doing up or restoring a property can be daunting," says Mary Bezzina. "Take foreign buyers or first time buyers, for instance. Especially when they buy an unfinished property, they would need guidance in turning it into a beautiful home.

"We offer a full service, anything from minor refurbishments to project management and turnkey projects."

"We offer architect and interior design services as well as property development, including the conversion of farmhouses and houses of character. We also help our clients complete properties which they bought in shell form," adds Leonard Grech. "We have also been successful in finishing commercial properties."

An apartment in Pender Gardens finished and furnished by Frank Salt Home Interiors Consultancy Service department.

This service is available not only to people who buy a property from Frank Salt real estate agency but also to those who buy their property from other real estate agents.

Both Bezzina and Grech have a wealth of experience in project management, finishing and furnishing. They also involve architects, interior designers and contractors with whom they have worked in the past and who can guarantee an excellent service and workmanship.

"The first step is to meet with our clients," says Grech. "We see what their requirements and budgets are and come up with our proposals and quotes. We also take our clients to visit showrooms so that they can see the products that they might be interested in buying."

"This depends on why and where they bought their property," says Bezzina. "If, for instance, the property was bought as a buy-to-let investment, then the clients might want to furnish it comfortably and attractively, but within a tight budget. Clients who have bought a property to turn into a home might have a bigger budget."

The advantage of this service is that clients have one contact point instead of having to deal with a lot of workers and suppliers. Moreover, since Frank Salt Home Interiors Consultancy Service department has worked with trusted workers and suppliers for years, clients get to avail of service value and excellent aftersales service. Clients also benefit from discounted rates and prices already negotiated with suppliers by Frank Salt Home Interiors Consultancy Service department.

"Whatever we do, we do it in consultation with our clients," says Grech. "And we don't mislead anybody.

If something cannot be done due to limited budgets or very tight schedules, then we inform our clients.

Honesty, as always, is the best policy.�

"Our work isn't over the minute a property is finished," says Bezzina. "We offer our clients aftersales service, property management as well as rental services for clients wanting to rent out their property. The key is to make our clients happy with their property, and keep them happy."

For more information contact the Frank Salt Home Interiors Consultancy Service department on 2379 4550 and homeinteriors@franksalt.com.mt.

Money / Issue 27 - 29

Sunday Champagne at

Solely Champagne, entirely brunch... totally Waterbiscuit!

WATERBISCUIT St. George’s Bay, St. Julian’s 30 - Money / Issue 27

Tel : 2376 2225 •

FINANCE

Reuben Buttigieg is Managing Director of Erremme Business Advisors, Founding President of the Malta Institute of Management Accountants and President of the Malta Institute of Management.

THE CREATIVE WAY TO DO BUSINESS We need to take a creative approach to generating the local economy, says Reuben Buttigieg.

F

inance is a well-structured and rigid world.

On the other hand creativity needs breathing space in order to develop. The creative mind cannot work in a box and with rigid deadlines and key performance indicators. Happy marriage?

Doesn’t look like it.

In reality, that is only partially correct. The reality is that key performance indicators can also be applied to creative projects. The difference is in the expectations. You cannot expect to be financed just in case an idea comes through.

However, a good idea should be financed in order that it is analysed and developed, whether it turns out to be successful or not. The KPIs can still be there to monitor performance and stages of this analysis and development. Unfortunately though, the rigidness of these KPIs or the timeframe of the expectations do depend on how financially strong the organisation is.

In Malta, creativity is generally not part of corporate budgets and we cannot blame the companies given their size. It is rarely in the Government’s plans and it is even less often that we source EU funds to boost this. One may say that there were EU funds available in this sense but the rigidness and timeframes certainly were not creativity-friendly.

I remember my involvement in promoting an idea for an underwater reverse osmosis. Due to the timeframes and limited budget, we didn’t manage to get funding for it. However, nowadays, this same idea is being studied in Switzerland. Although the people at Malta Enterprise were very helpful at an individual level, the reality was that there was a rigid framework within which to operate.

In spite of this we can still be creative by using what we have and in finding alternative use of what already exists. We can also look differently

at the way our culture views certain things. By way of example we can be much more creative in generating an economy out of our sports activities. To date, sport is seen as a money loser in Malta and very few people have a vision for the sector. Governments generally see it as purely a health conscious campaign that they have a social obligation to invest in. Is it that the case? After years of campaigning our population is still one of the less active in the EU and one of the most obese. So what is going wrong?

Certainly, people need motivation to do things and there are no such motivators for practising a sport in Malta. There could be through appropriate investment and in being creative in the direction we give our sports. As in many other countries, football is the most practised sports in Malta and yet there are no creative activities to motivate people. On the contrary there were moves that demotivate its diffusion particularly in the female sector. The chance of winning is always a major motivator and Malta is not considering that.

As sports psychologist Dr Jean Cote puts it, we need to also consider coaching in creativity. Good coaching makes people confident about improving their competence and encourages creative and individual ways of performing. It connects people to sport and physical activity and builds character through being positively involved with others.

The football coach who is seeking to work in a creative environment needs to tap into many facets of what is known as the ‘C’ system. Players connected with coaches and each other and playing with confidence will happily experiment appropriately and build up a level of skill to allow them to be creative. A key role for the coach is to create an environment where players feel comfortable when trying new challenges, thinking differently and being innovative.

However, can we think differently? For Maltese to improve their creativity and innovation in sports, they need to have more opportunities to mix with other cultures. In this context, sports associations in Malta should be more open to foreigners even at amateur levels. I don’t understand the reasoning behind the decision to have only one foreigner per team in the third division in the local football leagues. It discourages talent and in my opinion creates two different levels of EU citizens.

Maybe one day this restriction will be removed. In the meantime, clubs should seek ways of playing friendly matches with foreign teams in order to develop their experience and talent.

“GOOD COACHING MAKES PEOPLE CONFIDENT ABOUT IMPROVING THEIR COMPETENCE AND ENCOURAGES CREATIVE AND INDIVIDUAL WAYS OF PERFORMING.” Creativity should also exist in the way one generates financing to promote creativity. In this context, finance people should be creative themselves in finding these ways. Regrettably it seems that neither these interact and that persons at the head of finance seem to be thinking all within the same box and only seek traditional financing methods, which are possibly backed by persons who are afraid that some foreign person touches what they consider to be their power regime.

Money / Issue 27 - 31

32 - Money / Issue 27

Interview DESIGN

A PARTNERSHIP THAT WORKS

Brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have worked with Vitra to produce Workbays, an innovative system that redefines the working environment.

R

onan and Erwan Bouroullec, born 1971 and 1976 respectively, in Quimper, France, studied at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and at the École des Beaux-Arts in CergyPontoise. Ronan began independent design work immediately after completing his studies, while his brother, who was still in school, assisted him.

Since 1999 both brothers have worked together as joint partners in their own design firm. Their work ranges from small utilitarian objects to architectural projects. In addition to the design of domestic and office furniture, vases, porcelain dishware, jewellery and diverse home accessories,

a primary focus of their work is the design and organisation of interior space.

One of their most unconventional designs, Algues (2004), was created within this context. The collaboration between the Bouroullec brothers and Vitra began in 2000 with the office furniture system Joyn, which was developed between 2000 and 2002 and is continually being refined and expanded. Along with Jasper Morrison and Hella Jongerius, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have made major contributions to the steadily growing Vitra Home Collection.

With Workbays (2012), Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec developed a micro-architectural system that redefines the working environment and breaks the typical rigid planning structure of offices. Workbays not only provide office planners with a simple, multifunctional furniture system but also offer employees the freedom to seek out the optimal environment for the task at hand.

"VITRA CHAIRS ARE ULTIMATE BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS: BUILT TO LAST A LIFETIME." ARCHITECT CHRIS BRIFFA

Workbays come equipped with everything the user needs: surfaces, seating, storage and power connections. Units respond to the necessity for noise reduction and help to absorb disruptive

sounds in the surrounding environment. They can spontaneously serve as telephone booths, reading corners, quiet spots for a coffee break, without sending participants behind closed doors.

Money / Issue 27 - 33

34 - Money / Issue 27

PHOTO -GRAPHY

Victor Paul Borg's photography has been published around the world. You can see some of his work at his portfolio website at www.victorborg.com.

CULTIVATING CREATIVITY IN PHOTOGRAPHY Victor Paul Borg gives a photography tutorial.

TOP: By taking this picture from outside the cafe, I created a feeling of interior warmth, calmness, and intimacy to give the scene a particular mood.

LEFT: Backlighting is the most interesting form of light, but it's tricky to get right.

Here I used flash in daylight to light up the running child and her mother: without flash, they would have been too dark and their eyes would not have been visible.

P

eople talk about talent as if it's something that you innately have or lack, a kind of bestowment. I think that's a flawed perception.

And whenever I teach photography - I have tutored private students and taught assembled classes - the question of talent inevitably comes up, and my students find my explication both encouraging and sobering. I demystify talent.

I have taught a variety of photography students.

The advent of digital cameras has made photography more widely accessible and the rise of social media has made everyone a publisher.

Many people buy DSLRs nowadays, but then many of the people who purchase DSLRs are bewildered by the function of all the buttons, the meaning of all the symbols, and the array of settings that proliferate in modern DSLRs. Many simply put the camera on full auto mode and are surprised when many of the pictures they take are faulty. That's when they realise that a camera, no matter how good or expensive, is only a tool - it takes knowledge of picture-taking to take good pictures. The next step would be to take a crash course in photography. In my courses I deliver knowhow about the camera functions

followed by theory about the principles and techniques of photography. And most students at some point ask: but how do I learn to be creative?

Creativity can't be taught. It's not something exclusively borne out of naturally occurring talent. There is no absolutism in talent. It's true that some practitioners may progress faster than their peers and produce more original pictures with less effort, while others may progress at a slower pace, and take longer to produce work of equal merit. This difference could be defined as talent if you like. I prefer to define it as a predisposition, for I think that the essential factor in whether someone will become good in photography is character or temperamental predisposition that could manifest itself as keenness and interest, curiosity, ambition, and most importantly - perseverance.

If you have these qualities, or enamour yourself with these qualities, the next thing is to cultivate creativity in a systematic manner in photography by following a set of guiding principles below. It's a process - talent is largely a process. Here are the guiding principles that I feel as essential in cultivating creativity.

KNOW YOU KIT

Excellent knowledge of camera functions and working proficiency with all the range of settings is a crucial first-step: it will enable you to use the camera (and its accessories) or adjust specific settings to take pictures that would display more creativity than would ever be possible if shooting pictures on auto modes.

RULES AND TECHNIQUE

Learning the rules of photography and the photographic techniques thoroughly, and then taking pictures studiously until you have mastered the techniques, is an unmissable second step.

Then, once you have mastered the techniques, you can studiously think of ways to break the rules to develop your own distinctive style.

WIDE ASSIMILATION OF WORKS

Study the pictures of good photographers and analyse their technique and approach in order to soak up a variety of styles and techniques and visions of the eminent photographers: this is a process that will inspire you to develop your own vision.

However, be careful to avoid emulation as this leads to poor imitation. The point is to soak up a kaleidoscope of visions as you search for your own distinctiveness within.)

TODDLER’S WONDER

TOP: Peopling your pictures is a way of adding interest and drama to an otherwise staid scene.

LEFT: Sometimes symmetry works best - a deviation from the standard rule of composition - and with people it's best to capture the moment and mood of the personas.

We are at our most creative between three and seven years old. That's when our imagination runs wild: rediscover that sense of wonder and alertness. It's a kind of alertness that comes naturally when we are travelling, when we look all around us and take in all the small sensory details in our surroundings. Practise doing the same at home, look around you with intense observation and curiosity, and you will find fresh ideas for photography.

Money / Issue 27 - 35

TOP: Mist and backlighting at sunrise has given these mountains depth and presence and mood that’s not possible at other times of the day. This was another occasion where I got up in the middle of the night to get to the location at dawn.

TOP: Landscape shots are often at their best at first light in the morning. Here I got up at 4am to be on location by the crack of dawn.

LEFT: Using the arch in the foreground for framing, and the patterns of stairs to create multi-tiered subject and clean lines gives this picture depth and interest much greater than if it was only a straightforward picture of the Catholic procession.

THINK IN VISIONS

CHOOSE YOUR VIEWPOINT

Do not just set out to take pictures. Conjure visions of pictures, visions that are conceived conceptually first (in the vision you can envisage the mood, the light, the subject, and so on), and then set out to create what you have envisaged.

Sometimes visions occur in a flash in the course of taking pictures. Although most good pictures are planned, train yourself to recognise any bright ideas that may arise in the field. The idea it to turn visions into pictures, not train your camera around and take pictures whimsically.

Viewpoint is important for originality in photography: do not just stand in front of the subject and take a picture. You can stoop low or stand high. Look around you to see if there are any high things you can get up on. Search for unorthodox viewpoint, whether low or high or sideways or through an aperture somewhere.

Whatever the picture, do not shoot from the obvious angle, but scout around to find different viewpoints or angles.

VISION AND PLANNING

Plan your picture or go create your vision at the right time at the right place. But if after you take the picture you discover that there may have been environmental or incidental hindrances or obstacles that crept into your picture, or if you think the picture could be improved by changing one of the many elements in the scene, then go back on another occasion. Shoot again and again, until you get the optimum picture. It's what professionals do: the story of many a great picture is a story of repetitive effort.

When you conjure visions, planning would almost always follow in order to bring together the different elements in the picture that will bear out that vision.

You need to decide specifically what picture you are going to take, how you are going to take it, what camera settings are appropriate, and then set out to take that picture with systematic thoroughness. This is something different than muse: if you had to wait for the muse, you would not get many pictures, and not many good ones.

DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO SHOW

Have something to show: this is related to vision.

Do not just think that you want to produce good pictures: that's sloppy or vague thinking, and your photography and personal style will never develop unless your mission becomes more distinctly defined in your own consciousness.

What each of us has to show is something that arises out of our experiences and values as individuals: we are defined as individuals by our own individual experiences and passions and interests, and our artistic or photographic style will have to grow out of that individuality. That's why all of us are different. It's those subtle differences and range of experiences that we can tap to cultivate originality in photography (or any other artistic expression).

36 - Money / Issue 27

PLAN AND RETURN

GET INTIMATE WITH YOUR SUBJECT

Know your subject and get familiar. Intimacy with the subject allows you to see things and photograph those things - that other photographers who are detached from the subject do not see.

Moreover, in the case of people or animals, closeness means that the subject would become comfortable and open up and reveal aspects of their lives or behaviour that would otherwise remain hidden. Likewise, if you are taking pictures of animals or birds, or of an event, it would give you an advantage if you can understand the behaviour or motion, and anticipate the action in order to capture the moment that you want to capture in its full glory.

GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge of geographical place or landscape or townscape, can be an advantage as it would help with planning and with taking pictures at the optimum time. But it can also become a disadvantage because we are creatures of habit and we end up seeing the same thing in the same place, and end up shooting the similar pictures from the same angle or using the same style (each of us has an individual style, but that doesn't mean that we should stop taking pictures that show new perspective or vision that would be intellectual stagnation).

You need to train yourself continuously in the quest for fresh viewpoints and fresh possibilities at the places that are your stomping ground, the places where you take pictures over and over again. Never stop looking around you, finding new viewpoints, noticing new things, taking new pictures.

ESSENCE OF LIGHT

Good light can make an otherwise normal picture outstanding. So learn to notice the subtlety of light - natural light (light at sunrise, sunset; backlighting; overcast light; and so on), as well as artificial light. Master the use of flash; learn to create subtleties with flash - the use of flash can even be part of your style. Some photographers use flash sparingly, others use it extensively.

THE MORE THE MERRIER

Shoot, shoot, and shoot again. If necessary, shoot the same subject again and again until you get a perfect picture. Expect only to have a small percentage of good pictures. Even professional photographers only produce a tiny percentage of good pictures - do not expect otherwise. The old adage may tell us that 'practice makes perfect' - I would add that repetition makes perfect.

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Money / Issue 27 - 37

TECHNO Interview -LOGY

Game on ValĂŠry Bollier OulalaGames CEO, says that he is confident that Malta will soon become a major digital hub in Europe.

From left: Benjamin Carlotti, OulalaGames Managing Director and ValĂŠry Bollier, OulalaGames CEO

You have a vast experience in iGaming and betting. What led to the development of OulalaGames and what niche market did you seek to address?

While working in the iGaming sector, mainly as a Marketing Director, I realised that customers were increasingly seeking for much richer experiences than the one offered by luck games. Fantasy sport is a social skills game that perfectly answers that need.

You are right to say that fantasy sport is still a niche market in Europe, but its amazing growth in the US (the sector’s revenues rose from $395m in 2004 to $3.6bn this past year) is a strong sign that it will soon be the next big thing in Europe too. It

38 - Money / Issue 27

is already the case in the UK, where 20 per cent of the male adult population plays it.

What makes Oulala fantasy football different from other offerings?

The inherent promise of a fantasy football game is to be a skill game. However, due to poor scoring systems, existing fantasy football games are based on luck and therefore, the promise made to customers is not honoured. With statisticians and the use of big data, we created the most sophisticated scoring system in the industry which allows us to best reflect the reality of the field. We are therefore the first fantasy football game to be a real skill game.

Oulala is also the first game to include all major European leagues (English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish). Another innovative feature is the live coaching option, which allows managers to modify their team live during football matches on our website, smartphone and tablet applications.

Innovation is a strong element in our DNA. What research did you conduct before locating your company to Malta?

I had already been living in Malta for many years when I decided to launch OulalaGames. Therefore, the question for my partners and I was fairly simple: could we find a place offering a better overall package than Malta? The answer was definitely no.

Malta is an English speaking country, in the Euro zone, and just a few hours from any major European city. More importantly, Malta has the most efficient pro-business environment that I have ever seen. Launching a start-up is a very risky challenge and it is essential that

“THE QUESTION FOR MY PARTNERS AND I WAS FAIRLY SIMPLE: COULD WE FIND A PLACE OFFERING A BETTER OVERALL PACKAGE THAN MALTA? THE ANSWER WAS DEFINITELY NO.” administration and I’m constantly impressed by their commitment, dedication, and efficiency.

This is also true on the ground: the TakeOff business incubator at the University of Malta, for instance, is doing a great job at helping start-ups in their very early stages.

Today, the needed protagonists for the ongoing development of the business ecosystem have reached a high level of maturity, high enough to ensure an optimum growth for Malta’s overall attractiveness. Malta has built an attractive environment for digital companies and I feel confident in predicting that the island will soon become a major digital hub in Europe.

France leads the European attractiveness rankings and is one of the largest FDI recipients in Europe.

What lessons should Malta learn from France?

It might sound a bit provocative (since France is the fifth GNP in the world) but I seriously think that you should ask the opposite question. France obviously still has many assets coming from its geographical position and glorious rich history. However, you have to look not at the actual results, but at the current policies in place, which are the ones that will lead to future results or not. In my opinion, when it comes to business attractiveness, Malta can teach France many simple but very efficient facts, such as when a fish has to fight with its tank to survive, growing becomes much more difficult.

With regards to the gaming industry, does Malta have the necessary safe and sound infrastructure?

Totally. For many years, the main problem faced by smaller countries was the weakness of their technical infrastructures. However, Malta entered a virtuous circle (the infrastructure has to cope with a permanently growing demand) allowing the country to quickly build a robust and reliable technical environment. Working from Malta or from the UK now carries the same standards.

Dr Chris Cardona, Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business, receiving an Oulala football shirt

your energy is not wasted on, for instance, administrative Kafkaesque issues. Over here, my mind is free to focus only on what matters the most for my company and it truly is priceless.

Finally, on a personal note, Malta has many other assets: it is very safe, people are amazingly friendly and happy, and there is a stress-free environment. And I’m not even talking about the advantages of living in a country which has one of the best weathers in the world.

Do you find that Malta has the right environment to support knowledge and innovation?

When I arrived in Malta in 2005, the digital business ecosystem was far from being as efficient as it is today. Many parts were still to be improved. Nowadays, I can say that this has been done in the most effective and pragmatic way.

Over the past two years, I have been working closely with some members of the Maltese high

Does the local education system support gaming companies by training and preparing the right human resources?

This is another example of the Maltese pragmatic efficiency. Finding qualified human resources is a key issue for any companies. Malta Enterprise recently invited us (along with the other digital gaming companies based in Malta) to work with MCAST on a long-term basis to synchronise their courses with our needs. It may seem logical and obvious but I had never seen this before in my professional life. In Malta, we seriously feel that we are supported in every possible aspect and it is a serious game changer.

Does the local lifestyle also play a role in attracting foreign companies to Malta?

Happiness is a long-term key success factor for any company. When your team members feel good at the office but also outside of work, they have so much more to offer. In Malta, as soon as you are out of the office, you feel like you are on holiday. When I’m having a very long day at the office, I enjoy taking a break by going for a swim at lunchtime.

WHAT IS FANTASY FOOTBALL? PURPOSE: To create and manage your virtual football team.

HOW TO PLAY: You can create your own team by selecting players and then competing against other managers.

HOW TO SCORE: The score of a virtual team is calculated by transforming into points, through a sophisticated statistical tool, real live actions on the pitch coming from real football players during their real professional football matches HOW TO WIN: The goal is to create the best performing team and therefore to accumulate the most points.

Money / Issue 27 - 39

Interview FDI

ATTRACTING FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business Dr Chris Cardona.

What strategies have you adopted to attract more foreign companies to Malta?

Our success in attracting foreign direct investment to Malta is essential for the economic success and development of the country. FDI is a major component of our economic well-being; it employs a huge sector of Malta’s workforce and its contribution to the country’s revenues is crucial.

Government is very much aware of this.

In fact, one of the first measures that we embarked upon, following the change in administration in 2013, was to redirect Malta Enterprise – the government’s agency for investment promotion – towards its core business.

We felt that the agency needed to be more focused on attracting FDI and a streamlining exercise was undertaken to reach that objective. I think that the results obtained last year, and those that we have in our hands for the current year, are indicative that we are on the right track.

Last year was a record one for the number of FDI projects approved. This year looks even better.

Further to that I must say that we have succeeded in attracting FDI from different sectors, including a number which are relatively new to Malta, such as education and health services. Other interesting projects are in the pipeline which we will announce in due time.

Another important strategic aspect has been to widen our horizons towards different markets.

The EU remains important for us but there are numerous opportunities outside of it that we are currently tapping to attract new investment to Malta. The Chinese market, for instance, is proving to be interesting. We are also eying investment from the US and the Middle East.

Within the coming two years, Malta Enterprise will also be widening its international network of contact points to promote investment in Malta. Rather than having offices open in different locations without a particular strategy, something that did not yield much in terms of concrete results in the past, we are focusing on a network of contact points, briefed in a very target based strategy which complements the overall strategy of Malta Enterprise.

What measures are you taking to reduce administrative burden and be more business friendly?

40 - Money / Issue 27

We are well aware that the time factor is crucial to attract FDI to Malta. We have made it a point to cut on the waiting time that it takes for an investor to know whether a proposed project is approved or not by Malta Enterprise. We are striving to reduce this – unless there is some complicating factor – to not more than a month.

This gives us an edge over competition and sends the right signal to investors, in the sense that they will not be wasting time in Malta.

our skilled workforce, the ability of most workers to speak fluently in English, our educational system: all these are competitive advantages in a knowledge-based economy compared to our competitors. For instance, we have a number of software companies which require people who write manuals for the use of their software. This requires a good working knowledge of the English language. Our aptitude to know more than one foreign language is even a greater asset.

We have also invested more in Business First, our one-stop-shop service for SMEs. We have added new services that will enable a business to get certain basic services, including VAT and MEPA related services, all in one place, without much going about. We have also reviewed the schemes that we offer so that businesses get a better and fairer deal. I’m happy to say that those schemes we have opened till now have been very well received by the business community. Currently we are devising new schemes that will target specific sectors, for example incentivising social enterprise, arts and crafts. I’m sure that these will benefit a number of entrepreneurs and enable them to become more significant players in the market.

Another important factor is our history. Take the aviation industry as an example. The aviation industry has been present in Malta since the times when the island served as a Royal Air Force base.

Workers employed with the services developed industry-related skills. When the British forces left the island these workers were taken up by the new FDI companies that were setting up in Malta.

My ministry is also working on the Family Business Act which will make life a lot easier for family businesses. We have been working with the stakeholders and the drafting of the new law is at a very advanced stage. I think that when it will be published it will be a huge step forward which will enable family businesses to run smoother.

What are the factors that strengthen Malta’s knowledge-based economy?

We often say that human resources are the only kind of resource this country has – which is true. So

Malta also has a long history of excellence in medical services. The Sacra Infermeria (now the Mediterranean Conference Centre) was a model for medical services in Europe during the early modern period. During the British colonial period Malta served as a centre for medical services many times, including during World War 1. Today we are continuing that tradition, trying to attract cutting edge medical industry in our Life Sciences Park and also medical tourism, especially by attracting educational institutions in the field to open their campus here. Adjacent to the Life Sciences Park will be a Digital Creativity Hub which is intended to attract digital industry that will in turn create synergies with the industry at the Life Sciences, for example in bio-informatics. These industries need trained people to employ. They offer exciting prospects and it is a good thing that our students know about these opportunities.

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Money / Issue 27 - 41

Interview OFFICES

ALL WORK AND SO

For offices to be productive spaces, they need to be creatively designed. Money goes to work.

CAPITAL OFFICES

The rehabilitation of two early British period houses into offices gave due consideration to design, company image and the needs and comfort of users, says Konrad Buhagiar.

T

hese offices of a well-established services company are situated in the heart of Valletta and occupy two houses, probably belonging to the early British period, that are joined back to back.

There were several design challenges that determined the final result: firstly, considerations as how to mediate between the image of the company that was expected by the client and the needs and comfort of the users.

The main functions of the office were enlisted as the DNA of the office layout, determining the efficiency and

42 - Money / Issue 27

facility with which the operation is carried out.

The interface with the public is accommodated in areas close to the public domain, quiet spaces created in the more secluded parts of the various floors where private and individual work can be carried out undisturbed. Adjoining spaces are allocated to related and inter-dependent secondary functions.

Secondly, the design itself, the choice of materials and finishes, textures and colours, were chosen on the basis of a strict collaboration with the

client who required variable transparency with the consequent use of glass as the dominant material, giving the spaces a contemporary feel. This proved especially useful in this case as it is natural when rehabilitating old buildings to house offices and where conservation of the original spaces must go hand-in-hand with the new programme.

Here, however, privacy and temporary seclusion is also a must, requiring the integration of quiet and private spaces for meetings and collaborative work in general and for the staff to withdraw to when working on specific tasks requiring focus and concentration, heads-down work like reading and writing. In the latter case, the library serves as the heart of the

Konrad Buhagiar is founding partner of Architecture Project.

Justine Bartolo is currently working for interior designer Vera Sant Fournier and after completing her diploma is now studying for her degree in interior design.

OME DESIGN PLAY MAKING THE MOST OF A SMALL OFFICE

A small office can still boost your productivity, says Justine Bartolo.

W

hether you are an established company looking to cut down on unnecessary costs, or a start-up with a limited budget, utilising the space of your office effectively can lead to lower expenses and an increase in employee performance and productivity.

The footprint of a typical office has downsized consistently throughout the years and will possibly continue to do so, especially in sought after commercial areas.

Still, with a limited office space, you can still combine good design with high productivity levels and a positive morale for your employees.

offices and is always available to staff needing to carry out specific, research-related tasks.

The rehabilitation of these premises and their conversion into new offices required further modifications: a staircase was added in one wing of the building, one of the courtyards was modified to create a small patio at first floor level, and the volume of the rooms was manipulated with the addition of mezzanines to provide more library and file-storage space.

Even after this new intervention was grafted itself onto old fabric of the house, the main essence of the old palazzos has been retained and the architectural flavour of three centuries has still remained intact, with a new fresh layer added to draw the fabric forward into the contemporary world, without losing track of their origins.

Through research, you can analyse the correct formation and design for any given business, small or large, but ultimately, the optimum office space layout has to work for your employees.

Effective space utilisation is vital in your work environment, yet with a little creativity (and a lot of work) you could enjoy the luxury of Google within the space of an igloo.

MOVING UP

One common factor in all offices is storage space, or lack of it. A solution would be to use the walls and work your way up. Building vertical storage modules helps in gaining a larger floor perimeter that can be utilised for other necessary fixtures. Using multi-functional pieces of furniture, such as space dividers that also work as shelving, is an effective and aesthetically pleasing storage solution.

OPEN PLAN SYSTEMS

Although in some cases open plan offices are not possible, having several employees working in an open space will help with utilising your office area. Closed offices take up more footprint due to each individual needing a separate workspace, storage system and in some cases printing devices. Open plan allows common workstations and can create ample room for paperwork and filing. It can also reduce costs by having one multifunctional printer for all staff members.

GO DIGITAL

A way of cutting down on storage areas (and paper wastage) is to store your archives digitally.

Make sure your folders are organised and backed up: once this is all in place you will enjoy a much less cluttered workspace and potentially gain time due to more effective search options. Outsourcing your server on an online storage cloud system will also enable you to gain physical space (due to downsizing to a smaller server) as well as keeping your own hardware free for your daily data needs.

COLOUR SCHEMES

A great way of opening up a small area is by creating the illusion of more space. Choosing the correct colour palette and materials can easily help you achieve this. Lighter tones will make the area feel lighter, fresher, and above all bigger. Opting for natural textures around the room will also brighten up the space and lead to a more calming atmosphere. Using a light oak flooring rather than walnut will be a better option as the paler alternative would help bounce off light rather than absorb it.

Money / Issue 27 - 43

Interview OFFICES

At the Laferla Insurance offices, storage solutions were found by using the landing for hidden shelving units. Photo courtesy of Vera Sant Fournier Interior Design

Colourful pods flood the passageways of BBC’s offices in Northern England. Perfect for small group meetings or for employees to simply relax. Photo courtesy of www.idesignarch.com.

BE BOLD NOT BORING

Although lighter items open up a space, it doesn’t mean that your office needs to be bland. Sometimes it pays to be bold so it is fine to bring in that industrial brick wallpaper, large tan leather chair or oversized wall hung piece of art. This brings interest and colour to the space. Yet make sure that focal points are few in between and that they are balanced well with the more subtle surroundings.

NATURAL LIGHT

The more natural light in your confined space, the better. Not only does it help raise employee spirits but also give the illusion of a brighter and bigger space. Should natural light be scarce, artificial light is your only alternative, but if you choose the appropriate lighting, the effect could create a better working atmosphere. Try choosing lighting that minimises shadows and gives an overall illuminating effect to the area. Stay away from floor lamps and use pendant lights as task lighting for workstations to maximise desk space.

American-based review company YELP! uses multi-user desks at its offices. This saves space while encouraging team building. Photo courtesy of homeimprovement2014.blogspot.com.

areas. Circulation space must seem intuitive and permissive, but should you feel that your office is simply too small to allow easy access passageways, it is best to reconsider the ratio to allow for a balance between the two areas.

BE FLEXIBLE

Depending on the industry, there are some roles in a workplace that can be sustained from home.

Allowing certain employees to carry on their work from home will reduce overheads as well as give

you the ability of utilising that spare space in a more functional and profitable manner.

UTILISING GENERAL SPACE

Turn corridors into socialising areas for employees by placing sofas in the space, or even create small partitions for private meetings or group brainstorming sessions. These are great ways of getting more out of your space and allowing for a more approachable work ethic between workers and visitors.

CONCEALING CABLES AND DE-CLUTTER

Hiding all cables and wiring is a fantastic idea to help eliminate clutter. This can easily be achieved by opting for raised flooring throughout the office, so all wiring can be hidden underneath. Also introducing the clean desk policy is a great way of avoiding a build-up of stacked up paperwork and clutter.

This policy specifies that workers must clear their desks before leaving the office every day. This helps maintain the illusion of space and keeps company information guarded and secure.

CIRCULATION SPACE VERSUS STATIC SPACE

Circulation space is what is otherwise known as traffic flow. There needs to be a harmonious relationship between static (space taken up by furniture and other fixed elements) and circulation

44 - Money / Issue 27

Modular and multi functional shelving, used as storage as well as a space divider. Photo courtesy of www.designoffurniture.com.

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COUNTRY Interview PROFILE

GO N RTH Creativity and Canada do make for good neighbours in the same sentence.

W

hat do you know about Canada? Not much, right? You know that it is somewhere to the north of the US and that it’s really cold.

And you know that Canadians are very keen on their ice hockey and that South Park doesn’t treat Canadians that well. But other than that, Canada could be a blank on the map. You don’t know who its prime minister is (answer: Stephen Harper) and you’re not even sure whether the Canadian capital is Ottawa or Toronto (answer: Ottawa).

But Canada shouldn’t be a blank on the map. After all, it is the second largest country in the world after Russia. And it’s making its presence felt.

Recently Canada was in the news for all the wrong reasons. Corporal Nathan Cirillo, 24, was shot dead by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau while standing guard unarmed at Canada’s war memorial in Ottawa. Zehaf-Bibeau then entered the parliament building and fired dozens of shots, before being killed by parliament security personnel.

Canada had anticipated such terrorist acts.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US, Canada and the US had dialogued about the challenge of securing the 9,000-kilometre border from possible terrorist infiltration. The two countries also discussed ways of sharing information in the war on terrorism. That said, the two pursue different foreign policies: while

46 - Money / Issue 27

Canada has constantly committed troops to war on terrorism, it doesn’t back the US embargo on Cuba.

It is this huge border which defines Canada. Or rather, immigration, which has helped make Canada one of the world’s richest nations. Various immigrants, especially from Asia and Europe, are the motor that fuel Canada’s economy.

And despite frequent identity spates – a 1995 referendum saw advocates of an independent Quebec only narrowly defeated – Canada is showing the world a largely united front. This has been especially showcased in its territorial spats with the US and Denmark over the potential of previously untapped reserves of oil and gas.

Immigration is also simmering Canada’s creative juices and adding a multicultural flavour to it.

Take Ontario, for instance, where the creative cluster is growing faster than the rest of the economy. The creative industry in Ontario generates more than C$12.2bn in GDP and is larger than Ontario’s energy industry.

More specifically, the creative industry in Toronto employs more than 100,000 people and is enjoying constant growth. Toronto’s appeal is that,

thanks to its multicultural population, it develops design, art and media products and services which have mass global appeal. Moreover, Toronto is an ideal test market for products and services.

Key to Toronto’s creative industry is design. Back in 1991, the Design Exchange was established at the old site of the Toronto Stock Exchange – this marked Toronto’s aspirations at becoming one of the design capitals in the world. Fast forward to today and it is estimated that Toronto employs more than 28,000 designers.

Toronto is also doing well on the fashion front.

Launched in 1987, the Toronto Fashion Incubator was the first official fashion incubator in the world.

The results are more than encouraging. Not only does Toronto now boast fashion designers of world renown – cue Erdem, Jeremy Laing and Greta Constantine – but it is also home to over 500 apparel manufacturers, who together generate more than C$1.5bn in annual wholesale shipments.

True, in our collective consciousness, Canada may not enjoy the same popular appeal that other countries have. But the next time someone pulls a joke on Canada on South Park, the joke might just be on them.

“IMMIGRATION IS ALSO SIMMERING CANADA’S CREATIVE JUICES AND ADDING A MULTICULTURAL FLAVOUR TO IT.”

2% Canada’s indigenous peoples make up less than two per cent of the population.

Ontario’s creative industry is larger than agriculture, forestry and mining combined.

Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia, yet its population is about one-fifth of Russia’s.

90% AT 200km 90 per cent of Canadians live within 200km of the border with the US.

The US and Canada have the world’s largest trading relationship.

+28k designers

It is estimated that there are more than 28,000 designers in Toronto.

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Money / Issue 26 - 47

SHADOWS OF A MAN PHOTOGRAPHY

STYLING

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Carina Camilleri

Karim at Models M

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56 - Money / Issue 27

This slick charcoal grey jacket by Mexx can easily be dressed up or down.

Designed with a quilted polyester fabric, this piece also has heathered denim look detailing in strategic places to create extra visual interest. Wear it with relaxed pants and a tee for a perfect cottage weekend getaway. Mexx men AW collection is now available at the Mexx stores Baystreet – St Julian, Pjazza Tigne – Sliema, and Mosta.

WEEKEND BREAK Valextra’s K Val weekend bag is the ideal style for the refined man who is always on the move. Its monochrome woven-canvas body is lined in green satin-twill, a feature nodded to on the outside by matching leather zip-pulls.

YOUR MOVE This chess set has been created exclusively for Purling

by British artist Kate Brinkworth, who has handpainted every playing piece. The maple board has a leather base and each set comes with a certificate of authenticity and Purling box.

CHEERS This copper-plated cocktail shaker is part of the new Plum collection by Tom Dixon. Its tapered ends allow for a firmer grip and the slim end cap also doubles as a spirit measure.

MEDIEVAL MAN This season, Dolce & Gabbana took inspiration from the medieval architecture of its native Sicily. This black cathedralprint blazer was a key runway piece and is made from a silk and cotton-blend. The velvet trims are an elegant final touch.

TAKE IT TO THE EXTREME

LET IT RAIN This handsome umbrella by Francesco Maglia is crafted using a sturdy, lightly textured fabric in bands of rich colours and features a solid maple wood handle.

Luna Rossa Extreme is the latest fragrance from the Prada stable. The heart of the scent is amber mixed with hot black pepper and zesty bergamot. Thrown into the mix are vanilla, juniper and labdanum. It’s a veritable melting pot of flavours which, surprisingly, work well together. Exclusively distributed by Ta’ Xbiex Perfumery Limited.

For more information call on 2133 1553.

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Interview TRAVEL

Food and travel writer Mona Farrugia runs Angelica in Valletta. www.angelicamalta.com

JOIE TO THE WORLD Paris is where women fall in love with themselves, says Mona Farrugia.

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ere is a puzzle for you: I’m sitting at a breakfast place which, at 9.30am, still hasn’t decided whether to open or not. My order for a cappuccino is met with a blank stare. What finally turns up tastes like weak dishwater and the thin bubbly foam expires in seconds. The bill – €4.50 – is slapped on the table by the indifferent waitress.

Around me, women are having quick conversations through the fumes of hot espressos and Marlboro reds. The men opposite are drinking red wine at another café. The tables are so tiny I’m practically sitting on my neighbour. Opposite, a woman is picking bits out of her muesli and sipping distractedly at an Americano. And there is a food market where simple delights hide behind difficult pronunciations. Where am I?

It’s Paris of course. Terrible customer service is a given, to the point that you wonder if something is wrong when you are served happily. People exchange bonjours with that lovely tilt but mean nothing by it. Tiny tables in Paris are normal.

Drinking red wine first thing in the morning is normal. Food markets overflowing with mouldy green cheese (the mouldier, the better), saucisson and fresh vegetables right outside your door is normal. And so is being thin. The super-sizing of obesity worldwide does not seem to have affected the Parisians in any way.

Paris is overflowing with cute, small shops selling stylish – and for a very expensive city, well priced – quality clothing. If you are anything from a size 12 down, the choice is endless. If you are anything

above, you’re in luck because the sales and discounts racks will only have your size. You are even better off if you are a size 16 because nobody in Paris is that big. Anything above that and you have a problem because they simply don’t make it.

Men find Parisian girls irresistible. I spent much time staring openly at girls’ faces and concluded that, in their majority, they are unremarkable, plain even.

Most do not have monthly hair appointments, let alone weekly. Yet they all sport gorgeous, shiny if bed-head hair, probably as a result of much cheese and bovine consumption. Their skin, until they hit their 20s, is acqua sapone beautiful, unembellished except for a slick of mascara from one of those fabulous pharmacies that dot the city. Their clothing is subtle and you can tell that even from a young age, they will buy one item of good quality, rather than 10 of bad. And young girls, except for some rare odd ones out who live in Paris but do not seem Parisian at all, are slim.

The shoe of choice here is the ballerina. Most shops stock it in a million colours and others, like Repetto, once a ballet clothing store, now the go-to outlet for anything cool-related, has 30 colours in each style, going round on a central carousel in a trance-inducing rainbow. I have been to Paris too many times to count and yet I have never, ever seen anybody totter. They wear heels of course, anything from kitten to Christian Louboutin’s five-inch and Maison Martin Margiela’s platforms, but never bad shoes, ever. Which probably explains why they don’t totter.

Once they hit their 30s and 40s, the women switch from surly to astounding. They laugh a lot, smoke and drink. Everywhere from people-watching cafés to the Patisserie des Reves has wine and champagne on the list (France consumes 52 per cent of the entire champagne production). They kiss each other copiously, ride around on bicycles and shop at the market. The supermarket and hypermarket is for foreigners who do not know any better.

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In Paris, there always seem to be a lot of models running around, some so thin that they are gorgeously yet curiously unsexy, only attractive to other women in a Kate Moss kind of way. The men – what’s new – prefer the sexual, uninhibited, whispered promises of the 20-something year olds who seem precocious and promise much without seemingly doing anything. You know that saying about fancying someone until they open their mouth? In Paris it is the other way round: once they do, you’re hooked because the French language has an undeniable, inexplicable sexiness.

And this is the city that gave birth, long before it was a word, to the cougar. You know without asking that most 40- and 50-something women are having an affair, possibly with men who are 15 years younger. The men here are not shy: they will come up to you and tell you straight up what they want. Imagine. A city where being attractive and alluring, at, and past, middle age, is the norm.

Paris is many things to many people. It is the city where you can feel like a tourist every time you go, no matter how many times you go and that’s fabulous. You eat well. You walk everywhere. And if you need a personality boost, then Paris is your city.

WHERE TO STAY The challenge in Paris is finding a decently priced hotel. I don’t mind spending an average €300 per night but in the past years the rooms have got smaller, the egos of the staff bigger and the marketing more formidable than the reality. The last time I visited, the Bvlgari amenities promised online had turned into generic hotel bottles in the bathroom, the bath was clogged and the quality of furniture old rather than antique.

The Hotel Grandes Ecoles was a fabulous surprise.

First of all it is within private gardens and so very quiet and peaceful. The area it is situated in is

dotted with cafés, small shops and outstanding tiny restaurants. The room was basic – extremely basic, almost monk-like – but at least there is room to swing a piece of luggage in. The bathroom was also basic but it had a real bath and because I knew what was coming, I bought some gorgeous bath products from Aesop at Bon Marche (pricey, of course, but 20 per cent cheaper than in London). The service is very family-based and although they had forgotten my reservation, they immediately made an effort to find me a room even though they were packed. At €145 a night, I’d call that fabulous value.

A HISTORIC WIN

The Royal Malta Golf Club celebrates a big win for Malta.

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he golf competition Malta versus The Rest, a Ryder Cup style competition held over three days from October 10 to October 12, was won by a strong Malta team: 17.5 points to 6.5 points. This was one of the biggest wins in the history of this competition.

The first day was a foursomes format. It was a good draw between Stefan Borg Manduca and John Micallef Stafrace for Malta versus Andy Holland and Quint Van Beek for The Rest. This game also featured the two youngest players on the field.

Ken Waddington and Lou Collins (Veterans for The Rest) held on to JJ Micallef and Nicholas Beck (Malta) but lost it on the final hole. It was a tight match between David Debono and Kim Borg for Malta versus Gernot Schmidt and Paul Gray for The Rest, but they won it on the last hole.

Andy Borg and Danny Saliba for Malta made a good win, despite giving 11 shots on Adin Bundic and Erik Akkerhuis (The Rest). It was also a good win for Tony Vella and Johan Camilleri (Malta) against Keith Woodward and Grigor Khachaturov (The Rest). Geoff Pickles and Richard Crossley (The Rest) brushed aside Kenneth Micallef and Simon Micallef Stafrace (Malta).

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The second day was a four-ball BB format. Captains from both sides retained one pair from the first day, namely Tony Vella and Johan Camilleri (Malta) and Gernot Schmidt and Paul Gray (The Rest).

Half way, Malta was up in two games and all square in two: it was a nervous morning which could go either way. The tide started to turn in Malta’s favour in the last few holes in each match: two matches won on the very last hole, two matches won on the 17th and the fifth for Malta won on the 16th.

Veterans Lou Collins and Ken Waddington (The Rest) gave David Debono and Danny Saliba (Malta) a hard time and won their match for The Rest. That was 10 points for Malta and two points for The Rest. Malta needed only three wins on Sunday singles to regain the Sword.

The Malta Golf Team

(Malta) offered a half to Ken Waddington (The Rest) with match all square on the 18th green with Andy Borg three feet away from the hole against a Ken Waddington eight foot putt.

JJ Micallef (Malta) after being all square with Andy Holland (The Rest) turned the tide in his favour after an almost hole in one on the 13th with the ball pitching just one inch away from the hole. Paul Gray (The Rest) managed to draw with Nicholas Beck (Malta) by winning the 18th after another tight match.

On day three, Malta’s win started to look a certainty when Ken Micallef (Malta) won against young Quint Van Beek (The Rest) and then Danny Saliba (Malta) managed to turn a loss into a win with Gernot Schmid (The Rest).

Two more wins for Malta through David Debono and Simon Micallef Stafrace against Ken Waddington and Adin Bundic respectively, while The Rest won two others through Grigor Khachaturov against Stefan Borg Manduca and Erik Akkerhuis becoming the hero for The Rest by beating Kim Borg.

The third win was gained by Tony Vella who entered early in the clubhouse with a 7&6 against Geoff Pickles quickly followed by Johan Camilleri (Malta) against Lou Collins (The Rest). Andy Borg

After the competition, both teams enjoyed a lovely lunch prepared by the RMGC caterers. Then the Sword was presented to the Maltese Captain William Beck by RMGC Club Captain Ron Feenan.

Let the conversations begin...

The menu includes a wonderful choice of pastas, salads, meat and spectacular fresh fish dishes.

Chef Patron Mark Zerafa (Zeri) adapts with skilful precision, creating dishes with a traditional Mediterranean flavour, whilst also drawing on inspiration from the Orient.

Now open daily for lunch and dinner with a 10% discount on lunches from Monday to Saturday. Free parking.

Booking advisable on 2135 9559.

Zeri’s Restaurant Portomaso, St Julian’s Money / Issue 27 - 61

The Bluesman is a Maltese sound engineer working in New York.

Interview NEW YORK

THE BLUESMAN BLOG The Bluesman tries to find some smiles in his good-news tray.

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his is going to be tricky. Trying to stay away from doom and gloom, as the bad stuff just keeps a-happening and it’s hard to not notice when a group of sub-humanoids decide to butcher yet another poor sap who was trying to go about his business. Fence them in and let them duke it out! I know there’s that whole violence begets violence thing but at some point we’ll have to pound them or let them pound each other. That way, we might win 50 years of some sort of peace.

Okay, lighter stuff. I was quite surprised to see a Christmas themed TV ad at least 10 days before the end of September. Before any Halloween ads came out even. Maybe somebody pulled up the wrong clip. Then, with the mid-term elections approaching, we have the political clown-car ably driven by Sarah Palin who finger-wagged her way to announcing on national television that, “The truth is in short supply at 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue.” She meant 1600 of course, the White House. I wondered if there was some poor confused homeless guy on a bench not getting his mail thinking, “But this is where 1400 is.” It’s a Plaza across from the Willard Hotel.

If there is anyone else, other than Barry O, viscerally hated by the Right Wing-nuts, it’s Attorney General Eric Holder. Trusted friend of the Prez, he has been in office since Obama nominated him after becoming President and even though he has announced his resignation he also pledged to stay in office until a replacement is nominated and confirmed.

This pledge that has confounded his opposition because they now have to decide whether they dislike whoever the new nominee is more than Holder, which gives Obama more leeway in appointing a successor likely to continue where Holder leaves off. It’s hard to put a finger on this dislike, other than his proximity to Obama. He had been Assistant AG during the Clinton Administration, a judge in DC and an US Attorney. Mostly a prosecutor, which is how the Right likes its lawyers, his record in defending voting and civil rights, as well as minority issues must have caught them off guard. I would not discount, unfortunately, the fact that he is the first black AG in this country’s history. Out of the 82 AGs to date, 80 have been white men

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(counting Latino Alberto Gonzales). The other exception was Janet Reno, herself the target of much pique from the GOP. There’s a clip of John McCain making an uncharitable and sexist joke about Chelsea Clinton, then a teenager, and Reno, which I won’t recount.

Quick segue to Ferguson, MO, where the people protesting the police shooting of an unarmed teen are keeping up the pressure on the authorities by marching in the street. No doubt fortified by Holder’s visit to the area and his assurance that the Feds were going to carry out their own investigation.

Good news in light of how bad a job the City is doing.

Yet another police shooting in an Ohio Walmart, based on what turns out to be a 911 call made up mostly of untruths, also resulted in the death of a teenager. The caller claimed to be an ex-Marine, but in fact had been expelled seven weeks into his basic training. The gun he reported being pointed was a BB gun (considered a toy) sold by Walmart and in fact was pointing towards the ground. Against protocol, cops opened fire into a store with shoppers walking around, one of whom took off running for the exit with her two children but collapsed and eventually died of cardiac arrest. A muddle the local DA is reluctant to talk about. Holder’s successor had better be up to the job.

In the good-news tray: the unemployment rate has dipped below six per cent for the first time since 2008. Stocks perked up with this news and compared to a number of other countries, the US tends to be looking good. Unfortunately there hasn’t been the pick-up down at street level, and most folk don’t feel like there’s any improvement

that they can feel. So what’s going on? It seems that most of those who lost jobs during the bank debacle, while having found employment again, have had to take pay cuts to re-enter the work place. So the economy is good enough to be creating jobs but has yet to produce the big paying jobs in sufficient quantities.

The good news didn’t last. Shortly after I made the observation that the unemployment rate had dipped won, Wall Street had the worst day in years as stocks slumped due to the weight of bad world news, including underwriting Europe’s losses.

A couple of weeks ago in the line of duty, I sat in on a meeting between the US Chamber of Commerce and the President of Turkey. There were some fences to be mended as our cheerfully outspoken Veep, Joe Biden, had made some comments regarding the porous border between Turkey and Syria for which he apologised and now Turkey was looking for the US to make nice. A lot of this happens when the UN is in session, along with the motorcades of black window-tinted SUVs causing traffic jams, diplomats justify the junkets by attracting investment in their countries.

Finally a WTF! at the Dallas hospital who delayed admitting the first Ebola infected patient in the US putting around 40 people at risk. Currently Thomas Duncan is “fighting for his life,” ironic that his infection was as a result of trying to help another victim in Liberia when the overcrowded hospital there didn’t send an ambulance, but I guess he should have known better.

BAYSTREET, ST. JULIANS REPUBLIC STREET, VALLETTA

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