Marc Newson in Conversation - Creative Director of the Sydney New Year Celebrations

17th January, 2012

Mandi Keighran of Indesignlive.com talks to Marc Newson, Creative Director of the Sydney New Year celebrations, about his approach to design and future directions.

As one of Australia's biggest design exports and poster boy of the 'art design' movement in the early nineties, Marc Newson has a wildly varied portfolio of design work. Yet, his recent role as Creative Director for the Sydney New Year celebrations still managed to present a new challenge.

"I do a really broad range of things, but this is really so far outside of what I normally do," says Newson.

Newson collaborated with Sydney-based creative agency, Imagination, on the direction of the New Year celebrations, which achieved worldwide acclaim. His primary role was to give the series of events a sense of coherence and consistency - he describes it as a "creative umbrella" - that has not existed in previous years.

"It was very much a collaborative effort with Imagination," says Newson of the Time to Dream concept. "It was trying to identify something that was succinct and cohesive and meant something to most people."

This was achieved through the Time to Dream theme and a rainbow circle graphic. It was recognisably Newson in its style - simple, clear, coherent and quickly embedded in people's memories.

"There is a significance to the colours," says Newson of the circle graphic. "For me, it's all about the colours of Sydney."

Despite having moved away from Australia in the early 1980s - first to Tokyo, then Paris and London - Newson remains connected to the Australian design industry. In addition to the recent New Year celebrations, his biggest client is Qantas, for whom he is Creative Director, and mid-this year, he is launching a range of bathroom products in collaboration with Australian company Caroma.

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Source: Indesignlive