When others tell you it can’t be done,
I beg to differ.

Need a company director with international innovation and licensing experience, who tends to be at least a decade ahead of where current thinking lies? A cross-media specialist who foresaw how the industry developed over the last three decades? An expert witness in branding and trade marks, with decades of experience in design, media and typography? Or a business mentor, public speaker, an award-winning author, or someone with live broadcasting experience? Click through …

I was the first digital typeface designer in New Zealand, at a time when the general belief was that all fonts came from overseas companies.

I began publishing online magazines as far back as 1990. Back in the ’90s, people said that no one would read magazines online. The title I’m known for is Lucire, a fashion magazine I founded in 1997. It’s the first fashion partner of UN Environment, an arrangement that began in 2003, at a time when few cared about sustainable fashion.

In 2004, I started a print version of Lucire, the second time anyone had extended a web title into print—only Slate preceded us, and theirs was a newsletter done in Word. I remain hands-on with Lucire, and write and art-direct for the magazines.

I then licensed Lucire to other countries, uniquely for New Zealand. In 2008, I founded Autocade, an online car encyclopædia, which my partner and I developed into a printed publication in 2023.

I was invited to Medinge Group, a think-tank on humanistic branding, in Sweden in 2002. I now co-chair this organization of incredible, high-level branding experts. Our first book in 2003 was carbon neutral, when people still asked me what carbon neutrality was.

I hold a law degree, excelling at intellectual property, and two business degrees, from Victoria University of Wellington. My master’s was in corporate identity and branding and how they link to business performance.

To make sure my theories are sound, I authored five articles for respected international academic journals. I contributed to, or wholly wrote, 10 books. The books I’ve written include Typography and Branding, and I ghosted on Panos: My Life, My Odyssey, which won a Highly Commended at the Business Book Awards 2023.

I ran for mayor of Wellington twice and sextupled and quadrupled the projections the polls made in 2010 and 2013 respectively, coming third against establishment politicians. My policies proved very prescient, especially with COVID, and the need to recession-proof our city through industry diversification and high-value jobs to help fund infrastructure upgrades.

Because of my legal training and professional practice, I have a deep knowledge of branding, fashion trends, typeface design law, and publishing. I often serve as an expert witness on branding and trade mark cases, and as a consultant or mentor in these areas.

My career since the 1980s has been about doing what convention says I can’t. Even in the 2020s, everyone has a story and it’s unique.

I help others who need my specialized set of skills. Contact me here. I would love to hear from you.