Something strange was going on this morning when we arrived at the R&B HQ. The studio had come over all red, white and blue in a sea of Americana and in particular transforming one of our Digital Project Managers desk. Why may you ask, well our Kate is heading off to the big U, S of A to the land of slot machines and where fortunes are made… yes she's off to Vegas to get married!

Heading out on a road trip from LA across the Nevada desert to the iconic bright neon lights, Kate and her partner will be tying the knot in true Las Vegas style by none other that Elvis himself. The wedding ceremony is even going to be streamed live across the internet for those of us who can't make the trip over there. We love the digital world here at R&B!

Congratulations from all the team… can't wait to hear all the stories!

Last Thursday we kicked off the Easter weekend in ancient viking style with a game of Kubb. The peculiar pastime involves a collection of wooden blocks with Swedish names we couldn’t quite pronounce, which two opposing teams try to knock down with batons.

Yes, there were some minor shin injuries.

We were all eager to show-off our underarm throwing skills, until our hopes were crushed by the game’s considerably slow start. Successful knock-downs a rarity, we had underestimated the skills required to be an ultimate Kubb champion. So we altered the rules slightly, and within the hour one team had finally defeated the other.

Lucky for them the weekend started early, which meant they didn’t have to face the shame at work the next day.

As I write this reflective, and perhaps slightly cheesy, memoir, I sit in a room full of designers and project managers discussing their sushi orders important business matters. An air hockey table is the centrepiece of this room, a communal discussion point laden with design drafts and camera gear. Someone’s making a cappuccino in the kitchen, possibly their third today, and it’s only 11.30am. It’s all in a day’s work at R&B.

I’ve learnt many valuable lessons as an intern here at R&B these past five weeks (see, I told you it would be cheesy). Here’s a list of my favourite, and what I deem most interesting for you readers out there on the interwebs.

• Being an intern doesn’t mean fetching coffee. There’s a big fancy machine here and everyone’s welcome to use it! Wahoo!
• Proofreading takes A LOT longer than I thought.
• Workshops and team meetings are super fun. We get to wear party hats.
• Mark always plays the best music.
• Chocolate brownies are highly valued here.
• The new flat screen in the meeting room is NOT crooked, the house is on a lean. Rob checked it with an app and everything.

It’s been a jolly good time. Everyone here is an absolute hoot, and I’ll be very sorry to leave in seven weeks time (aww). Kudos to you R&B, for being the best intern-taker-oner-er ever.

By Tammie Joske.

The crux of our business is communication. We talk to each other all day, every day; we talk with our clients; we talk with anyone who will answer us back.

To delve a little deeper into how we can improve our communication, everyone here at R&B took a little personality quiz and at the end, we were each assigned one (or two) colours. So we don't forget who is which colour, we even got to wear party hats. (Who doesn't love party hats.)

Some of the outcomes were pretty predictable - some were a little more surprising! But at the end of the day, we have learned a little more about each other and how we interact with others, on good days and on bad days.

2012 has been a big one here at R&B. 'Big' is also a rather massive understatement - on about the same level as saying how 'excited' Rob was to defend his Go-Karting crown at our end of year party!

After a round of 'Secret Sandy' in the morning (our take on Secret Santa, with Design PM Sandra taking on the role of distributor of the gifts) we headed out to Go-Karting, with plenty of trash talk, scheming tactics and a Go-Pro ready to capture all the action.

Fast forward a few hours with a lot of bruises, scratches and Designer Olly taking the title, we have decided we're all possibly a little old for Go-Karting or we're all a little competitive. (Most likely, both.)

Then it was off for a beautiful lunch at Hellenika as we all reflected on the year that has been, the effort we've all put in for our clients and the pride we've put into all of our projects. Congrats on a massive year team R&B!

A few weeks back we were lucky enough to score an invite to the official Impressworks opening, a lovely letterpress production studio situated in DesignWorks College in West Burleigh.

Enticed by the promise of canapés and beautiful print work (just a couple of our most favourite things) we joined a crowd of design enthusiasts who snagged a few goody bags full of freshly printed posters and cards, a mini-exhibition care of some local artists and the many hundreds of kilos of 1963 Heidelberg Windmill Platen Press and a 1920 Chandler & Price Platen Press.

Having attended a DesignWorks graduation ceremony a few months back we had already been treated to a demonstration of the epic machinery, and it was great to see the collective excitement our part of the world has for letterpress.

Earlier this month, we attended the inspiring Analogue/Digital creative conference. Each of the 8 speakers shared their story of the sometimes bumpy road they have taken in pursuit of the ultimate dream - a creative career you are truly passionate about.

The overall theme of this years conference was clear: take a risk. Constantly put yourself out there and don’t stagnate in jobs that are not getting you closer to where you want to be.

Numskull / Question Time / Chris Doyle

Josh Price started off the conference with how he and his brother Tull took a leap of faith by launching their own shoe company Fiet in 2005. Second speaker Sonia Rentsch inspired with her persistence to keep putting herself out there, even if it meant living in a caravan in someone’s backyard!

Feit Footwear / Sonia Rentsch

Thomas Williams, the Founder of Process Journal and Creative Director of design consultancy Hunt Studio, was last up for the morning session. His mantra and advice was simple: “There are two types of people. People who have ideas and people who have ideas and do something about them.”

After lunch, we were treated to some insight from independent curator, publisher, writer and gallerist Joseph Allen Shae. Joseph shared his belief that taking risks and having a lot to lose can be a great motivator, and an extra push to succeed. He was followed by Australian artist Numskull, who talked about the importance of community. After moving into a shared studio space with other working artists, Numskull says the inspiration and motivation of the shared space took his work to the next level.

Keeping us on our toes was New York based artist Anthony Lister. Jumping from painting to wooden gameboys to general life lessons, his resounding message was to find what you love and do it.

After a quick tea break, Brendan McKnight spoke about the relaunch and transformation of Desktop Magazine. Brendan gave us a good insight into what he believes to be the three elements of success: persistence, contacts and talent. Not to mention the power of faking it ‘til you’re making it!

Process Journal, Thomas Williams / Numskull

Last but not least, Chris Doyle took us through his ten year design journey. Doyle’s readiness to keep putting himself out there is one of the things he believes has made him successful, as well as doing the jobs that scare him and challenge him to be better.

Desktop Magazine with cover by Chris Doyle

A couple of our self-confessed letterpress geeks recently attended a one-day letterpress course at Design College Australia, where they were let loose on the College’s extensive type collection.

After making the drive up to Brisbane, Mark and Susan spent their day in a workshop filled with antique Heidelberg printing presses, type cabinets, and drawers full of woodblock type and images.

The course was taken by two extremely knowledgable and helpful letter press and printing experts, Clint Harvey and Diana Pasovski, who guided the small class of 7 through the methodologies and history of letterpress. 

Everyone put together a design of their own using the endless collection of type, furniture (strips of spacing), slugs and interesting tools. Mark produced a typographic Father's Day card, whilst Susan attempted to use as many of the vintage wood block images as physically possible.

5 hours later, the guys left the workshop with armfuls of their own designs and a greater appreciation for the skill and expertise it takes to master this creative printing technique. Check out the fruits of their labour!

Our intern Danni has just returned from 3 months work experience in the one and only New York City, here's a bit of what she got up to...

At the beginning of June I began the final subject of my Bachelor of Communications (Business), a marketing internship in New York City! Undoubtedly the ideal way to finish my degree- my subject involved international experience in the liveliest city in the world. During my three-month stay I worked at firm on Wall Street called Escalate, which specialised in experiential marketing, largely for Coca Cola.

Interning at R&B prior to this experience was invaluable as I started at Escalate with a strong understanding of what is involved in the development process of branding and creating campaigns. Additionally, I felt comfortable sitting in on and contributing to brainstorms, maintaining an intern blog for the company and following a brand style guide having learnt this at R&B.

Throughout my internship in New York I worked alongside the Client Experiences Director and Manager to research and liaise with potential event venues, explore branding alternatives for event equipment, monitor event budgets and inventory levels, recruit brand ambassadors, contribute to the social media buzz and other event logistics. Also, I had the opportunity to exercise some creativity with the weekly newsletter and website calendar I was responsible for.

I used Adobe Illustrator (a program I have a very basic understanding of) to create the newsletter and calendar; doing so helped me identify the direction I wish to pursue my career in - creative marketing. As I have finished my bachelor’s degree with little knowledge of or experience in design, I am now undertaking a design course, where I am learning an array of creative concepts and skills. In twelve months time I will have a Diploma of Printing and Graphic Design and be one step closer towards my dream career.

In addition to the design course I am undertaking, I am also back at R&B, which I couldn’t be happier about. Assisting with design briefs and learning as much as I possibly can about industry trends and practices is such valuable experience for the field I wish to work in.

Semi-Permanent is one of the leading creative conferences in Australia. For designers, it's more than just a day off, it's a day that helps us to regroup and revisit the reasons we love what we do.

This year we attended the Brisbane event: nine hours, eight creative industry professionals, two small coffee breaks and countless moments of profound inspiration.

The first speaker was Beastman, who amazed us with his obsessively intricate renderings displayed on wood, canvas and street walls. How can he create such beautiful, perfectly symmetrical murals?

Beastman / Bec Winnel

Second presenter Beci Orpin reminded us of how important it is to step away from the computer and begin working on paper. Distancing ourselves from technology changes the state of our thoughts, and allows an altered dimension of creativity.

Toby and Pete's presentation was thoroughly entertaining, Bec Winnel astounded us with her detailed, delicate illustrations and Radical Media reminded us to continually change the way we engage with the world. Paul Davies presented his hypnotic architectural paintings and explained how he has combined his traditional skill with modern techniques.

Photographer Andrew Quilty humbly explained his professional journey. His photographs captured the degree of devastation caused by natural disasters in Australia, showing us how important it is to continually engage in personal projects.

Andrew Quilty / Toby and Pete

Finally, The Monkeys reinstated that visual communicators are fundamentally story tellers. We need to embrace the element of surprise and the power of viral communication.

The day left us feeling lucky to operate in such an exciting industry. Creative conferences like Semi-Permanent allow us to look at the bigger picture, motivating us to reach new heights.