Interview | Amanda Henderson, Gloss Creative.

Emma Jane Pilkington with Gloss Creative for Moët & Chandon, Spring Racing Carnival 2006.

Chris Bosse with Gloss Creative for Moët & Chandon, Spring Racing Carnival 2005. IDEA overall winner in 2006.

MYER “Fashion Topia”. Melbourne Cup Spring Racing Carnival 2007. Credit: MYER in-house Creative Team. Soft Furnishings Comer and King.

Amanda Henderson is considered by many as one of Australia’s leading designers of the three dimensional experience. She is the director, founder and inspired creative force behind Gloss Creative.

Gloss Creative is the design company that provides creative concepts, designs and direction of events and sets for many of Australia’s most style conscious companies: Spring Racing Carnival marquees for Moët & Chandon, Myer, Longines, window concepts for fashion retailers like Elwood and Sportsgirl, event and set designs for L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival and National Australia Bank.

Before starting Gloss Creative in 2001, Amanda Henderson worked within the fashion industry as National Visual Merchandising Manager for Sportsgirl, and more recently was Creative Concept Manager for Country Road. Amanda and her team work across disciplines, styles and genre – they frequently collaborate, select and choreograph the work of architects, freelance graphic designers, artists, interior designers, shop fitters, production companies, printers and textile designers to ‘tailor-make’ every project and create the final masterpiece.

Gloss Creative’s website has been residing as a bookmark in my “favourite links” for a few years, and images of their installations have appeared on my concept boards many a time! I also had the privilege of hearing Amanda speak at a design event a few years ago. I loved the way she spoke about her work and the way she presented herself with humility, honesty, clarity, generosity and an enormous amount of energy and spirit. I left the room feeling so inspired with the stories she shared, one of which was about starting her business and “working from home out of a back rooms next to a hills hoist”… or something like that. I loved the fact that this incredibly talented woman was so personable and easy to listen to. You know – zero wank-factor. Hallelujah!

Amanda was kind enough to send me her notes from the presentation she gave at AgIdeas in Melbourne a few weeks ago. AgIdeas is one of the largest and most respected design events in the world – it seeks to provide inspiration by putting designers in contact with other designers/ creative professions. It also provides the interaction of young designers with the more established members of the profession. Amanda was amongst the 40 world’s creative leaders who shared their insights with more than 10,500 visitors – designers, students and business leaders. I have to share with you Amanda’s opening sentence at this presentation, which resonated with me so deeply –

If you can feel the difference that’s a good thing. When design is expressed honestly and with humility, it feels different. Somehow you are transformed by the experience, and suddenly  its function or its wonderful aesthetic don’t matter anymore, it’s the feeling you get from the experience that you remember. And for us, that’s the difference design makes.

It is an absolute honour and privilege to be able to share with you this very special interview with Amanda. I also have to thank Amanda’s super sweet and incredibly helpful assistant, Tiffany, who was instrumental in providing me with all the images and the correct information – thank you so much Tiffany! And thank you Amanda for your time, and for being a part of yellowtrace. Make sure to check out Gloss Creative’s very new studio blog where you can keep up with their latest news.

I hope you enjoy this interview and find in it as much inspiration as I have – there’s enough in it to keep me going for the rest of the year. Extreme love!

x dana

‘How Long is a Piece of String’ Sportsgirl Bourke Street Mall (Melbourne). Installation January 2010. Photography by Marcel Aucar.

‘Don’t Try This At Home’ Sportsgirl Bourke Street Mall (Melbourne). Installation July 2009. Credit: Macrame by Margie Dean.

Welcome to yellowtrace Amanda, and thank you for taking the time to share your story with us. Can you tell us a little about your background – when did you first decide what you wanted to do as a career, and what path lead you to establishing Gloss Creative?

As a child, I loved the ballet and any theatre I could go to, my grandma took me to every Australian Ballet performance that premiered in Adelaide. By the time I was ten, I had seen Sir Robert Helpman, Rudolf Nureyev, Michael Baryshnikov, Margot Fonteyn, Lucette Aldous. At school I did drama, acting, music and decorated the school formal and constantly rearranged my bedroom mantle peice!

While I was at uni I had a casual job at Sportsgirl giving out fitting room discs on the weekends, which lead to my first job dressing windows.

My formative work years were spent in various creative development roles and nation visual merchandising roles at both Sportsgirl and Country Road. I really enjoyed these roles – we designed wonderful windows had so much fun along the way, working with such great Australian retailers who really believed in the power of visual merchandising. I made so many life long friends in what essentially are teams based experiences.

It can be really hard to get individual recognition for your work in larger fashion retail chains and ultimately leaving this world I was able to create a platform that allowed me the freedom to design and exploring new ground. This was the moment that I took all limits of myself and established Gloss Creative.

Set for MYER Autumn/Winter Collection Launch was created with a series of digitally printed voile screens which became sheer when lit. Photos taken with iPhone during the lighting test.

MYER Autumn/Winter Collection Launch 2010, Sydney Myer Music Bowl. Photography by Lucas Dawson.

Can you describe what you are seeking to portray in your work? What is fundamental to your practice – your philosophy and your design process?

We try to keep our philosophy to a minimum, just in case we need to change our mind or try something new. We believe that a design philosophy helps you to know who you are but shouldn’t hold you in a straight jacket. But before you get the feeling that we have no moral compass at all, we do believe in being true to our selves, fostering the things we do well and love.

We love iconic, singular statements, they are strong and robust and offer a summary visual expression in seconds. Our audience understand that these are not meant to be realistic environments. With a tongue in cheek approach we can avoid too much seriousness that may overstate the environments intent.

Amid this width of projects are the constant creative threads that designers evolve almost unwittingly, repeatedly – Individual artistry and emotional expression. It took five years to understand and name what our design constants or handwriting us. For us it’s ‘Grand Simplicity’. It is in the ideas and designs that are grand enough, delivered with a visual simplicity that we find our own ‘environmental euphoria’.

Spotlight – Caravan of Craft- Turning fabric into fashion. A mobile Installation was apart of LMFF at Federation Square, guests participated in style workshops. Credit: Installation Design by Gloss Creative, Installation March/April 2010.

‘One is Never Enough’ Sportsgirl Chadstone Installation May 2010. Inspiration was gathered from old 70’s german cross-stitch patterns found at a garage sale.

Sportsgirl Chadstone Installation – Exploring the world of blogger Kat George and her blog stylelines. A massive octagon frame holds a crochet web of Kats world. Credit: Installation Design by Gloss Creative, Inspired by Kat George, Photographer Marcer Aucar. Installation March/April 2010.

How do you go about establishing a concept and an overall direction/ look & feel for your projects? Do you have a certain process that you always follow?

Design like you don’t have to pay for it or install it.

Our approach is to create an experience that starts with one or two simple ideas, we then commit whole-heartedly to them. We evolve our ideas by pulling from a number of design platforms; making new creative links through experimentation, collaboration and from techniques we have evolved over time.

We spend the most amount of time in our early design process getting the big idea working before we move on to development.

We get rid of as much of our left-brain activity as we need to design freely.

To help us to do this we lose the notion of metered time in the early design phase, we think it’s the most time efficient thing it’s the most time efficient thing you can do. If you lose time you’ll allow yourself the freedom to dream before you design. We all know that generating great ideas is not time dependant, the best ideas can come in minutes and some of the worst can take weeks. As visual merchandisers we try not to overcomplicate things, anything can be accomplished in a couple of hours if you keep it simple.

We dream, we talk, we read briefs, we scribble, we make things, we struggle and get in a mess, then leave it all alone and then we come back for more the next day until something kicks in and when we can see what the possibilities might be and we then move forward.

We create our own freedom within our own processes to be free enough to allow several different approaches to the one design resulting in fresh views and a way of working that is sustainable for energy levels amongst our team.

We love that a small yellow trace scribble can become such big moment and we love the process and the fun along the way.

Photos of Gloss Creative’s studio. Top image completely cracked me up.

Wrangler Conecpt Model created in studio. Concept development for in-store role out for Wrangler at Gloss Creative April/May 2010. Credit: Installation Design by Gloss Creative, Installation March/April 2010.

Where do you turn for creative inspiration – books, travel, trends, magazines, websites/ blogs etc?

We pull our core loves from

Graphics and Illustration – the power of the graphic pervades every project we do, illustrative, graphic and photographic works provide the narrative to our installations that become one with our spaces. We use digital technologies to emphasis the Architecture qualities of our installations.

Theatre arts – we borrow the drama and the in the round spatial aspects of the theatre

Fashion – fashion gives a sense of changing style and newness, fashions ability to change it mind and quickly adopt new ideas and drop the old is legendary.

Craft– we are fascinated by the artistry and beauty of craft, we love that craft is the design worlds new darling but at the same time its something your grandma gets it too. Strange how something considered so nanna a decade ago is now completely sexy.

And finally

Collaborators – Whom we adore.

I grew up in a large family. No surprise then that we like a team approach. I make it a policy to find designers who inspire us with their creative brilliance who are inspired by our ideas.

‘We love designers who know how to collaborate, those who understand that the sum of parts is always more powerful than the part’.

Collaborations help sustain creative energy and if the collaborative approach is understood its strength is unmatchable.

Travel is inspiring, it’s the slow nature of travel that lets conversations flow and that can lead to truly inspired thinking.

Myer ‘Find Yourself’ Spring/ Summer 2008 parade launch – from initial sketch on yellowtrace {yaaay!!}, production and installation, to final product.

Myer ‘Find Yourself’ Spring/ Summer 2008 parade launch showing different mode of the amazing stair – really needs a video to be fully appreciated!

Myer ‘Make a Statement’ Autumn/ Winter 2008 Parade Launch.

What other artists/ designers/ creative people/ entrepreneurs or peers do you admire?

I’m inspired by people who stay true to themselves and like to collaborate, those who can give of themselves freely and build ideas together. People in my network of creatives who you may not know the names of but who do beautiful work everyday, quietly, humbly.

Blogs such as yours have exposed and raised the profile of so many wonderful designers. Its great to see a platform that shares work and inspires others.

What is one of your favourite projects to date and who have you enjoyed collaborating with the most and why?

So many projects, so many collaborations, maybe the marquees at Flemington, the ultimate daytime party (we have put up 26 of them!), all of the designers we co created with saw these projects as fun. They let go from the rigors of their more serious work and just enjoyed! Favorites include Cameron Comer, Emma Jane Pilkington, Woods Marsh, Chris Bosse, Bill Henson, Emma Hofstede, Kimberley Moore and Bec Wertzler.

Sketch, working drawings and concept colour jewel for Myer ‘Paper Scape’.

Myer ‘Paper Scape’ work in progress.

Myer ‘Paper Scape’ Spring/ Summer 2010 Parade Launch. Set design by Gloss Creative, Production by Rizer, Set Graphics by Qualia Creative and Kimberley Witkowski, Photography by Rocket Mattler and Gabrielle Coffey.

A time lapse from MYER Spring Summer 2010 collection launch. Watch the entire set up and show unfold before your eye – very cool! Created by Rizer & Veeran Naran,

Is there something professionally you would like to try that you haven’t done yet?

A stage set for a rock star. I sat through Justin Timberlake’s concert with design envy for his set.

Or a stage set for an Australian ballet company. The creative direction of many of our catwalk sets are very close to being theatre set pieces that would easily translate to many different design genre.

What advice would you give to emerging young designers who want to follow your path?

Take your time, enjoy were you are right now, happiness is made up of a lot of ‘right nows’. Brilliance builds over a lifetime!

What was one of your biggest lessons learned since starting out?

Hang out with great clients. They are gold.

Work with others who are smarter than you, its humbling and your learning from them.

Love your bookkeeper.

What would be your dream creative project?

Runway or ballet set  in London/ Paris/ Milan/ New York.

What’s next – can you share with us your vision and some of your goals for Gloss Creative?

We are starting to look at our work in a global context – developing concepts for Australian brands working in global markets we see as an opportunity to showcase an Australian design aesthetic.

Circa at The Prince – Restaurant Interior. John and Lisa Van Haandel with Gloss Creative. Photography by Earl Carter, Stewart Leishman and Paul Mosig.

BlueScope Steel “Colorbond Garden”. Melbourne Cup Spring Racing Carnival 2007. Crefit: Graphic Design by Kimberley Witkowski.

Let’s Get Personal:

What is the thing you most like about yourself?

I didn’t peek to early in life… slow and steady is a good thing. And – I have an ability to put myself in others shoes.

What is the thing you most like in others?

People who really love and understand diverse personalities.

People who can see beyond themselves and are secure enough to enjoy the differences between individuals.

Apart from your work, what other interests or hobbies do you have?

I collect things – vintage tea towels, Pelham puppets and old books mostly from 50, 60s and 70s on cooking, set design and interiors.

If I see a second hand ‘Complete Works of Shakespeare’ I have to by it – I can’t leave it homeless on the shelf.

On a more mundane level, I love sleeping and walking.

Your favourite cafes/ restaurants/ bars?

Breakie – Spoonful, Our Kitchen Table.

Dinner – in Sydney, China Doll – for duck pancakes and whole cooked snapper. Bodega – everything, especially the banana split. In Melbourne –Circa (drinks at the new bar with buddies). Cookie, consistent favorite – coconut ice cream in 43 degree heat in January before the tennis, great bar and food. Cumulus for sharing the slow cooked lamb and freeka salad.

National Australia Bank “Canteen”. Spring Racing Carnival 2009.

National Australia Bank “The Conservatory”. Spring Racing Carnival 2008.

National Australia Bank “Picnic Luxe”. Spring Racing Carnival 2006. Credit: Soft Furnishings Comer and King.

What is your most treasured belonging?

Material belonging – this is a hard one maybe its my aga oven.

And a print by Franz Kemp my mum and dad gave called “ The Garden of Bomazi”.  It has fostered my love for murky colours since I was a child – no mix of colours can be too dark!

My Bambi I’ve had since I was 5yrs old – it reminds me of how far I’ve come.

Non-material belonging – my family and friends.

It’s not very cool, but I really like…

Enthusiasm – I’m embarrassingly enthusiastic about almost everything I do.

Your favourite joke?

I’m not funny, although I love to laugh till I cry.

How would you like to be remembered?

Way too serious at 6am on a Sunday !

Sportsgirl “Wake Your Dreams”. Sportsgirl Chadstone installation, November 2009.

Sportsgirl Bourke Street Installation.