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As a long-time student of politics I have often found myself assessing various kinds of attempts to create new democratic processes or arenas. From citizens’ juries through to mini-publics and from area panels to lottery-based procedures the scope of these experiments with ‘new’ ways of doing politics has taken me from the local ward level right up to the international level.

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NZI, a New Zealand-based insurance company recently unveiled a new television commercial its first in 8 years, titled The Devil’s Chair. In the darkly comic spot, a satanic desk chair brings misfortune to a series of businesses in an otherwise picturesque port town. An example of clever timing and wicked staging that is heightened with the realistic CGI style, it will hold up to multiple viewings and give you pause before bringing home anymore of that second-hand furniture you are so proud of. Produced by Auckland-based studio Assembly for the Draft FCB creative agency, it will also be re-versioned into campaigns for digital and print.

CREDITS:
AGENCY:
Draft FCB

DIRECTOR:
Damon Duncan

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:
Amanda Chambers

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR:
Rhys Dippie

3D TEAM:
Craig Speakman
Geoff Kirk Smith
Josh Fourt-Wells
Gary Sullivan
Alex Scollay
Mark Williams
Rhys Dippie
Damon Duncan
Joe Helmore
Craig Baxter
Pritish Dogra
Jonathan Hamer
Amber Kell
Patrick Blades
Eugene Tay
Kyle Dey
Josh Kell

DRAFT FCB
EXEC CREATIVE DIRECTOR:
Tony Clewett

CREATIVE TEAM:
Hywel James
Kelly Lovelock

HEAD OF CONTENT:
Pip Mayne

ACCOUNT TEAM:
Toby Sellers
Michelle Koome

NZI
Karl Armstrong
Donna Williams
Amanda Watts

A Sudafed commercial may not be the pinnacle of artistic achievement, but the care and attention to detail in this commercial elevates it beyond typical pharmaceutical marketing. Auckland, New Zealand-based Assembly created the :30-second ad “Big Head” for the JWT Sydney agency. It was directed by Matt von Trott with modeling and animation by Josh Fourt-Wells, Geoff Kirk-Smith and Gary Sullivan.

The ad is refreshingly simple—just one shot until the cut to the product at the end—with strong visual concepts and loose animation that is animated on twos for enhanced cartoon effect. The character who makes the silly face at the end and pushes the cup behind the water cooler with his foot is a delightful and unexpected bit of characterization that is all too rare in advertising nowadays.

Ready Ed, who publish several of my educational books, have added a new feature on their website – free sample pages from their books of printables. If you’re interested, for example, in my book Assembly, you can click on a link on the book’s information page and see several pages, including two of the poems – Elephant and Rhyme Time. A cool function. I’m happy to see that Assembly is still

Have finished two projects today. Finished a final tightening of a midgrade novel which I had tightened many times before. This time, though, I’ve been reading the whole thing aloud, and did pick up quite a few errors and/or clunky patches. It’s a good way to see if your work really flows. I also finished my proofing of my new nonfiction Frogs book, which is looking really good and is due out

This is the cover of my newest book, Assembly, from Ready Ed publications. I was pleasantly surprised just now when I went to the Ready Ed website and found the book listed there as I'd thought the release date was February or March - although I've had my author copies for ages. So, a nice surprise, as I say - and an even nicer surprise to see that it is the bestseller in its category on the