TBI Q&A: Simon Velvin
Written by
He's a qualified accountant, he founded and sold a multi-disciplinary design studio, created Semi-Permanent for a decade and at night wears lycra and teaches RPM at Les Mills. Enough said.
Simon Velvin gives us a quick teaser as Semi-P hits Wellington this week.
* * *
During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?
The morning is the better part of the day!
How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?
Hurricane
What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?
Interaction art and design. Bringing people into the moment.
How does your environment affect your work?
Environment is everything!!! Why am I listening, who am I listen too, what I listen for and where on earth am listening.
Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?
MACRO
What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?
Just say yes! If you don’t go.... you will never know!
Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?
Semi-Permanent Hong Kong. Uniting a fragmented creative industry!
Who or what has inspired you recently?
A homeless person giving another homeless person some money from his hat!
Tell us a bit about your background.
I’m a qualified accountant, I’ve founded and sold a multi-disciplinary design studio, I have created Semi-Permanent for a decade and at night I wear lycra and teach RPM at Les Mills.
Tell us a bit about the Semi-P creative platform.
Semi-Permanent’s purpose is to unite and inspire the diverse and exciting creative world by bringing together a panel of exceptionally talented, globally renowned speakers via a premium event experience. Creativity is essential to our society.
Creative people are experimental, expressive, and visionary; they are opinion leaders who form trends and styles that go on to pervade, inspire, and inform the population at large. Our belief is creative people will evolve this world into a happier, more collaborative and peaceful place to live. It’s the essence of what drives us
Tell us about your role. What combination of people and resources delivers Semi-P?
My role is to curate and direct the show. We work with a really lean contract team to deliver the show. It's not that tricky.
How do you choose your speakers?
Selection is random, we try and spread across all disciplines and look for people doing great work.
Who are some of the highlights this year in Wellington?
Wellington, Memo Akten is going to awesome, one of the world's pioneers of interactive design. R/GA digital agency of the decade!
What are some of the side events highlights?
Side event highlights! Gemma O’Brien's hand lettering workshop is going to get messy!
If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?
No regrets!
What place is always with you, wherever you go?
Home
What's the best way to listen to music, and why?
Headphones! Its loud!
You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?
Sling Shot!
What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?
Life is beautiful, things ain't that bad, just open up a newspaper if you dare and get grateful!
What’s great about today?
What is not great today?
What’s your big idea for 2014?
SP Shanghai planning!!!! oooooh
* * *
Simon Velvin graduated from Victoria University and whisked up at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he grew to be a senior associate in Wellington office, Simon oversaw national and international clients such as ExxonMobil, NZX, Westpac, Mitsubishi and Colgate Palmolive. Once Simon gained his CA he teamed up with some friends and founded The Church, an award-winning multimedia agency. Which he has now sold. Simon was also responsible for founding Semi-Permanent, New Zealand's premier multi-disciplinary creative conference.
Simon also founded Semi-Permanent in South East Asia Hong Kong and soon to be Singapore.
- Semi-Permanent is on in Wellington October 19 and 20
Semi-Permanent Wellington 2012 Event Montage