Remember us mentioning The Travel Channel?

Back in May, we mentioned that Jennifer Santiago had found out about us and wanted to get our t-shirts on screen during her new Travel Channel documentary.

We've been emailed this video still of her wearing one of the Mental Health Foundation "Talk, Just Talk" t-shirts in the army green. That's the MHF logo behind! We've yet to see the full documentary on screen - need to find out when it hits New Zealand screens!

A new website I hear you say?

Hey folks, pop along to our new website thehinitiative.com! Our .co.nz site is past its best before date and all packed up. There's only one cardboard box left behind telling people our new site address : )

There has been lots of hard work behind the scenes to get the .com going (on top of everything else happening) and it looks quite different to the .co.nz. Hopefully easy to navigate too!

It's still very much about continuous improvement, so you may see some tweaks here and there. The big thing that is yet to be launched is our online shop / catalogue - it will be completely different, plus, there will be brand spanking new tees up for the 2008 Mental Health Foundation t-shirt collection.

Shop's meant to be up & running by 22 September (fingers crossed) - we'll let everyone know by email when it is.

P.S. Feel free to leave any comments here about what you think of the new .com so far : )

Introducing Laura Cibilich, winner of the 2007 World Vision Art4Aid competition t-shirt category, designer of the Freedom Dove t-shirts!

What have you been up to recently?

I've just recently got married and have come back from my honeymoon in beautiful Fiji and the Gold Coast. So I'm just getting back into the swing of things at the moment. I've got a few ideas in the pipeline so watch this space!

How did you first get started in design?

I've always been creative and had a love of art, so I guess it progressed from that. I took Design in my last year at high school, then did a design diploma, and just went from there.

How would you describe your style?

I try not to get stuck into one kind of style, but generally my designs use quite solid lines and I often like to experiment with different textures and backgrounds. At work I'd say my style is quite corporate, so I like to break out of that a bit in my personal work.

What inspires your work?

Anything and everything. I'm a great believer in anything you do, see or have experienced in your life inspires and influences you somehow. It often depends on the project, but I'm constantly inspired by my husband Raymond, and cat Prince, as well as great photography, words, books and much more.

Why get involved with thehinitiative?

To help out a worthy cause in a way that I can - through design.

How did it feel to have your designs made into tees?

Pretty cool - its always nice to see the finished product, and great to see other people wearing it.

And my favourite ice cream flavour ever is...

I've just come back from a trip to Australia where I got addicted to 'Cold Rock' where they mix up your own ice cream flavour. My fav mix was coconut gelato, with mashed up bounty bar, mini
marshmellows and chocolate brownie pieces mixed through it - yum!

Thanks Laura! (and the ice cream sure sounds yummy!)