Hooray! We got into the NZ Herald : ) ..heh, so, maybe the late nights are paying off.. thehinitiative's World Vision tees were featured in the Wednesday 11 June NZ Herald's Viva magazine. We're trying to get our hands onto a copy of it - will post it up when we do. In the meantime, there's always the online snippet at the Herald's website : )
I just found out about Enable Community, a New Zealand not for profit organization, working to provide access to affordable communications to those that would otherwise be unable to afford it.
The cool thing is: they partner with Vodafone New Zealand to collect and re-use old mobile phones, and the phones are then given to provide entrepreneurs in developing countries through micro-credit programs, helping to provide one of the basic tools that we take for granted when trying to run our own businesses.
Have a mobile phone you'd like to get rid of? Just take your mobile phones and accessories like batteries and chargers to any Vodafone, Bond and Bond or Noel Leeming store!
Or freepost it to Vodafone at:
Freepost
Vodafone Handset Recycling Programme
Private Bag 92222
Auckland
If you want to take it a step further, you can even run a mobile recycling drive at your office or any other group/club. For more info, click here...
This is a great mix of doing good and recycling at the same time - and it's so easy to do too!!! Plus someone else out there gets a snazzy cool phone : )
New Zealand label thehinitiative has launched a street wear T-shirt range together with World Vision New Zealand, in support of the Children in Crisis program.
Li Ling Ng, director of thehinitiative (pronounced “The H Initiative”), says the T-shirts are to help raise awareness about global child poverty and for fashion consumers to buy great T-shirts while contributing towards a life-changing cause for children.
“You can Look Great in a T-shirt and, at the same time, Do Good by making a real difference in a child’s life”, says Li Ling. “For example, buying one of these T shirts could contribute towards a 2,000 litre water tank that provides water storage and access to safe drinking water for school children in Africa”.
The T-shirt range consists of the designs in men’s and women’s styles, with organic and fair trade cotton t-shirts offered as part of the range. Designs are based off the top three entries of the 2007 World Vision Art 4 Aid t-shirt design competition.
Art 4 Aid is a World Vision initiative raising awareness of global child poverty through art. Entrants were given themes to work from, designed to bring to mind images of poverty, war and peace, and children living in crisis situations in developing countries, such as those orphaned by HIV and AIDS.
The top design, Freedom Dove, was designed by Laura Cibilich, a 26-year-old graphic designer based in Auckland. Laura’s entry was chosen as the winning T-shirt design for its simplicity of design and message: “This design symbolises peace using a well-known symbol: the dove. It flies upward towards its freedom, leaving the pieces of war behind it. White ink printed on a black T-shirt symbolises the dove breaking out of the darkness of war.” The runners up designs were Jamie Wong’s My Heart and Olivier Perkins’ Peace Inside.
All three designs are available for purchase online via the website thehinitiative.co.nz, with nationwide and worldwide delivery. 25% of all online sales are given to World Vision.
T-shirts are also being stocked at fashion retail shops Rex Royale (Wellington) and Starfish (Wellington). Starfish was the Emerging Sustainable Business Leaders (SME) category winner of the 2007 NZI National Sustainable Business Awards.
ENDS
Contacts:
Li Ling Ng
Director, thehinitiative
021 313 880
liling at thehinitiative.co.nz
(High res celeb images available from Li Ling on request)
Catherine Healy
Press Officer, World Vision New Zealand
09 580 7747 / 021 545 638
catherine.healy at worldvision.org.nz
Woohoo! We've been featured on Kevin Robert's blog : )
thehinitiative is a fashion house that produces cool t-shirts in New Zealand; nothing startling about that. After all, New Zealand is now recognized as a distinctive influence in fashion. But thehinitiative has combined their passion for clothes with a passion for making the world a better place....And the parts we really, really like : )
....This is totally in tune with where Saatchi & Saatchi are going with Saatchi S. We have to start grounding sustainability deep into the lives of people. To help them bring sustainability into their world rather than have the immense problems of the planet hung over their heads. We call this moving from Green thinking to Blue action – and you’re going to be hearing a lot more about it. thehinitiative is True Blue....And Blue's already one of our favourite colours! But it's so true that we're more about Blue Action rather than just Green thinking...
....Note: The secret behind their rather mysterious name is revealed on their blog. What’s the extra “H” stand for in thehiniative? Hope. I love it.
BIG thanks to Kevin : ) We didn't ask to be featured, so this is great 3rd party endorsement! ; )
World Vision tees seen on Sarah Hughes (and supporting guitarist Ben) at her first official gig in March '08 : )
Yay! We've got our World Vision Children in Crisis tees stocked at Starfish in Wellington : ) We've also made a drop to Rex Royale today, so they'll be available soon there too.Oh yep, those are the tees in the Starfish store window
(Thanks for the PXT, Miranda!)
Thought it's fine time to profile all the awesome designers who have contributed to our ranges...so, here's the first one : )
What have you been up to recently?Fairly busy! Currently finishing my final year of a BVA graphic design degree whilst also running my freelance studio and doing a few design projects for various clients. One current client in particular is rather interesting- We're creating a new fashion range.....but for those of the 4 legged kind. Should be releasing this year, so looking forward to that!
Originally came from a background far removed from design as I trained and worked as a water sports instructor! In my travels though I found myself doing a few design jobs here and there for friends and employers, which brought me to the realisation that design was where my passion really lay. So I gave up the day job went back to study and focused on creating creations...and lived happily ever after!
How would you describe your style?
Eclectic, fun, with a twist of crazy?! I really enjoy the variety that design and illustration can offer, working on different projects for different clients allows you to explore new and alternative methods to realise the end result. I'm a great believer in trying to find the right look for the project at hand.
Anything and everything! Inspiration can really come from anywhere, from the project itself, from some random object found on the beach, from some rough doodles on a scrap of paper...you get the idea! Just always trying to keep your eyes, ears and mind open to what's around you.
It's great to be part of the initiative. It's so nice to be able to give something back in a way that everyone can enjoy and allows everyone to feel good about what they're doing, wearing, buying. So if you're reading this do your bit today, grab a T for yourself and someone else, you know you want to!
Having something in your hands that you've been a part of creating is a great feeling. Seeing the final end result of your design is always so much better than when it's on your doodle pad or computer screen. And its always good to add to the Tshirt collection of course!
Mint, choc chip is grand! (but cookies n cream has to do when I can't find the minty goodness!)