The Simplisite Team Blog

Simplisite A Symbol!

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:50:00 +0800

We recently heard the wonderful news that our Simplisite Business Solutions logo has been accepted into the LogoLounge "Shapes and Symbols" publication. It's the third book in the new Master Library series.

The fantastic design team at Dessein created the iconic logo for us. We've worked on many design projects with Dessein including the Black Swan State Theatre Company site.

We asked Dessein to work on our logo because we like many others suffered from the 'too many cooks in the kitchen' syndrome. We designed our own logos since starting the business but were never really inspired by the results. Everyone had an idea of what they wanted our corporate identity to be & none of us could agree or agree to disagree about it.

After working with Dessein for some time we could see the amazing work & design outcomes they were producing time & time again. We decided it was time to bite the bullet and hand it over to the experts. It was the best thing we ever did!

It took Dessein no time at all to come up with 3 independently brilliant logo concepts for us based on the requirements we provided. We wanted it to stay in the autumnal colours & maintain the circular like movement of our previous logo but that's all the info we gave.

We all agreed on the logo you see today. Some of us thought it looked like a giant complex cog representing our technical machine like abilities. Others felt it looked like a marigold, or beer bottles in a spiral or a vortex of paddles. Perhaps it's all of those things.

It feels great to get external confirmation from Logo Lounge that we made the right choice. It's a logo we are proud as a company can get behind & be represented by.

Suite Get-Together

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:02:00 +0800

With the expansion of Simplisite to now include two offices & with how busy we've been recently we haven't had the opportunity to all get together like we used to on a Friday afternoon to relax & catch up over some tasty food & beverages.

I thought is was about time we rectified the situation & did something fun. So I booked the private room at The Suite for us. Luckily for the Subiaco office Suite is right next door. Team Inglewood trekked over our way & graced us with their presence.

It was a wonderful warm night in by the open fire, sipping on cocktails & nibbling tasty treats. It was great to chat with all the people we no longer get to see everyday. Definitely the downside of expansion.

We thoroughly enjoying catching up with everyone & the rustic charm & eclectic style of the Suite.

The Clean House Cleans Up!

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:46:00 +0800

Last night the Simplisite team enjoyed a night at the Playhouse theatre for the opening of The Black Swan State Theatre Company's The Clean House.

The Clean House was both funny & touching. It struck many cords that ring scarily true for most modern families. What family hasn't been touched by infidelity, sibling rivalry and/or death? Certainly none that I've ever come across!

The set was exceptional. Andrew Bellchambers made a fantastic debut as Set Designer with the Black Swan demonstrating his superb conceptualisation skills. He managed to embody a sterile upperclass home, a romantic apartment & a European forrest in the small stage without it feeling cluttered or unbelievable.

The gorgeous Brooke Satchwell was endearing as the frank Matilde whose recent family tragedy had left her floating unattached in an uncomfortable foreign world. I found her even more endearing after chatting with her at the After Party establishing she too was a cat person. We shared photos of our babies & discussed their personalities & health problems like adoring mothers.

Sarah McNeil played Lane to a tee. Although she was clearly constructed to be initially disliked with her anal behavior & kurt mannerisms it was impossible not to gradually feel more & more empathetic towards her. By the conclusion of the play Lanes character demonstrated her courageousness & an exceptional ability to forgive.

Carol Burns got the most laughs as the disillusioned & lonely house wife Virginia, Lanes sister. Her dry pessimistic whit was a great comic relief in many otherwise heavy scenes. There was one great scene in particular where Virginia's jealousy of her sisters success & lifestyle teamed with a thoughtless outburst from Lane caused Virginia to uncharacteristically erupt & put the home that she spent most of the play cleaning into disarray. It got the biggest laugh of the night.

Vivienne Garrett truly shone as Ana. She was simultaneously outrageous & subdued. Her portrayal of a passionate, honest, unassuming cancer patient embodied the concept of inner beauty & made you love her despite the circumstances surrounding her.

Lane's clean crisp white sheet world was juxtaposed beautifully with the colourful natural chaos of Ana's carefree reality best symbolised by the bushel of crisp freshly picked apples that were forever in her presence.

As in all good theatre there were moments that spoke to & moved us all. My favourite thing about theatre is that these moments are completely individual & when talking to the audience after the performance you realise we all have different triggers & take what touches us personally away from the experience.

We love supporting The Black Swan & it's great night's out like this that remind us why.

If you feel like a laugh at the absurdity of life The Clean House is a must. Check out their awesome website for details http://bsstc.com.au/the-clean-house

It made the question "Are you going to laugh or cry?" resonate in my mind.

Simplisite Expansion!

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:23:00 +0800

We are proud to announce the opening of a new Simplisite office in Inglewood.

In the past couple of years our team has grown exponentially to meet the demands of the Perth corporate market. Our Subiaco base that we love so much & has housed us for so many years just wasn't large enough to house everyone comfortably anymore.
So we decided to expand our empire & now boast two Simplisite offices.

You can still find our design & management teams at our Subiaco office. That includes myself, Cam Worth, Jack Faulkner, Siong Eng & Boz Yates.
We have a fabulous coffee machine if you're ever in the neighbourhood and feel like a chat & a cuppa please pop in. I'd happily demonstrate my mad coffee making skills!

But it's our new Inglewood location that is our piece de resistance.
It has been beautifully fitted out and custom designed for us by one of our client's Rain Projects. Who make high end boutique offices & homes for a living.
It's fresh, new, minimal and modern decked out in whites, greys & charcoal and has plenty of room for our developers. Perfect for our tech team!

Our software development & IT teams can now be found at our new Inglewood location on the corner of Sexton Street. The Inglewood team includes Daniel Mende our IT Manager, Adrian Kirk-Burnnand our Software Development Manager & his team of Developers; Brendon Lee, Tom Garner & Francis Dao.

Please feel free to pop in for a visit to talk with one of our Managers about your next project.
We'd be happy to show off our fabulous new office!

New Site for Award Winning Relines Company

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:30:00 +0800

We are proud to announce the launch of the new website for Relines Australia.
Our team worked to design & develop a new corporate website to mirror the proud Relines ethos.

Relines Australia has developed a growing reputation as an industry leader in the provision of safe and cost effective Mill Reline Services.
They have won copious awards to demonstrate their commitment to safety including an IFAP Leading Safety Solutions award in 2009 for meeting all their safety targets & a Gold Safety Achievement Award in recognition of their Safety Management System. As well as another Safety Achievement Award for successfully achieving two years without a lost time injury.

The most interesting part of our job is always learning about the intricacies of different industries and we certainly learnt a great deal about stuff we knew nothing about before our collaboration with Relines Australia. A rewarding & educational experience.

Please take a look at the new & improved Relines Australia website & let us know your thoughts.

New Clients Galore!

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:33:00 +0800

Wow! It' been an intense start to 2010 for all of us at Simplisite.

Never before have we had such an influx of new clients wanting us to work with them on exciting new projects in such a short space of time.  Just in the last few weeks we've picked up Rubra, the Film & Television Institute of WA, Broadwater Beach Bar & Restaurant, Kailis Organic Olive Groves, Sea of White, Australian Friends of Kastellorizo & Novus Sealing.

We're working on e-commerce systems for Rubra & Sea of White to sell their exquisite high end product ranges.  Fortunately for us Allan; Rubra's Master Roaster insisted that we must understand & appreciate his product to effectively sell it and generously supplied us with more coffee that we could ever consume. Accordingly we felt compelled to do his product justice and invested in a San Morino coffee machine to drink Rubra coffee properly.
So that was a win for the office. Our productivity is way up!

For the Broadwater Beach Bar & Restaurant we're conducting an entire business makeover from logo to web development. These are always our favorite kind of projects. When we can really apply our unique expertise to recreate an entire brand in all facets of communication.

We've taken over management of both the Australian Friends of Kastellorizo & Kailis Organic Olive Groves web sites & email marketing systems.

The web is taking off & business is acknowledging it's importance like never before. Exciting times!

Welcome Aboard Francis!

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:44:00 +0800

We'd like to give a big warm welcome to our newest recruit Francis Dao.

Francis studied with Tom & Geoff who started with us earlier in the year and recently approached us to become part of the team. He impressed us with his initiative & the results he achieved in our infamous employee "test" drafted by our crafty Lead Developer Adrian.

Francis brings a different approach to the team and our projects with his Bachelor in Computer Systems Engineering and Diploma of Database Development (IT).

We're excited about our expanding development team and looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together. Because as much as I hate to quote Henry Ford he was right when he said "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success."

Go Team!

Congratulations Teng!

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:00:00 +0800

We have had the pleasure of working with the enigmatic Brendon Lee or Teng as he's better known around the office since 2008.

We are proud to congratulate him on his recently completed Bachelor of Information Technology from Edith Cowan University. Which will be made official this Sunday at his graduation ceremony.

Have fun & well done Teng!

A Standing Ovation for The Sapphires

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:46:00 +0800

The 2010 Season for the Black Swan State Theatre Company officially started last night with the opening of Tony Briggs The Sapphires.The reception the play received was unlike any I've ever seen! By the end the entire audience was standing and screaming for more, clapping until our hands stung and our arms ached. The production was that infectious. It was impossible to be in the audience and stay unaffected by the energy, positivity & fun of the production.

The cast were sensational but it was Casey Donovan & Christine Anu who really stole the show. Casey's voice gave me goose bumps and was nothing short of amazing. She took the audience exactly where she wanted them to go. When she was singing the blues the audience fell silent & when she was blasting out Aretha Franklin classics like Respect & Think we were moving to the beat, tapping our feet & singing along. Casey's acting chops weren't bad either. She definitely got a lot of laughs and confidently poked fun at her character Cynthia's overtly sexual nature.

Christine Anu showed us why she's still renowned as one of Australia's most celebrated entertainers rocking the playhouse with her powerful perfectly tuned voice and exhibiting a larger than life onstage persona. She also had the best outfits!

A huge part was played by the Costume Designer Tim Chappel whose dresses were fabu-licious! I would love to raid that wardrobe and adopt it into my own. Every outfit was gorgeous. The bright, bold prints and classic 60's shift dresses were executed perfectly setting the scene for both the music & the era flawlessly.

But I must also mention the supporting fellas of The Sapphires'; Jimi Bani who's fabulous energy, rhythm and showmanship opened and closed the show, Oliver Wenn who played the adorable Dave exceeding well & Aljin Abella who's performance rooted the play in it's Vietnamese setting and provided a genuine & raw reminder of the losses suffered by the innocent in war.

The true story the play is based on resonated throughout the performance and was reinforced by the presence of one of the original Sapphires who made it up on stage for the finale. Although the music and set were fantastical the characters & dialogue never seemed unreal.

If you can get your hands on a ticket I would highly recommend going to see The Sapphires. Check the website for availability About The Sapphires

With the reviews and reception of The Sapphires being so impressive tickets maybe hard to come by. But fear not! With the exceptional precedent set by the opening night of the season I'm sure that any show for the 2010 season will be sure to please.

Take a look at the 2010 shows to see what's on bsstc.com.au

It's productions like The Sapphires that make me proud to be the Online Partner for The Black Swan State Theatre Company in 2010.
I encourage all West Australian businesses to support the arts so that we may enjoy performances like this for years to come and improve our standing as a state that appreciates and supports cultural betterment.

Slick New Site for Award Winning Photographer

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:45:00 +0800

Sanny Chong is an award winning Australian photographer whose work spans the fashion, editorial and advertising industries. His photos are beautiful, refined and haunting.

With a solid background in the marketing and advertising industries Sanny's creative eye is continually refined by the countless hours spent working on editorials, marketing and creative campaigns. His work has featured in a number of publications including The West Australian newspapers.

Sanny approached us to join our creative forces at the end of 09. We loved his work and jumped at the opportunity to start a strategic partnership with such a talented photographer.

Our first mission was to recreate his online presence with something that reflected & highlighted his refined and understated style. We did extensive research into the successful and the not so successful photography website designs out there at the moment and came back with the idea of using a clean white canvas.

At first we included some intricate detailing however as the design progressed we came to see that less was more and removed almost everything from the design except the menu. Simplicity is elegance and we came to see that was how we would represent Sanny best.

We wanted visitors to the site to see only his work and not the site itself and I think we achieved that.

Please take a look and let us know what your thoughts sanny.com.au

Bring on 2010!

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:52:00 +0800

We are back in action at Simplisite for the New Year and boy are we excited about it!
We already have some awesome projects on the go which will keep us busy well into the New Year.

2009 was an amazing year for us. Chockers full of change, opportunity and growth.
Our skills in custom application & web development were in higher demand than ever before. It seemed that Australian and particularly West Australian business turned a corner and suddenly saw what the web could do for them. The web is awe-inspiring and we just love being a part of it.
Because we had so much work we needed more skilled team members to help out. Luckily for us we found Adrian Kirk-Burnnand who has been an inspiration of organisation & leadership since joining the team in March of 09.

At the end of 09 we recruited two eager youngsters Geoff Stokes & Tom Garner.
We also welcomed back Daniel Mende, IT expert extraordinaire to the family.

2009 was certainly a year of opportunity for us and we'd like to say a huge thanks to our clients, associates & especially our team for making it our most exciting year yet.

We are so proud of what we have achieved and the direction the company is going in for 2010.
The future looks bright and we can't wait to meet it!

Lumikello Website Launch

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:33:00 +0800

We are proud to announce the Launch of Carita Viklund's Lumikello website.

Lumikello offers some amazing services which we can whole heartedly vouch for being that Carita is Simplisites' personal Massage Therapist. We enjoy her insights, exceptional strength and healing touch every Friday afternoon at the office.

But Lumikello isn't just about massage and relaxation; it's a holistic lifestyle brand catering for all walks of life. There are treatments designed especially for Brides to be, kids & corporate events. As well as gifts including books, clothes, music & more.

Carita has gathered all her sources of inspiration to share in her gift & treatment range. The gifts available on Lumikello have all been hand picked by Carita due to the pivotal role they have played in her journey to a peaceful life.

We couldn't recommend Lumikello enough. Carita has helped all of us to relax more and thus be more productive. Even if you are the sceptical type about these sorts of things (as I was) I promise you will be converted! It also doesn't hurt that Carita is a gorgeous Fin as you can see here Lumikello Team

Check out the site and see what you think www.lumikello.com.au

Welcome Back Dan

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:43:00 +0800

We are so pleased to welcome back our resident Giant and IT expert/enforcer Daniel Mende.

Dan started working with us back in 07 and took a brief career hiatus from Simplisite in 08 but now he's back and we couldn't be happier. Dan's wonderful wife Chloe has been keeping an eye on all things IT for Simplisite in his absence and will continue to support our servers and hosting.

With Dan back as Senior IT Consultant we can offer even more IT expertise to our clients including:

Networking
Network Management
Business Hosting
Co-location Services
Oracle Database and Software
Linux and Windows Support
Outsourcing and Service Delivery
IT continuity management
Technical Architecture
System and Service Management
Performance Reviews and System Audits
Hardware
IT Support
Hardware and Procurement
Infrastructure Planning

Dan's return is just in time to help us tackle some of some of our biggest and most exciting projects to date in 2010. We know it'll be an exciting year and we're looking forward to the challenge.

Welcome Aboard Geoff & Tom!

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:30:00 +0800

We would like to give a big Simplisite welcome to our newest members of staff Geoff Stokes & Tom Garner who will be joining the team in the first week of 2010.

Both Geoff & Tom have backgrounds in Information Technology focusing on Database Design & Development, Programming & Software Development

Our new recruits will be working with our development team under the competent direction of Adrian & Brendon.

We think Geoff & Tom are going to make a great addition to the Simplisite family. We look forward to starting our working relationship in the New Year & making beautiful software applications together.

Welcome aboard Gentlemen!

New Site for Entek Energy

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:25:00 +0800

We have recently launched the new & improved corporate website for Entek Energy Limited.

The site has a strong project focus highlighting their current projects in the Gulf of Mexico and the Green River Basin in the USA & ATP 269P in Queensland. Each project has associated interactive maps thanks to Bing and photos to demonstrate the scope of Enteks productions.

We included an Investor Info area to disseminate up-to-date ASX info & share prices. As well as giving potential investors reasons to consider Entek like their Diversified Portfolio, Oil & Gas Reserves Growth, Visible Growth, Portfolio Growth, Financial Strength, Proven People Performance & Production Revenue.

Please take a look at Entek Energy's new site and let us know your thoughts.

Melb Cup @ the Witch's a Winner!

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:16:00 +0800

The entire Simplisite team enjoyed a fabulous luncheon at The Witch's Cauldron Restaurant yesterday for the Melbourne Cup.

Dressing up and heading to The Witch's for Australia's favourite race has become somewhat of a tradition in recent years.

We all devoured the four delicious courses designed by Head Chef Tony Humphreys and washed it down with beautiful wines picked by Cellar Master and newly appointed Manager Darren O'Brien.

We'd all like to say a big thanks to the Witch's for having us and making this years Melbourne Cup a memorable one.

2010 Star Gazing with the Black Swan

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:05:00 +0800

The 2010 Season for the Black Swan State Theatre Company has now been launched and we are proud to have made their new website with subscription functionality.

The theme this year is Star Gazing which is apt as they have a whole bevy of Australian stars that will feature in the upcoming season including Pia Miranda, John Waters & Christine Anu to mention a few.

We are so pleased to be sponsoring the Black Swan for another year as their Online Partner and urge you to support them too. Visit the website and join the Encore! Program to donate to our wonderful & talented State Theatre. Click to check the site

If you missed subscribing last year you really missed some exceptional theatre. I look forward to every play of the season. It's a fabulous excuse to get dressed up, get out & enjoy a thought provoking night on the town.

I was particularly captivated by Kate Mulvany's The Web & Joan Didion's stage adaptation of her memoir The Year of Magical Thinking. The 2010 Season looks set to be even more amazing than the last. Subscribe early to ensure you get the full smorgasbord of the best theatre our State has to offer, trust me you won't regret it, you'll wonder why you didn't subscribe years ago!

New Website for Imatec

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:25:00 +0800

We have just launched the new & vastly improved website for Imatec Digital. We have a great working relationship with Imatec; they are our client and we are theirs. It's a good system. We love their new website & corporate redesign.

Our creative partners Dessein worked their usual creative magic inventing perfect designs that pop to represent Imatec as the leaders in digital print that they are. We worked with Dessein & Imatec to make the site come to life and do what Imatec wanted it to do.

Take a look at the candy coloured site imatecwa.com.au and tell us your thoughts.

I want candy!

"The Web"- a must see production!

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0800

Last night the Simplisite team attended the world premier of "The Web" at the Playhouse and what an amazing night at the theatre it was.

Having had the privilege of attending every premier of The Black Swan's productions so far this year I can truly say that "The Web" was my favourite. I was involved and engrossed from beginning to end, completely unaware of its 2.5 hour duration. The production is current and relevant to modern Australian audiences, well written and exceptionally performed. I really can't talk it up enough.

The acting was so vivid and moving. Akos Armont did an exceptional job in a challenging role as Travis. Robin Goldsworthy made me feel every emotion as his character Fred faced the harsh deceptive realities of the virtual world & Susan Prior played lovable and empathetic Ivy. All performers deserve an extra round of applause.

The set & costume designer Bryan Woltjen also deserves a mention. The setting was iconic but not stereotypical; simultaneously a rural outdoor and country indoor space plastered with rust stained corrugated iron. The costumes too rang true with my Australian sensibilities making me reminisce about my private school days and friendships gone wrong.

I'd heard hype about writer Kate Mulvany but was unfamiliar with her work until last night. Now I want to know more. The dialogue was apt, intelligent, heart wrenching and humorous. I found myself talking like Ivy for the rest of the night.

It was fantastic to see a play that spoke to my generation of young Australians, full of social networking and tech talk I could understand.

"The Web" has reinvigorated my love of Australian art. The cast, crew, writer and director of The Black Swan's production of "The Web" can be proud to have brought such an exceptional theatre experience to Perth audiences. It's an absolute must see. This is The Black Swans last production for 2009 and they saved the best for last. If you only see 1 play this year it must be "The Web".

Feedback from Lumikello

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:45:00 +0800

We just love working with Carita of Lumikello and thanks to her generous feedback we now realise the feeling is mutual. Take a look at what she said:

"As much as I love many things in Australia, there is one thing that keeps frustrating me over and over again- the slow pace of service companies getting back to your enquiries- well this is definitely one area where Simplisite fails completely!!!!

Their prompt responses and initiatives match even the Scandinavian punctuality & efficiency and I absolutely love that about them. Despite their business, they always pay attention to your company needs and follow up with innovative and spot on designs.

They intuitively transformed my scattered dreams into a fresh and absolutely fabulous brand.

Thank you for supporting my vision, fuelling me with positive energy and always answering my enquiries with the smile on your face. Looking forward continuing the co-operation with all of you!!! Thanks for making Lumikello Wellbeing services possible"

Thank you Carita!