The view from my Lambton Quay office window in 2003. I used to imagine how the hills and harbour might move during an earthquake, which turned into an idea for the Wellington phone book cover (Telecom/Spark ran an annual competition), with one weekend before entries closed.
Telecom as a client would presumably want bright colours; matt finish (for photographing); recognisable Wellington scenes; relevance to 2003 local events. The big deal in 2003 was filming of part 3 of Lord of the Rings and the world premiere in December – lots of self-congratulation about creative Wellington, yet it’s also a city dressed in black and full of lawyers and civil servants.
Using Gollum broke Telecom’s rule re not breaching copyright, but I didn’t have a plan B. Telecom then took ages to announce the result. As that went on, I started to imagine it might be because, just maybe, copyright issues – so when Telecom PR eventually called, she got a bit disappointed when I didn’t get all that madly excited! (anyway I was in work mode).
300,000 copies, Telecom’s first try at a run of posters and $3,500, which funded a month off to paint during the following summer. Telecom auctioned the original to benefit Women’s Refuge. A few people got surprised, and I started to commit more to this painting thing.
Alistair McDonald's Art 