The inventiveness of Australian and NZ sign industry operators is legendary and is nowhere more apparent than during this Covid-19 crisis. Channel 7 saw fit to feature Sydney’s Clarke Murphy Print (CMP) on its Weekend Sunrise show on Saturday 18th April…and there’s more.
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| CMP's Benn Murphy shows how strong his Build-a-Desk Envirocore die-dut desks are |
CEO Benn Murphy of Sydney’s CMP – Clarke Murphy Print – featured in a long segment on Channel 7’s Weekend Sunrise, with his work-from-home desks cut on a flatbed table machine from Enviro Core honeycomb board, made in Lithgow, NSW by the Lite Group. The extremely light but strong desks, once assembled, are 100% recyclable and cost just $149.00 shipped anywhere in Australia. Printed versions, eg with Australian flags, are available at $179.00
CMP has established a separate website for sales of the flatpack desks at www.buildadesk.com.au
In the Channel 7 interview, Murphy revealed that the inspiration for the die-cut self-assemble desk was the isolation of his four children at home – “Our kitchen table was becoming like a workshop bench” he said. The interview can be seen until 23rd April on:
https://7plus.com.au/weekend-sunrise?episode-id=SSUN20-016
(NB: Whole show – forward to 1:24:30 for CMP segment)
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| Benn Murphy on Ch7 news interview |
CMP recently hosted a group of Hornsby TAFE students, as reported here on WFOL.
Who are those masked people?
Another company making best use of lockdown time is Melbourne’s AFI Branding, who are making decorated masks. In a company facebook post, they say:
“What do you do when a pandemic strikes, you've got reams of fabric and a highly skilled sewing team with time on their hands? You make face masks! Introducing our side hustle #heroeswearmasks - a range of colourful fabric face masks for every day Aussies.
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| Masks for the masses - from AFI |
No they're not medical grade, we want to leave those precious supplies for our awesome health workers who need them most. These are to offer the every day Aussie a little extra protection when heading out on essential errands. Machine washable, purse pleasing and in a range of fun prints and colours, we want to bring a smile to your face - even if we can't see them!
All our masks are designed, printed and sewn from our specialised facility in Carrum Downs, Victoria. Keeping our team busy and keeping us safe.”
Well done AFI Branding!
Time to scrub up
Scrubs is not just the name of a TV hospital drama, it’s the generic name for the lightweight top and pants worn by doctors and nurses. Often made from synthetic non-wovens such as Tyvek (a DuPont product), it can be made from other fabrics too and, guess what? The pattern can be cut on your Zund, Kongsberg, Aristo, Elitron, I-echo or other cutters!
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtKoFgoEmck
For the patterns, you could do worse that head for Spotlight’s website and lash out $6 for scrubs easily-digitised paper cutting patterns and also coveralls with hoods:
https://www.spotlightstores.com/sewing-fabrics/patterns-books/paper-patterns/unisex-scrubs-patterns 
Once printed and cut, all you need is someone handy with the Janome or Singer to sew them together in a Jiffy! Imaging how grateful your local hospital would be with their personalised scubs.
These are just a few examples of the ingenuity coming out of adversity in our industry…any more out there? We'd love to hear.
