David Nichols

Neighbourhood open space ranks highly as a key component in suburban liveability assessments, originating from the development of urban planning as a profession and the proliferation of the garden suburb. Community Green uniquely connects the past, present and future of planning for small open spaces around the narrative of internal reserves.The distinctive planned spaces are typically enclosed on every side, hidden within residential blocks, serving as local pocket parks and reflecting the evolving values of community life from the garden city movement to contemporary new urbanism. This book resuscitates the enclosed, almost secretive reserve from history as a distinctive form of local open space whose problems and potentialities are relevant to many other green community spaces. In so doing, it opens up even wider connections between localism and globalism, the past and the future, and for connecting community initiatives to broader global challenges of cohesion, health, food, and climate change. This fully illustrated book charts the outcomes and implications of this evolution across several continents, injecting human stories of civic initiatives, struggles and triumphs along the way.Community Green will be of interest to a wide readership interested in studying, managing and improving the quality of all small open spaces in the urban landscape.

Neighbourhood open space ranks highly as a key component in suburban liveability assessments, originating from the development of urban planning as a profession and the proliferation of the garden suburb. Community Green uniquely connects the past, present and future of planning for small open spaces around the narrative of internal reserves.The distinctive planned spaces are typically enclosed on every side, hidden within residential blocks, serving as local pocket parks and reflecting the evolving values of community life from the garden city movement to contemporary new urbanism. This book resuscitates the enclosed, almost secretive reserve from history as a distinctive form of local open space whose problems and potentialities are relevant to many other green community spaces. In so doing, it opens up even wider connections between localism and globalism, the past and the future, and for connecting community initiatives to broader global challenges of cohesion, health, food, and climate change. This fully illustrated book charts the outcomes and implications of this evolution across several continents, injecting human stories of civic initiatives, struggles and triumphs along the way.Community Green will be of interest to a wide readership interested in studying, managing and improving the quality of all small open spaces in the urban landscape.

Plants in Design emerged from Brad E. Davis’s and David Nichols’s love for plants and well-designed landscapes and a previous frustration with landscape design guidebooks. While most landscape and garden design resources focus either on design principles or on plant materials, the unique strategy of Plants in Design provides a palette of options organized by mature size and scale, covering many genres of plants from grasses to herbaceous perennials, woody shrubs and trees, and even annuals and interior plants—all of which are necessary for consideration when composing a well-designed landscape.Plants in Design combines two fundamental components of landscape and garden design: (1) principles and uses of plant material (e.g., color, line, texture), and (2) resource information for analyzing and selecting a broad range of plant materials, from annuals and ground covers to shrubs and trees, for southern landscapes (USDA hardiness zones 6 to 9). Introductory chapters discuss plants and their uses in creating outdoor landscapes in settings ranging from small-scale applications (e.g., courtyards, walkways) to medium- and large-scale projects (e.g., streetscapes, parks). Richly illustrated with approximately 1,750 color photographs, Plants in Design depicts plant shape, form, characteristics, and landscape use, both to aid identification and to envision how individual plants might appear in a composition. The authors promote the use of native species to benefit native wildlife and point out the dangers of many nonnative plants widely used in the past and now threatening natural ecosystems. Featuring five hundred southern landscape plants organized into fifteen categories, ranging from large trees to ferns and flowering annuals, plant accounts include scientific and common names, hardiness zones, flowers and fruit, growing conditions, and pests and diseases. The guide also includes drawings, a hardiness zone map, glossary, bibliography, index, and design-use tables for quick reference.

When does the shadow of a legend merely block out the sun? Everyone remembers The Rest of Quiglet, that heartwarming sitcom starring Grace Mannix. For four years it told the story of a typical teenage girl, her widowed father, and their robot maid (played by the exotic 'Biltong'). The legend was made complete by the chance casting of the show's composer, Sherman Schiegel, in an onscreen role as Quiglet's boyfriend. In perpetual syndication, the show still has many avid fans. Elyse Argawal, following its progress and absorbing its teachings, has made it the focus of her successful academic career, while teenage twins Tabby and Billy Tibbins have pursued their obsession with the show's machinations in their fanzine, Silent Zone. A crucial part of Quiglet mythology is its much discussed but long suppressed finale: the so-called 'murder episode.' But while doing research in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Elyse stumbles upon a copy of this jewel in the Quiglet crown. And when she and Billy fall in love, she faces the same dilemma the show's cast has long faced: what is their identity without the myth that brought them fame and fortune? Extending over four decades and told from a range of perspectives and paradigms, this debut graphic novel from renowned Australian cultural historian David Nichols is a pitch-perfect satire that explores ambition, desire, and the pursuit of perfection.

A comprehensive and highly readable history of the first quarter-century of Australian rock and pop music, this book will appeal to everyone with more than a passing interest in rock 'n' roll. Those whose knowledge of Australian rock and pop does not extend far beyond the Easybeats, AC/DC, Little River Band, and Nick Cave will discover a wealth of music beyond those star names; while even those familiar with the work of the Missing Links, Pip Proud, Radio Birdman, and the Moodists will learn much about the scenes and connections that produced these bands and dozens more. Generously illustrated and meticulously sourced, "Dig" combines scholarly thoroughness (endnotes, index) with populist flair: Nichols is an unfailingly witty and engaging guide. He surveys the fertile and varied landscape of Australian rock music in seven broad historical chapters, interspersed with shorter chapters on some of the more significant figures of each period. The result is a compelling portrait of a music scene that evolves in dynamic interaction with those in the United States and the UK, yet always retains a strong sense of its own identity and continues to deliver new stars to a worldwide audience.

In the 1960s and 70s, Australia's inner cities experienced an upheaval which left them changed forever. People from all walks of life who valued their suburbs - places like Balmain, Battery Point, Carlton, Indooropilly, North Adelaide, or Subiaco - resisted large-scale development projects for freeways, 'slum clearance, ' and mass-produced high rises. Unlikely alliances - of post-war migrants, university students and staff, construction workers and their unions, long-term residents and city workers - challenged land-grabs and inappropriate development. When the dust settled, Australian cities were different. Many suburbs kept their village qualities. Shopping strips were revived and cultures celebrated. While areas like Fitzroy or Redcliff were derided as 'Trendyville' - the fate many American cities suffered - a 'hollow core' had been avoided. In the process, heritage conservation, party politics, and Australian assumptions about domestic life, education, and lifestyle had all been transformed. This book is an in-depth examination of the causes and consequences of urban protest in a democracy. It shows how this resistance changed the built environments, as well as its participants, and resonated in many of Australia's institutions, including politics, media, and multiculturalism

This refreshingly simple, practical guide demonstrates how brand management can boost business performance. It is the ideal inspiration for creating growth in today's tough economic times. Following the template of the highly successful original version, the book consists of a programme of 8 "workouts" that will help marketers raise their own game in key areas such as: insight, portfolio strategy, positioning and innovation. The tools and techniques in the book have been road-tested on over 100 brandgym projects out of the last 8 years, making this book extremely practical. Based on the inside stories of brand leaders who have achieved success: Tesco, T-Mobile, Unilever and Proctor and Gamble. These companies share their tips, tricks and warn of the traps to avoid.50% of the content is new or updated with the latest thinking on "recession proof branding", how to win when times are tough, communication briefing, growing the core business and new research with marketing directors on the key success factors of brand leaders.The authors are most influential, appearing in The Guardian, Marketing, Brand Strategy, Market Leader and The Marketer. The CIM have called David Taylor one of the "World's 50 most important marketing thinkers".

Return on Ideas is a practical guide to getting more from the resources you put into your innovation process. David Nichols clearly shows why current innovation funnel models stifle rather than encourage new ideas, and offers a new methodology, ‘rocketing’, to tackle the problem. The first book to look in detail at innovation as a business-driving imperative, Return on Ideas provides the tools, techniques and processes to actually upgrade the way you tackle innovation, illustrated with examples from innovative companies such as Yo! Sushi, Apple, Vodafone, Unilever, P&G, Danone, Amex and Ben & Jerry’s – as well as unconventional sources such as theatre and comedy.