Dan Cain
November 29, 2024

Phil’s trip to a land Downunder

A cool thing at Spatial Media is that with projects across Australia, New Zealand and Canada, our team has the opportunity to work in different parts of the world

A cool thing at Spatial Media is that with projects across Australia, New Zealand and Canada, our team has the opportunity to work in different parts of the world. Inspired by Blake’s Big Adventure, which saw Blake relocate from Brisbane to Toronto, Senior UI/UX Designer and Mapbox guru Phil James made the trip in the opposite direction for a stint in our Australian offices. We caught up with Phil to find out about his trip to a land Downunder.

How did the opportunity come up to move to Australia?

For starters, much of the work that we do as company concerns infrastructure projects in Canada and Australia, and as one of Spatial Media’s founders moved to Canada to expand the business there, I figured that I could eventually go to Australia and work on some projects there, as well. While I managed to adapt to the 24-hour schedule of the company across two continents, I pushed visiting Australia as it would make working on local projects there much easier.


How have you found the change from Canada to Australia?

While I had a bit of culture shock when I first arrived in Brisbane, there are actually plenty of similarities between the two countries, so adapting to Australian life has been manageable, albeit with a couple of surprises here and there. Funnily enough, some of the most unexpected changes have been in day-to-day life; cafés closing earlier, having to look right before left before crossing a street. It’s also strange but somewhat refreshing to be completely separated from the conventional daily news cycle that I’m used to.


What are the big differences between Canada and Australia?

Where to start? The biggest difference is obviously the weather, as Canadian life is very much anchored in a “cold” lifestyle, whereas Australia (especially Queensland) is used to living under rather extreme heat, which I have nothing against, I love the warm weather!


Also, the fruit here is incredible. In the winter, Canada gets most of its fruit from Mexico and Chile, while the fruit here is noticeably fresher and more delicious. Also, lamb is much, much cheaper here, and I’ve already cooked multiple affordable lamb roasts.


I also need to give a shout-out to the Ibis, also known as the bin chicken, the bird seen everywhere around Brisbane. I thought they were so exotic when I first saw one, but everyone here seems to disdain them.


How was your first Christmas in the heat? Did you do anything traditionally Aussie?

I did! My wife and I went to the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns and spent Christmas on the water, and later we went to Daintree National Park near Port Douglas and found a natural swimming hole in the rainforest. We even had a special visitor on Christmas day – a rather large Huntsman spider entered our Airbnb.


Other than the weather, what’s the biggest change between Canada and Australia?

One big difference has been daily communication with strangers. Both Aussies and Canadians are very friendly, though Canadians tend to be more polite and apologetic, and Aussies tend to be forthcoming and unapologetic. I’ve since adapted, but I still catch myself giving people the usual ‘sorry’ or ‘pardon me’ when it really seems unnecessary.

Vegemite, yeah or nah?

I opened a jar of the stuff and smelled it. That was enough.

What are the must-do things you’ll be ticking off your list when you are in Australia?

We’ve already visited Cairns and Melbourne, but I would definitely want to go on a journey to the heart of the desert, perhaps to visit Uluru. I’m very fascinated by the desert climate, its extended history and the people who live there

I would also love to encounter more wild animals. I’m a big bird lover, and I would love to catch a glimpse of some of the rarer creatures found deep in the rainforest or bush.

from our clients

Spatial are my go-to for solutions

Spatial are my go-to for solutions nobody has dreamt up yet! They have an incredible knack for combining tomorrows tech solutions with creativity, intuitive UX and analytics. The results are engaging interfaces that are impactful and ultimately bridge the gap between project and stakeholders.
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Kate Kernaghan, Company Director, Factotum Communications

They look tremendous, the team have done amazing work!

Our booth very popular - the corflute poster was so incredible to point at our ideas, even at a concept level. Well done to you and the Spatial Media team!
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Rainer Knobloch, Co-Founder - Strategy and Operations

It was a pleasure to work with everyone

Spatial Media masterfully brought our CETO wave energy technology to life and provided a glimpse into how we're harnessing the immense power of the ocean to create clean, renewable electricity. Thank you to Spatial Media - Visual Engagement Solutions for their incredible work on this animation!
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Brighid Jay, Chief Commercial Officer, Carnegie Clean Energy

A very straightforward and fun process for EnergyAustralia

From the initial kick off meeting to the final video, it was a very straightforward and fun process to work with Spatial Media. The final video is outstanding and really helped bring the project to life for our stakeholders. Highly recommended.
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Matt Bruers, Development Director, Wooreen BESS, EnergyAustralia

Top shelf solutions for North East Link project

Spatial Media offers top shelf solutions that help tell the often intricate stories around the construction of major infrastructure. From animations to 3D models, dealing with Spatial has been seamless, and the end results have been first class.
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Jamie Aldridge, Communications Manager, Spark – North East Link – D&C 

Airside Driving Simulator an important part of the training program

It can be storming outside. It could be night time. Any time of the day or night we can create these simulations. It’s very flexible.
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Niel Young, Training Coordinator, Brisbane Airport

Enhancing and innovating communication for Melbourne Airport

Spatial Media is an excellent partner and we’ve been impressed by the work the team has produced for Melbourne Airport to help inform our travellers and community about our terminal upgrades and new runway. They are great to deal with and deliver a polished product with creative thinking and a can-do attitude.
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Andrew Lund, Head of Media and Communications, Melbourne Airport

They are our go to tech-savvy experts with huge amounts of creative flair!

COVID19 social distancing restrictions made having our large scale community event nearly impossible, so we decided to take our face-to-face event online. Spatial worked really closely with us to develop the concept, design and platform that would host our virtual community event. The Spatial team are exceptionally creative, with a fantastic ability to bring your idea to fruition in a way you never thought possible. They made our pen on paper scribble into something that over 45k stakeholders visited online, more than what we could have reached in person. Thank you
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Emily Divitaris, Senior Communications Advisor, WestConnex

Valuable long-term partnership with Brisbane Airport Corporation

The Spatial Media team are always professional, well organised and continuously deliver high quality content pieces on time and on budget. They bring new ideas to the table and constantly adapt to changing requirements. I would highly recommend Spatial Media to all.
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Lauren Graham, Head of Commercial Marketing, Brisbane Airport Corporation