My Kite will fly project
22/09/09David Neilson, Charles Elena Design

DESIGN is all about personality for David Neilson and Sandy Tsindos. The creative husband-and-wife team lead, and own, Melbourne’s Charles Elena Design.

The pair graduated from Monash University in 2002 with Bachelor of Design degrees, majoring in visual communications. Despite similar introductions to the world of design, David and Sandy’s varied talents meant their careers took off in different directions.

And that’s been the secret to Charles Elena Design’s success.

With a long-held passion for web design, Sandy has worked on some of the biggest brands in business - Coca Cola, Mercedes and Jeep. And it was David’s eye for print and typography that landed him the role of chief designer at the biggest-selling newspaper in Victoria, the Sunday Herald Sun. In 2009, one of his newspaper layouts won top honours at the prestigious Quill Awards for excellence in media.

“It’s good for us, and our business, to have different tastes (and skills),” Sandy says.

And that broad experience - across web and graphic design, advertising, marketing, branding and corporate identity – provides premium value for more than 40 CED clients.

“We have a great team of designers and we deliver to deadlines every day,” David says. “We offer quality, speed and accuracy.”

Charles Elena Design is also providing the creative capital behind the My Kite Will Fly project. David and Sandy say the development of this website has fast become a career highlight.

“This project is really being driven by passion,” David says.

The site’s drawing modules and interactive activities have drawn on the technical expertise of Charles Elena Design and because of this website’s sensitive target audience – children and families touched by cancer and other serious illnesses – each and every detail has been given careful consideration.

Under the expert guidance of Dr Cynthia Holland, David and Sandy have learned the impact of colour, shape and symbolism on children dealing with stress and grief.

“I love art and psychology, so it’s been really rewarding to be able to marry the two in this project,” Sandy says. “We want to make it fun and enjoyable. And we want parents and kids to be able to use it to help them get through their tough times.”

The challenge – and reward – for Charles Elena Design has been making the My Kite Will Fly website appealing to children of both sexes, and all ages.