About — Stories are the only way to speak to people shaped by emotions, cultures and desires.
Public Works is a studio led by a designer-writer collaboration. With stories at the center of our work, we like to operate in the space bridging products and services—making stories and things with stories for ourselves and our clients.
Shamalee de Silva Parizeau
Writer / Company Owner
Shamalee’s writing and strategic messaging has been used to drive business and reposition brands and personalities; Sri Lanka Design Festival, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Colombo Innovation Tower, AOD, Colomboscope and Elpitiya Plantations, Brandix, Rithihi, and Four Seasons Maldives are some of the companies that have relied on her words. Anoma Wijewardene, Linda Speldewinde, and Dulith Herath are among the personalities who have commissioned her writing. Shamalee's work has been published in national newspapers like The Sunday Times, while her words have directed film and digital productions, as well as books.
Before creating Public Works commercial story design studio, Shamalee spent over a decade driving strategic communications as the sole custodian of seven different businesses' brand voices and messaging; here, she combined her love for writing and language with her studies in design (Academy of Design and University of Moratuwa) to create stories that can drive business. Building on this experience for Public Works, Shamalee now specialises in designing commercial stories for businesses and personalities, helping them build compelling conversations around their work.
Alain S. Parizeau
Image maker / Designer / Company Director
In the world of design, Alain Parizeau embodies a balanced blend of the Ruler's strategic vision, the Explorer's curiosity, the Hero's perseverance, and the Humourist's connective charm.
A communication designer and story articulation specialist renowned for systematically enhancing business communication. Alain Parizeau’s methods and processes for identifying appropriate graphic systems (illustrative gestures, corporate symbols, and visual language) help business owners find ways to articulate their stories in ways that align with their business objectives, solve a problem, or are authentic to their vision. His work was featured in Canadian graphic design publications like Coupe Magazine and How Magazine. In Sri Lanka, where he is based, national newspapers such as the Daily FT and the Daily Mirror featured his design insights from workshops and seminars. Parizeau was formally trained as a Multimedia Specialist and received DEC from André Grasset College (Canada) in 2001. Afterwards, he studied at York University, Toronto, Canada, and graduated with a BA (Hons) degree in Graphic Design. He is an HEA Associate Fellow (AFHEA), was a member of the International Association of Typographic Designers (ISTD) and contributed as a judge on the ISTD international competition committee from 2013 to 2018.
As a speaker at various festivals and conferences, Alain Parizeau unpacks his storytelling knowledge and experience, subtly weaving in the journeys he’s taken to develop his expert skills. His presence at events like the Sri Lanka Design Festival, UX Colombo, Maldives Marketing Forum, and Disrupt Asia reflects a commitment to exploring ideas within his industry. For a decade, Alain served as a Senior Lecturer and Head of the visual communication department at AOD. His seminars are known to playfully explore the cultural and social nuances of visual communication, showcasing a Humourist's ability to connect with diverse people and explain the significance of an idea.
In 2010 he moved to Sri Lanka and has been based there since. In 2014 he married author and designer Shamalee De Silva Parizeau. Five years later, they cofounded Public Works Pvt. Ltd. story studio and store.
We’re an efficient and lean team-of-two with a carefully chosen network of creatives hired according to the unique production needs of each story. We’re based in Colombo, in the seaside town Mount Lavinia. But every year, our work takes us to different places, from Kabalana and Arugam Bay on the south and east coasts of Sri Lanka, as well as British Columbia in Canada. An email will get a conversation started no matter where we are.