Former Peterite, and an early stalwart in advertising in Sri Lanka, Mel Assaw passed away yesterday.

He founded Mel Ads in 1971.

For a short time I worked at Mel Ads in 1985, and will always remember how he encouraged young people to push the limits of how they think of copy and creative concepts.

Being a great artist himself, he had an intuitive grasp of how powerful imagery works in the realm of marketing.