OK, so we didn’t post any more photos from Beijing, as we said in the last post. Truth is, it’s probably not that interesting to the majority of people out there to see some picture of myself and Alistair on the back of a rickshaw, or doing some cheesy pose on the Great Wall (actually we didn’t go). But the trip was very much a success, and we met some very interesting, intelligent people. And Boris Johnson.

Alistair did a fine presentation in Beijing on our work for Silver Cross, despite the best efforts of the technical team there to cock it up.

(I think it’s OK to use the word cock on our blog, so long as it’s used in the right way. If it’s not it’ll probably read ‘mess’ in a few days and I’ll be on a verbal warning.)

 

Martin Darbyshire from Tangerine spoke about ‘meaningful differentiation’ and his designs for BA business class beds; Adam Devey-Smith from The One Off spoke about brand personality (who you are, not what you are) and their breaking work for Barclays; Phil Gray from Quadro showed his great work for the Q-Press and told us “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got”; Graham from Venture3 shared their superb rebrand for sky with us, Lisa Tse reminded us all “Do not be afraid of growing slowly, only of standing still”; and finally, Digby, Lord Jones, Minister for Trade made some rather unfortunate comments about eating disorders, followed by some very valid points about UK design.

It was a long way to go, but we’ve met some great people, made some useful contacts, learnt a lot about China’s business culture and eaten duck brain (tastes pretty much the same as swan brain) so it was definitely worth it. Thank you Christine Losecaat and Martin Cook for organising the whole trip - plans are already in motion for a return trip sometime in October, possibly taking in Japan too.

Finally, a nod and a hearty wave of our caps to Mr Tony Murray, the man behind How-Do’s alternative wrap, who was kind enough to meet up with us on more than one occasion and take us drinking in a portacabin in a car park. Happy days.

 

Tags: Beijing, Boris Johnson, Design Task Force, How Do, Lisa Tse, portacabin, Quadro, Tangerine, The One Off, Tony Murray, Venture3

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