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.

One or two of you may have noticed there’s a major world event happening in China at the moment, with some of the UK’s finest talent on show. What you may not know is that our MD (Alistair) and myself (Simon) are heading out next week to represent the United Kingdom. Yes, that’s right, it’s the 2008 China Design Taskforce, coordinated by the Creative and Media Unit at UK Trade & Investment.

The  China Design Taskforce works with British government organisations and industry trade bodies to raise the profile of British Design to buyers, intermediaries, public sector and press in greater China, and to help attract Chinese design buyers to consider British design expertise in their procurement.

Andrew Cahn, Chief Executive of UK Trade & Investment says: “We’re taking a giant leap forward in showcasing the best of British Design in this booming market. The potential market for UK design will develop rapidly as China’s economy moves towards selling more sophisticated products and services in a competitive market place.”

LOVE will be taking part in two seminars structured around the theme of ‘Love & Money’: one in Shanghai on the 19^th August, and the other in Beijing on the 22^nd. Hopefully we’ll also get the chance to have a look around some of the main Olympic sites, and give Michael Phelps a few swimming lessons. Some of the other agencies taking part are  Lisa Tse, The One Off and venturethree, so we’re looking forward to catching up with a few of them there.

Four further things, which I’m going to bullet point, because I’ve done enough writing at this point:

- If anyone else is going and fancies a night out, then please get in touch.

- If anyone has any advice on where to go/ what to see/ what to take, then please get in touch.

- We’ll bring you a few updates on the trip next week.

- I didn’t forget to change the title of this post, I just couldn’t think of anything clever or amusing.