almost open

Telling the story in this post requires a bit of backstory which is this; I'm going to start a global small business with Jeffre Jackson, Emily Reed and David Nottoli (blog arriving any day). We'll be doing the expected things; brands, globalness, creative industries, managing the tension between art and commerce, agency 3.1, you know, that stuff. (London, Amsterdam, Sydney, New York). I expect I'll be boring you all with it a lot over the next few millennia. It's actually very exciting. But it's very like when you start a band, the most exciting bits are the bits around the edges, logos, names, what you're going to call your first four albums, all that.

We've been getting Stefan of 344 design to do logos and things for us and I just wanted to tell you what a star he's been, and give you a perfect example of everyday, lovely service, and what it takes to be a great person to work with in this new Marketing Ronin world.

So, we gave Stefan a horribly vague brief (we must be terrible clients, four planners? can you imagine?) and he came back with a bunch of great stuff. So good that we decided we wanted all of them, we wouldn't have just one logo, we'll have a family of them, a family of logos and type-treatments and all that. So obviously, doing business cards (the really exciting bit) becomes a logistical nightmare. Stefan sorted it all out for us. Found us a printer. (David Hockney's printer apparently). Advised on paper selection, all that. Then today he sent us this email, these photos and a quicktime movie: "How are you? I'm just home from the business card press check. Everything is looking vibrant. I documented the event for you."

And here's the little movie (about 3MB).

Now, I don't know if this is normal in the designer/business cards world, but I don't imagine so. And we're planners, we never see this stuff happen and so it's fascinating for us. And it's a huge symbol of love and care that he went down to check everything and sent us pictures and video.

So, this is just to say hurrah and thanks to Stefan and shyly reveal that we're up to something new.

(David, Emily, Jeffre, Stefan - is this OK?)

Comments

[Stefan G. Bucher]

Thank you for the lovely post, Russell. I'm excited that you're as happy as I am with the emerging OIA identity---that is to say, Your Unholy Army of Squid. Any and all credit must go to you and Emily and David and Jeffre, though. Making good design is easy. Finding clients that have the verve, the zing, the sang-froid of putting both their enthusiasm and... well... their money behind something a bit unusual is a rare and lovely thing. It's my pleasure to help bring a new thing into the world and to support people I believe in. I'm happy you called me.

[Stefan G. Bucher]

Lest I forget, David Mayes and the crew at Typecraft did a fantastic job pulling together a surprisingly ambitious print job in a very short amount of time. They complete me.

[russell]

Hang on a minute - does 'surprisingly ambitious' mean 'expensive'?

I'm kidding. I kid.

[Rob Mortimer]

Sounds like a good idea, and I really like the logo and the uses of it so far.

[Emily]

Yes, when it comes to client service, we now have a new mantra: What Would Stefan Do?

We should probably make up some wrist bands.

[Gareth]

So, OIA? What's the meaning of/story behind the name?

[Richard]

how exciting!

[sarah]

Congratulations on your new big-eyed baby! looks very cool. Roll on global domination, am looking forward to the next installment.

[beeker]

Hurrah for you indeed. What a team. Most exciting venture I've heard about in ages.

[Ben]

Lovely.