Hello from London! A few of us from the method San Francisco office
have spent the last 4 days wandering the mean streets of London on a
quest for inspiration. Gordie, Sally, Nate, Eric and I, Danny, have
been keeping mighty busy over here, but have been having a blast
nevertheless.
Our first objective here was to visit our UK office, which was a great opportunity for a method family mini-reunion. We talked business a bit, reviewing how wonderfully they've grown in the two years since method launched here and making sure we're all on the same page with our 2009 plans before taking turns hula-hooping. Although the office here is much smaller than our home base in San Francisco, it makes up for it in charm and quirk, and it's so exciting to see the method spirit alive and well half way across the world. It's nice to have such a welcoming home away from home.
While we had the whole gang together we spent yesterday morning walking the method mile (or High Street in Kensington, if you'll be in London any time soon), visiting a few method retailers and taking note of how the product looked on shelf. We may speak the same language (more or less), but the UK and the US are very different markets with very different needs. Talking to our UK workmates while walking the aisles gave us a better sense of how to design specifically for the UK market, so hopefully our future designs will be even better!
We also spent some time visiting with our friends at Innocent Drinks, our favorite smoothie makers and a fellow Challenger Brand, and EatBigFish, the guys who wrote the book on Challenger Brands (literally). They're both doing amazing things, as usual, and it's great to know that we've got allies in the effort to make business a force for good.
Throughout it all, we've been focusing on our main objective: recharging our creative batteries and finding inspiration that we can bring back to our work in San Francisco. In addition to all the meetings and tours, we've been shopping like mad to keep up on the latest design trends, visiting museums and galleries, admiring the architecture (both old and new), riding the tube all over the city, and, of course, sharing our observations over a pint or two at the end of the night. We've taken thousands of pictures, plenty of sketches and notes, and have each been keeping a little diary of what we saw and loved. (I included a picture of Tuesday's entry of my diary)
After a wonderful 4 days in London, we're now off for a quick trip to
Paris where we'll visit one of the world's largest design and trend
shows, Maison et Objet, and continue the quest for inspiration. Stay tuned for more!
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