If you’re ever in New York and missing the smell of the countryside, check out the ‘Earth Room’ – a room filled with 127,300 kg of earth.On display to the public since 1980, this second floor Soho gallery has been host to 197 cubic meters of natural earth. The lack of any other visitors, as well as the moist, warm air give the place a quiet and heavy atmosphere, where it feels like nothing has moved in the last 31 years. The white gallery walls are a stark comparison to the living, black soil that sits at it’s base – this really is a strange, but oddly enchanting place. Cameras aren’t allowed so these are the best ones I could find on the internet.

Walter De Maria, The New York Earth Room, 1977. Long-term installation at 141 Wooster Street, New York City. Photo: John Cliett. Copyright Dia Art Foundation. Main Events and Public Programs Overview Visitor Information Artist Biography 141 Wooster Street New York City

It felt a bit like the natural opposite of Richard Wilson’s 20/50 (1987) installation that uses recycled motor oil.

Photo: Art News London

Firstly, the trees in Central Park have been changing since I arrived:

and 10 days later:

It’s taking longer fro me to get used to the way things are done in America.
How direct the advertising is for example:
But my faith in humanity was restored however when I visited the New York gem that it the ‘The Highline’:

A beautiful park above the streets of West Manhattan, created along an old freight railway track. It’s a peaceful break from the traffic below and has been expertly designed to include things like this window that simply looks out onto the street below. You can’t help but sit there and wait for rush of traffic below every time the lights turn green. http://www.thehighline.org

Now I know that Americans can sometimes come across a bit too patriotic for our stiff British attitude, but if it means my milk look as funky as this, then that’s fine by me.

On a last, more cultural note, do you recognize this?

This is a shot of the slide at Carsten Höller’s solo exhibition at the New Museum (www.newmuseum.org), a gallery in the downtown neighborhood of Bowery. The exhibit features a number of different works, including a full-size mirrored carousel and the ‘psycho tank’ (a pool of highly salinated, skin temperature water that is supposed to be void of any sensory experience), but the slide is undoubtedly the main attraction. It runs across three floors, the exit being in a strobe lit room with life size fluorescent crocodiles, hippos and some other creatures I couldn’t work out. Höller has definitely succeeded in creating an overall experience that makes you feel like a kid again, even if some of the pieces seemed to lack any real or worthy purpose…

I’m going to try and feature a range of things here from New York, but as an official ‘alien’, I may need some help. If there’s anything you know about and can recommend, then just post it below.

The Winning Idea from l-r: Alex (no, really), Jack, Sam H & Sam G

As you may have seen from a blog post on here last week, we entered a competition run by Metro newspaper and D&AD to design a cover wrap for the Metro newspaper. The winner was announced last Wednesday evening at a lovely event hosted by Metro and D&AD. We were absolutely delighted when our ‘Flowers’ idea chosen as the overall winner and couldn’t wait to see it come out in print.

Well, today’s the day. We have spent all Bank Holiday weekend getting more excited about coming back in to work today than the plentiful bounty of chocolate at our fingertips over Easter. Personally, this morning I ended up in work an hour and a half early as I couldn’t wait to get down to the tube station to pick up my copy of the Metro and see how people were responding to the cover. (yes, I really AM that sad…and I’m proud!)

We’ve all been Tweeting all weekend also to encourage our followers to send us photos from today of their #metrowrap, and the photos/comments have been coming in thick and fast all morning. Thank you all for taking part and do please continue to send us your pics as you get them, we really love to receive them. Please see below for some examples of pics sent in already…

Our friend @Ben_Millar pops the question to a lift full of commuters

Grabbing an early morning edition at Arsenal tube

Oyster roses at Bank - not quite...

The lovely @LewieEvans presents his sister with a bunch

Sarah Kwan sends us her bunch all the way from Edinburgh

@Moobs takes advantage of rare empty seats to brighten his day

Someone 'passing it on' in style

Recycling at the Royal Exchange

I sincerely hope they were intending for a pic of the paper in this one...

Kings Cross picks up a bunch

This one has really made me smile...

The Partners reception/flower stall this morning

Andy Gardner was so keen he grabbed a couple of copies...

...before using one to decorate his office. Thanks Andy.

From our friend Tracey in Glasgow

Somebody's bagged a bunch on the way home

The gorgeous Amanda arranges a bouquet especially for her friends at The Partners.

The lovely Leah mixes the real with the print

And the morning after….

The morning after feedback. Thank you too Jenni.

Welcome to Manchester

When considering my journey, I flirted with the possibility of traveling first class in order to be able to get some work done. I’ll admit, I was seduced by the idea of a quiet haven where you could focus on your work, undisturbed other than to be offered coffee at your seat, and would generally be made to feel as though you could just get on with being ‘terribly important and busy’.

So, 2 weeks before I was due to travel I popped on to thetrainline.com and looked up times and fares for the date I needed. £66 for an off-peak standard day return. Lovely. Seems reasonable.

My eyes scanned down the page to where the first class fares were listed…

What was that?

Sorry, what was THAT?

£355 for a day return?

Wrestling my eyeballs back into their sockets I began to contemplate what one would get for their £355 ticket. Seeing as I could fly BA (return) to Milan and have a night in a 4-star hotel for the same price, I imagined that a train company commanding the same money must do something pretty special. Do we travel via Capri with a night in a luxury villa, where I’m massaged to within an inch of my life and fed fine cheeses and cured meats until I burst? Do I get to dress in black tie, be drowned in expensive champagne and flirted with by top supermodels for the entire journey whilst, in the background, the London Symphony Orchestra play a collection of my personal favourites? Nope? What do I get then?

A coffee and a newspaper. Fantastic. For the bargain price of £289 I can get some coffee and a newspaper.

I’d be intrigued to have a chat with the head of the particular train company in question and ask him “So, Richard, how do you develop your pricing structure exactly?”

I wonder what the answer would be…

To encourage young designers from schools and colleges, our Creative Partner Greg Quinton was recently asked by D&AD to provide some pearls of wisdom in a personal take on having a career in design:

You may have seen all the fuss about “The best job in the World”. Caretaking a tropical Island? Wonderful. Everyone thought so, but I beg to differ. Nice for a long holiday from a British Winter, but long term? I believe the best jobs mean loving what you do and I love the creative industry.

Rewind twenty years or so ago to when I graduated, Macs were grey plastic bricks called Mackintosh. Phones were mobile (if you were strong enough) but everything in the shops had a prefix of ’designer’. It was a boom time for jobs and the coolest job around was in Graphic Design. I knew I was lucky with my timing even then.

At school I kind of knew what I wanted to do: design record covers, store bags, vans – you know – cool commercial things. I knew I wasn’t an artist. The problem was that nobody knew if it was an occupation. My careers advice lady stroked her beardy chin (yep nasty) and announced “You can be: an Archeologist, a librarian or – if you can pass maths – an architect” I was not best pleased, but design simply hadn’t made it onto the list of ‘real jobs’ yet.

So, searching, I blagged a place onto our local foundation course, worked bloody hard for a year and got shouted at every day for not drawing well enough. Finally the course leader said, “I’m sorry Greg, but you still can’t draw well enough to be an illustrator (long pause) I’m afraid the only option left for you… is graphic design.” She considered this a failure. I was in seventh heaven.

College was a joy. I loved every second of it. I knew this is what I wanted to do. From being bored and pretty average at school I was finally in my element. I wanted to do this forever, but knew had to find the right place. I drew up a short list without thinking I was good enough to work at any of them. Passion forces luck (and I was very passionate) and I got out there and did a D&AD workshop, interviews by the dozen, work experiences, made tea and did whatever I could to be noticed and get recommendations. Finally I landed an interview with Nick Wurr at The Partners who were at the top of my list. He (got sick of the pleading) and gave me a job.

Fast-forward twenty years and two recessions. I’ve forgotten many things but I’ve also learnt:

Creativity can solve so many issues. By using communication and design we can change perceptions, improve our environment and add real value to businesses.

We should always remember that clients don’t owe us anything. They take risks when they buy creativity. They could always play safe. Therefore, you should always avoid arrogance and work hard to create the best possible solution for every single project, whatever the client or their situation.

Most creative people (as a breed) are ‘givers’ and are generous with their personal commitment, skill, energy and passion. For many it is a vocation. This is a strength and should never be taken for granted or abused.

In these tough times it’s important to remember that the creative industry always needs new talent. This current ‘crappiness’ will come to an end at some point. We know that clients who invest in creativity during these low points will come through stronger than those who don’t. It is the same with agencies.

Try and have the long-term view. Agencies might not be able to give you a position in the short term, but please don’t give up, If you are truly passionate about your potential please keep going. Do placements, freelance, talk to everyone, do workshops, win competitions, set up your own thing, keep your chin up and do anything to avoid compromise for as long as you can. If you are good, there is a place waiting for you.

It might just be the best job in the World.

Greg Quinton
2009

“I want a brand as strong as Apple” is a statement we often hear from senior managers in very un-Apple-like organisations. The problem is that they’re just not prepared to do what it takes to make it happen.

In our research, brands such as Apple, Virgin and Google were mentioned consistently as the companies that business leaders said they most admired and aspired to be like. There is a tacit understanding that these organisations are driven by a different kind of engine to most others — their creativity — and it is this, fundamentally, to which these senior managers aspire.

Yet our study also revealed that for most business leaders creativity is not regarded as a serious topic for debate — only 10 per cent discuss it at board meetings and more than 40 per cent say that nobody has responsibility for it in their business. They prefer, instead, to talk about sales, costs, timeframes, supply chains, resources and other seemingly more tangible matters. The subject of creativity, with its inherently unconventional nature, subjectivity and lack of immediate measurability, is the sort of thing that most business leaders have been taught to avoid. Saying that you’d like to be more creative is one thing; doing something about it is quite another.

Yet, in this economic environment, this is a huge opportunity missed. Despite their reluctance to act, business leaders already acknowledge the value that creativity brings. Ninety-six per cent of respondents in our study cite creativity as integral to business success. More than 40 per cent place more value on creativity as a source of business advantage than on those traditional deliverables of knowledge and efficiency. And they are entirely right. A recessionary, or post-recessionary, world demands new thinking, new approaches, differentiation and innovation, certainly not merely more of the same. People are looking for change, for stronger, more meaningful relationships in which businesses help to solve the problems that matter most, not only those that generate most profit. They want radical, brave solutions. This is a time for creative thinking and action, the transition from the knowledge economy of the past 20 years to the ideas economy of the future.

To make this transition effective, businesses need to overcome the barrier that prevents their acknowledgement of creativity’s value from being acted upon in practise. As 46 per cent of our respondents told us that they would be happy to take increased responsibility for creativity, we can conclude that the problem is not a lack of desire but a lack of know-how.

The good news is that providing the know-how is not as daunting as it may seem. Despite its esoteric reputation, creativity can be taught. Despite its non-linear thought processes, it can be systemised. Despite its often peripheral role, it can and should be installed as a fundamental strategic platform that informs every decision and action. What is needed is a firm commitment from the organisation’s leadership to embrace it and external, specialist help to plan and deliver it. It needs companies to realise that you can’t simply talk a good game, you’ve got to deliver one, too.

Business leaders already know the superior value that creativity can bring. Now they must act on it, with courage and conviction and the mindset of a new, creative age.

• Jim Prior is managing partner of The Partners, a branding consultancy

Article taken from The Times Online.

Oh saintly one

On Friday we paid homage to the creative lifeblood of The Partners (TP). For the second year running we have recognised the feast of St. Aziz‘s Day with an internal awards ceremony to celebrate the wonderful efforts people within The Partners go to in order to make this place so great.

Our patron saint on this auspicious day (1st June) is non-other than one of our founding partners Aziz Cami (although he’s not dead yet of course, just figuratively canonized by us for his contribution to design). We try to hold the ceremony as close  to the 1st June as possible, however this year we were busy with pitches on the 5th June and as Aziz himself would have wanted it to be, we made work the priority. Always a martyr to the pursuit of design excellence, it is quoted that in his earliest scriptures he rallied dedicated followers with prophecies such as “Make us the most creative agency in the world”. This tireless ambition is still driving the agency today.

In recognition of the creative greatness The Partners has become (and the fact that we love nothing more than an excuse to finish half an hour early on a Friday, drink plenty of cava, eat some fancy nibbles, and make plenty of noise) we hand out awards to remarkable individuals within the company who have been voted up to ‘semi-saint’ status by their co-workers

There are 6 categories in total and then an overall winner of a High Priest/Priestess award for the individual deemed to have most embodied the holy spirit of The Partners over the past year.

The category candles

Several weeks ago we were all asked to make our nominations for candidates in each category (apart from the High Priest/Priestess category which is decided by the divine intervention of the Gods aka: the partners). See below for the categories and the holy winners and holy nominees:

TP Virgin of the Year – best new person, person in a new job, or person getting out of their comfort zone.

Nominees: Sam, Nathan, Leon & Dave.

WINNER – SAM

Left to right: Nathan, Sam and Dave

TP Heavenly Operator - for the most efficient, or effective, or money-making, or money-saving, or teamworky type thing.

Nominees: Andrew, Elsie, Greg & Hannah

WINNER – GREG

Left to right: Greg, Andrew, Elsie and Hannah"Greg, Andrew, Elsie and Hannah

TP Martyr of the Year – for the biggest sacrifice to TP.

Nominees: Alex, Jack, Michael & Pip

WINNER – JACK

Left to right: Michael, Jack and a bit of Pip

TP Gold is in the Detail – for the best attention to detail, management of detail, or craft.

Nominees: Claire, Miranda, Sam & Steph

WINNER – CLAIRE

Left to right: Miranda, Claire, Sam and Steph

TP Preacher of the Year – for the best performance at 2C’s, or other presentation.

Nominees: Helen, Jack, Sam, Tim & Rob (team)

WINNER – TIM & ROB

Left to right: Jack, Tim, Sam and Helen

TP Miracle of the Year – for the most creative or imaginative idea of the year

Nominees: Miranda, Nick, Pip & Tim

WINNER – PIP

Left to right: Tim, Pip, Nick and Miranda

TP High Priest/Priestess – Best in show. The thing that best embodies the holy spirit of TP.

Nominees: Claire, Greg, Jack, Pip, Sam, Tim/Rob

WINNER – GREG

If you look closely you can glimpse the tears he shed on his acceptance. Awwww bless.

We had a wonderful evening celebrating the holy spirit of TP. The cava flowed, the cheers erupted, and the tears were shed (in Greg’s case anyway).

Well done to all our winners and nominees.

~ End of sermon ~

The night kicked off with a talk from Joel Gethin Lewis. He openly admitted to being a complete geek, which started him on his path to becoming an interactive designer. After gaining a yearlong placement at IBM at the age of 17, he went on to get a job at Dazed and Confused. Not the usual progression you might say, but this was his point. He said it’s better to know what you don’t want to do in life, rather than not knowing anything at all. He is now a successful designer who has owns his own company Yes Yes No.

Next up was Malcolm Venville, director and photographer. Malcolm is also a great example of how you can start anywhere. Some of his early photography work was taken outside the British Leyland factory he worked at as a teenager. He took captivating images of that ‘Friday Feeling’ as people poured through the gates to get home. He gained a place at University by passing off the work of his friend’s as his own and it all went from there. Luckily his passion for photography shone through and he went from strength to strength.

Last up was Sir John Hegarty, a worldwide-recognised creative director of BBH. He led us down the path to his success by showing us his first ever drawing, a simple piece of paper painted black at the tender age of four years old. Now he claims he was predicting the ‘black decade’ but at the time his teachers were very worried about him. Sir John showed us various other pieces of work from his career, concluding with the Reebok Classics campaign. He emphasised the importance of bringing the world you live in into your work. When taking a Q&A he was asked about the importance of a creative background was. He said as long as you are an interesting person and have good ideas; you can be very successful in the industry.

Even though I’m not in a design role at The Partners (I’m on the support/project management side), I still found it a really interesting talk. Coming from a range of backgrounds made me realise that anything is possible. It was great to hear from different creative disciplines and personalities. Whether it’s sitting on the doorstep of an agency demanding a job or using a friend’s drawings to get your foot in the door everyone starts somewhere. They may all seem rather over-simplified ideals, but if it helps plant the seed of thinking “I can do this!” then I think its pretty much worth it.

Our efforts were gallant – we somehow managed to know the name of Will Smith‘s character in Men In Black (Agent J), Henry VIII’s sixth wife (Catherine Parr) and of course that the current bank lending rate is at 0.5% – yet still we managed to come in fifth place – which is an improvement on last year. At this rate we’ll be winners by 2013.

Many thanks to Vicky and the rest of the McNaughton’s paper crew for organising such a top event.