Who is the most interesting collaborator you have ever worked with?

Thu, 23 Aug 2012

‘We get to work with some of the most talented people in the world, but hands down the most interesting is our little old signwriter, Ken. A retired sign manufacturer unable to turn his back on the industry he served for over four decades, we continue to collaborate with a man clearly in love with his trade. Each new project brings a new tale, trade tip, or more often a clip around the ear and a few choice words. A small cog in our big wheel but truly inspiring, which makes him priceless.’

Benji Holroyd, creative director, SB Studio and co-founder, Cow&Co

‘When we were designing a wayfinding system for Stockwell Park Estate, we came up with the idea of using a mix of artists to create a palette of patterns all based on the history and local connections of the site. There’s a well known grafitti area called The Pen in Stockwell, which has been used for years by grafitti artists. We were told about a local artist called Boyd. He was quite secretive, so we never got to actually meet him - it was all done via email, but the end results were great. He did all the patterns as real grafitti then shot them - it looked brilliant.’

Gareth Howat, co-founder, Hat-trick Design

‘When researching for our BT Vision rebrand in 2010 we discovered Linden Gledhill’s ‘liquid figures’ macro photography. When we got in touch with Linden to invite him to collaborate on the project the discussion unexpectedly turned to how much time off he would need to book from his day job to come over to London for the shoot. It transpired that Linden is a PhD biochemist who works for a major pharmaceutical company in Philadelphia, developing protein molecules to treat cancer and diabetes. He is the most intelligent bloke I’ve ever worked with…. and a very nice chap to boot.’

Mike Alderson, creative director, ManvsMachine

‘Collaboration comes from an ability to understand each other’s ideas; to listen and react to problems and, above all, to trust in the abilities of each other. Beyond any of the illustrators, photographers and copywriters we’ve worked with, the most interesting and important collaborators I’ve encountered are some of our clients. Their ability to work with us in the creative process, providing key business insights to reinforce a strong creative solution is what makes them great collaborators and their projects so memorable.’

Ryan Tym, senior designer, Unreal

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