I've still got a few left of my old spring steel, acid etched, business cards. They were inspired by the foil tab that you pull out when you're opening a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. The numbers are all obsolete now though they are still used by many as tools for preparing cocaine for ingestion. Back then we spent a lot of time in night clubs in Bristol and Bath. I remember the night I came up with the idea whilst high as a kite on pills in Moles club. I teamed up with a friend, Clive to create a design business. We could have been successful. Our first job we designed an exhibition stand, well, I designed the exhibition stand but Clive, who had previously worked for McCloud lighting, Kevin McCloud now best known for Grand Designs channel 4 tv program. I had the ideas. Clive was able to talk to clients with a confidence I lacked. Anyway the exhibition stand won an award, Clive contributed nothing but took two thirds of the money and moved into my house while I was away in Spain. After a month I came back, his stuff was heaped into the living room and the cat had gone. To this day I have no clue as to why he thought it would be 'cool' to move in and he made no attempt to explain what his plans were. So I lost my temper and took all his stuff to the workshop. I found Mag who was a far better partner and person to work alongside. But it could have worked. Maybe I underestimated the importance of being able to sell an idea to a client. Maybe I undervalued his contribution. Nevertheless on the design front it was 95% my ideas.
No comments:
Post a Comment