Studio Space

Sadly we cannot report that this is our studio. Having nowhere to call AKcreates' home is sometimes a real frustration. Where we work changes from day to day so we have to carry everything we might need and often have no control over various variables. It has, however, lead to an interesting side project entitled Where we work best. We have started to look deeper into which environments help or hinder our creative process. Do we work better in different places depending on what point we are at in the brief process? Should the context of the space reflect the subject of the brief?..and a million other things to think about and consider. It is an on going project that originally started back in university with Anna writing her dissertation on creative studios and their impact on creativity, looking at it through environmental psychology theories. We have plenty more to say on the matter so we will write more when we have decided where to take it!

We would love our own studio space where we could consolidate our books, pens, inspirational materials etc, but sadly at the moment it's a money issue (as usual). Until we get a job, or enough cash&experience to start our own we will have to stick with dreaming.. we know we would definitely get a studio rabbit!

Trees

We take our inspiration from anywhere and everywhere, and one of our main side loves is photography (mirrored in pretty much every other creative we imagine). We have a folder of called Visual Aids on our computer and thought we would share some gems.

Here are a few photographs focusing on trees and light..

Craft will never die

It is safe to say we are craft enthusiasts. We love using our hands, paying attention to detail and doing. An idea can come to life through the use of craft and it adds (especially with handmade) a certain charm that digital design misses out on. Don't be mistaken we are also huge digital fans and there are so many beautiful computer based design out there that we admire too.

Here is a photograph of a giant origami bird we made for a Wagamama's brief. The piece of paper we started with was 1 meter squared. We sure got some funny looks when we took him on the tube!

Moustache!

Nothing like good team work!

Creativity has always been about collaboration. Even if the advertising industry is changing and the traditional 'art director/copy writer' team may no longer be as relevant we still believe in working together.. as a TEAM, two heads are always better than one!

Come on December!

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson collaborated on The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn, a motion capture 3D film version of the classic Belgian children’s book by Georges “Hergé” Remi. The film is scheduled for release on December 23 in the US.

Finally this is getting a little bit closer, we have been waiting so long for this Tintin film! We can't wait to see how they have recreated such a childhood favourite of ours. We have high hopes..

Food for thought

If you are ever in Chiswick (West London) make sure you pay a visit to Outsider Tart.

'Outsider Tart is an authentic American bake shop and cafe which

is devoted to all things sweet and yummy.'

It was set up by a couple of professional guys who moved from New York to love and work in London. They soon discovered that good, wholesome cupcakes, sweet pies and fresh tarts were really hard to come by. (Not sure we totally agree with that comment but we are always up for a good old American baked treat.) They have since turned their favourite hobby into an award winning business....

Maybe we're going down the wrong route? If you see a Cooking Tuesday shop pop up near you soon you'll know we decided to scrap the dream advertising career and went into cooking professionally!

Well it's definitely time for afternoon tea now and we have these three delights to help the flow of work continue..

YUM!

Food Glorious Food

We are both what you would call foodies, we love food! And for inspiration for our Cooking Tuesday we are always scouring the internet for interesting and delicious looking/sounding recipes. One website we refer back to time and time again is Tasteologie, (part of notcot a design inspiration blog we like).

Well Tasteologie compiles links to other blogs with recipes that are all beautifully photographed:

If your mouth isn't watering after looking at the website there must be something wrong with you. We have just been looking for a recipe for tomorrow... however, we don't recommend this before lunch as we are now going to have to stop for elevensies (it's 11.55am so technically this is still okay).

Find out what we decided to try tomorrow when we'll upload this weeks Cooking Tuesday.

Cooking Tuesday on Wednesday (confusing)

Is this becoming a food blog? Perhaps it is, but we initially set this up to allow people to gain an insight into A&K; what inspires us, what excites us, what makes us tick. And one of our main loves is food; cooking it, eating it, smelling it, looking at pictures of it. What we also love about it is how it is such a social experience, we love cooking for people and sharing our passion and skills.

So this week we moved Cooking Tuesday to Cooking Wednesday for one week only as we entertained our friend Lucia for dinner. Here is what was on the menu..

Jamie Oliver inspired Chorizo, Lemon & Parmesan Pasta

Followed by homemade Chocolate Mousse served with Lemon & Sugar soaked Strawberries

The feedback from Lucia was all very positive (as was that of other housemates who found the left over chocolate mousse in the fridge). The Pasta dish is so simple to make and super yummy, a very fresh and light dish, part of Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals.. we adapted it by adding Chorizo.

Researching

Today we are working apart and researching for new briefs.. very exciting stuff.

We love learning so it is great to look deep into new brands. Also it's a chance to catch up with a few blogs, get some inspiration and see what else people are making. Just found this advert and we think it is a great way of approaching the subject:

It doesn't just have to apply to EarthHour though... TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTS WHEN YOU'RE NOT USING THEM. Thanks :)

A Burst of Blossom

One of our preferred places to meet and work is Southbank, and in particular the Royal Festival Hall. To our joy while on Southbank today we stumbled across this....

A rooftop garden with a little cafe, veggies growing and an excellent view of London. Safe to say it has now jumped to the number one spot of our favourite places to work. We had a very productive day and left feeling very fortunate that we are able to sit in the sun all day doing what we love. Sadly we forgot our sun cream and unknowingly came out a little pink, Anna even managed to get some amazing moustache necklace tan lines.

Amazing Advert Alert

We can not stop giggling at this. What a great use of digital without all the fancy technologies. Clever and very funny. DDB Toronto have released some great stuff for Skittles on the digital side. We might just send our portfolio over there and see what happens..

Seriously.

French beat box phenomenon EKLIPS performs a 4 minutes history of HIP HOP for Trace Urban...

In one single take!

We stumbled across this video today via the Creative Review 'top 10 shared adverts' post. Watch it and we imagine your mouth will hit the table and stay there for the entire 4 minutes like ours did. I mean seriously.. the human body is amazing! We were amazed by the Police Academy guy but this is just unbelievable (and he's French). EKLIPS we are in ore :)

Jammy Hearts

On the menu this week was Jammy Hearts; and yes they really are giant home-made Jammy Dodgers. For those unfortunate people who have not tried a Jammy Dodger, they are a biscuit base with a jam centre. We would not recommend the recipe to a novice baker as there were various points when we were cursing under our breath. But even the broken bits tasted yummy and some came out beautifully. We took to a few to our new friend Ollie from Hyper. We hope they went down well.

May all your dreams come true

After another long bank holiday weekend we are feeling positive and excited about what May is going to offer up. We feel like we are turning a corner at the moment and the next chapter is shaping up to be electrifying..

We said goodbye to a friend this weekend who is currently jet-setting to New York to embark on a 3 year work visa, a dream she has been working towards for years. It made us realise (again) that nothing is impossible and following your dreams is just about the most important thing in life. We have a brilliant quote that we often refer back to..

"In 20 years you'll be more disappointed by what you didn't do than by what you did." Mark Twain.

We would hate to be two old grannies sat in our rocking chairs discussing what might have happened if we'd tried all the things that were too scary or too hard. We want to be sat there reminiscing about the adventures we had and the challenges that shaped and made us stronger.

So with even more spring sunshine bringing in a new month we are taking the next steps towards following our dreams. Maybe it's something in the wind but we are feeling very inspired and we hope you are too.

Whatever you are thinking about doing... go and do it.