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Copyright by Stephen Weeks
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Every month Glug hosts an event in London at The Trampery. The event is based around a series of talks and some informal networking. The line ups for some of the events include the likes of Turner Duckworth, Facebook, Future Deluxe, IDEO, Google Creative Labs, I Love Dust, Jason Bruges Studio, ustwo, Social Chain, Animade, Noma Bar, Uber, Wolff Olins and many more. Glug also hosts a number of other events across the UK.

28 FEBRUARY 2019 | LONDON

GLUG LONDON: MULTIFACETED


So if you haven’t check out the website: https://www.glugevents.com/

This was my first Glug event I have attended. I always find it fairly difficult to get to as I work in Shepperton. Which is a fair mission away. But this time around I was determined to get to the event. I must say a big thank you to Ben Mottershead from TDL for the half-price tickets!

I found the talks to be amazing and everyone did a great job delivering a great event. Below I will talk individually on each of the talks.

Between the breaks, I even volunteered to create a cocktail on stage which was a great laugh. (Spot the alcoholic!)


Christian Eager

Christian had an amazing career at Turner Duckworth for his first 7 years. Working for global brands and creating world-class both branded and own labelling packaging. With this experience, he established a passion and love for designing for consumer brands. He then ventured out on his own to co-found Designers Anonymous on top of this he developed a house range of design lead products from greeting cards to homewares, sold by a variety of retailers including Harrods, Selfridges, The Design Museum and MoMA. Christian left Designers Anonymous in 2015 to join back with Turner Duckworth as a creative director.

I found his talk very inspirational. I received a few tips which I will share with you below.

  • The fewer the assets the more create the outcomes
  • Assets are only assets if agencies can use them
  • Sometimes the little things present the big creative opportunity
  • Love the unmistakable – however ugly, illogical, or unpopular
  • Screens are the acid test for identity

Boita Bag Co. – Adam Boita

Adam started his career out at PlayStation working with Disney, Sega and Sony Japan. He launched PlayStation 3, PSP and PlayStation Network before moving to Pernod Ricard where he headed up marketing for Absolut Vodka. As well as working on brand such as Havana Club, Jameson, Malibu and Monkey 47 Gin he launched ABSOLUT London with Jamie Hewlett, drove campaigns with a purpose around the LGBTQ+ community as well as sustainability which not only inspired him to launch his side hustle of Boita Bag Co. an eco-conscious bag brand it also steered him in the direction of the National Citizen Service where he is now Director of Brand Marketing empowering 16-17 years olds to have a voice on issues of social mobility, social cohesion and citizenship.

Adams talk was based around an idea of having a side hustle and how it can transcend into a company. It was about how a project however small can be transformed into something massive with some entrepreneurial spirit. The great thing about Adams Botiga bag is that it’s deluxe, modern, eco-conscious bag manufactured to the highest ethical standards without sacrificing style, function or durability. The fact Adam has never worked in the fashion industry he still managed to pull it off its inspirational. Luckily he had a friend who works for Burberry for the connection to get the bags manufactured. However, this only came about because of Adam expert knowledge in sourcing ethical materials. He gave 12 months of his time and expert knowledge in sourcing ethical materials in exchange to get his bag into production and made into a reality. Truly an amazing story from a great entrepreneur.

Glimpse – Zac Schwarz and James Turner

Zac and James Co-Founded Glimpse with a group of friends who wanted to try something different. Instead of criticising what’s going wrong, they wanted to imagine a world where these problems had been elegantly solved. Many of them are from creative backgrounds and wondered if they could use their existing skills to show a glimpse of something else, something better.

The pair spoke about the recent projects they have been working on. One project based in London called The Citizens Advertising Takeover Service (C.A.T.S).

London has one of the highest levels of outdoor advertising in the world, and sometimes this can feel overwhelming.

The Citizens Advertising Takeover Service (C.A.T.S) was a crowdfunded campaign to replace all the adverts in a London Tube station with pictures of cats. They wanted to claw back a corner of public space and put the people (and their animals) back in charge.

Also to note another great project they worked on was called Choose Love. Choose Love is the world’s first store that sells real products for refugees. From children’s coats to hot food and blankets, every purchase goes towards a similar item for someone who truly needs it.

Since 2017 this concept has raised over £2.5m for refugees around the world.

Over 20,000 customers have funded thousands of shoes, coats, and blankets – as well as vital services like mental health support for those who need them most.

At the end of the talk, I spoke to Zac and James and they’re really passionate about what they do. I have signed up to get involved in some of the projects they will be working on. I even handed a copy of the Rhino booklet I created.

Creature London – Stu Outhwaite-Noel

Stu is the Chief Creative Officer of Creature a gloriously independent ad agency he set up in 2011 with Ben and Dan. Before this he spent eight years learning the ropes at Mother. He’s just about worked out what he’s doing and only recently got comfortable writing in the third person.

His talk was full of energy and great advice in a fairly informal way. His talk was very engaging. His first piece of advice was to ‘Steal’ he shows the follow quotes: “Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels imagination” Jim Jarmusch. That quote was taken from Jean Luc Goddard “Its not where you take things from, it’s where you take them to.” Theres some truth in this steal work and make it your own. “The bad artists imitate, the great artist steals.” Banksy. The next big tip he mentions is ‘Don’t care too much’. He did a pitch for Baddingtons and did a quick sketch on a piece of paper for the pitch. The creative director called him up and said “If I was Tim Delaney I’d have kicked you out by now.” – Bob Saville. But in the end it all worked and they won the job. Because the core ideas was still there. It’s about how you sell that idea. Stu was full of energy and was great to listen to.