Email tennis
My good friend Huw Thomas asked if I would like to create a joint self-promotional poster which could also be used for charity purposes. The brief, simply put, was ’Make Life Simple’. I wrote down a bunch of thoughts on what would make my life simpler. I sent a draft of the text to Huw via email, he added his thoughts and sent it back. I added further thoughts and sent it back. The email tennis went on like this for a good few drafts until we were both happy with the ideas and flow of the text. At that point I was ready to commit ink to paper.

To make things more interesting I sat on the Southbank in London and proceeded to create a draft in public view, something I’d never done before. I also did it upside down so people could read it as they passed by.

Spreading the word
Lots of people stopped to read it. I was amazed by the feedback. Many people asked if they could buy it. One father read it out loud to his children, as did a care worker to a young girl in a wheelchair. Mexican, Russian, German, Sri Lankan, Spanish, French tourists all stopped to translate it. Japanese and Korean tourists took lots of photographs (thanks to Kimsun Mi for the shots). One guy said abruptly “Life’s not like that!” and marched off. Another guy said “Avoid drama queens, my sentiments exactly!”. One rastafarian guy simply said “Genius man!”. It was a good day. It was an inspiring day. Next time I’ll take something more comfortable to sit on.

Learnings
Don’t be afraid to try new things.
Don’t be afraid to work in public.
Don’t be afraid to work upside down.

Charity
Signed / limited edition posters are available for charities. If you’re involved with a charity, or know someone who is, who would like a batch then please get in touch with mickey@themickey.com. Three charities have thus far auctioned the poster for fundraising purposes – The Rainbow House, QSA and Art Against Knives.