Art of Letters™
Make Life Simple
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The ‘Make Life Simple’ A2 poster was designed in collaboration with my good friend Huw Thomas (huwthecopywriter.co.uk).
Email tennis
I was asked by Huw would I like to create a joint self-promotional poster. The brief, quite simply, was Make Life Simple. I immediately wrote down a bunch of thoughts on what would make my life, and other people’s lives, simpler. I sent a draft of the text to Huw by email, he added his thoughts and sent it back to me. I added further thoughts and sent it back. The email tennis went on like this until we were both happy with the text. At that point I was ready to commit ink to paper.
To make it 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 words
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, or upside down.
Don’t be afraid to get your message out there.
Spreading the words
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, or upside down.
Don’t be afraid to get your message out there.
Charity
Signed and numbered limited edition prints are available for charity purposes. 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. Thus far three charities have auctioned the poster for fundraising purposes – The Rainbow House, Quaker Social Action and Art Against Knives.
Signed and numbered limited edition prints are available for charity purposes. 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. Thus far three charities have auctioned the poster for fundraising purposes – The Rainbow House, Quaker Social Action and Art Against Knives.
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