Well my dear fellow humans, it's that time of year where I try and sum up our last 12 months and put a reflective spin on things. Sometimes optimistic, maybe sometimes a little pessimistic, but always honest, true and as genuine as I can be. After all, we have enough bullshit to digest right now so the last thing you need is me feeding you more.

So here we go… and as the title says I’m going to try and explain ‘The Conundrum’. It’s our very own conundrum, our beautifully crafted and  manufactured all with good intention conundrum. And what a conundrum it is!

To put things in a little bit more perspective, over the last few years our offering has broadened somewhat as to what our creative output is here at our little studio at The Artistry House.

For example, the building that houses Wash Studio was turned into The Artistry House by Lynsey and myself in a way to have a building that we could surround ourselves with like minded folk. We now have rooms with tenants. We have a gallery space that shows of beautiful art from artists we love and know as friends. We also run small events at the house for creative and like minded people to come together and share ideas and thoughts. We have created something truly beautiful right here in Preston. www.theartistry.house

However, on the back of The Artistry House concept we decided to explore an interior design offering. It was an idea Lynsey had been mulling around with since doing The Artistry House and her own properties. Then a chance meeting with Rose Peploe a local talented designer, The Artistry Interiors was born and to go on winning awards within it’s first year! www.artistryinteriors.co.uk

Then we have our film making passions. Over the years we’ve worked with some great people and production companies, but we made the decision to invest and bring more capabilities in-house whilst also surrounding  ourselves with great collaborators. I’d been a designer and creative since the age of 17! So, 40 years later I fancied a more physical and challenging role and why not at the age of 57! I love kit and caboodle and love being out and about on shoots. This too felt like a natural development in Wash’s history, a perfect addition to this ever changing environment we play in. www.washfilms.co.uk

And there is Wash Studio. Our rock and foundation all this ‘stuff’ has sprung from. This is our central core, where we specialise in that broad  church of ‘brand’. From development to realisation and positioning - it also connects all the above. And this year we’ve had some challenging projects to get our heads around. Projects such as working with Skyscanner on a brand development piece and with The Office Group, now FORA, helping them on their way with a new proposition and also ETFS Capital with a whole new brand look to be launched any time soon. All down in the big smoke and us negating that strange phenomena that is ‘rail travel’ that for some reason we haven’t quite grasped in this county. We the people get it… that train service providers haven’t. www.washstudio.co.uk

But we’ve also been over the water into that place called Europe and across the pennies and back many, many times to the wonderful Sheffield. In fact we’ve pretty much covered the length and breadth of this beautiful country this year and even worked more in our beloved Preston for a change… it’s all been one large roller coaster. But can you see our condudrum yet?

This is the thing: the phrase ‘creative agency’ is already met with much bewilderment and mystery in general. People often ask ‘what type of creative agency are you exactly?’ and possibly speculate over what we do, but also generally, as an industry nobody can quite pin the term ‘creative agency’ down. And let’s face it, there are many variations… but I suspect not many like us and especially up here in our little corner of the forgotten north.

We’ve created many strings to our bow. We’ve built a creative studio, a creative house. We work hard on creative approaches to problems, that’s our thing. Creativity is our currency.  But it’s a hard gig for people to get their head around, especially when they don’t know who we are. I also hate the phrase ‘agency’!

The last thing we want to be is a Jack of all… you know the rest. But what we have under one roof, the quality of our output and with this great little team is somewhat amazing, if not unique I truly believe. We simply need far more people to get to know us, understand us and realise what they have at their disposal. That’s our ‘conundrum’.

 

Have a lovely Christmas and a great New Year.