Who to cheer for?

Being Russian I am a huge fan of the national football team. I am very proud of their games in the EC2008 tournament so far. For me their will to win reflects the comeback of a whole nation. But as I also lived in Germany for many years, I cannot deny an affinity towards their team, especially as I am watching every match with German friends. I've been waiting all week for tonight's game, I couldn't wait to cheer for the Russians kicking some Spanish butt.

However this has now changed. We are working on Nike, as they are sponsoring Fabregas who plays in the Spanish team, and if we're lucky we might get some work through. That is – if Spain wins and the client doesn't change their mind. Inner struggle.

Door to stupidity

Back in the day when we used to visit W+K with our portfolio we never managed to open the door on the first attempt, consequently we felt a bit stupid. I mean it’s only a glass door with a plus-shaped handle and a buzzer on the right side which once rung informs Holly who then opens you the door to their Shangri-La. Now, normally you would push the door open because that's how doors are opened, but not this one.

As far as we know Wieden+Kennedy has the one single door in the industry that opens the other way.

You have to pull it, sounds simple but it's quite unnatural. Honestly said it was a bit annoying as we looked like a pair of idiots rigorously trying to push a door open when all it needed was a little pull.

Perhaps it’s just us and we’re a bit slow, but we’d like to believe it fits with their motto of walking in stupid every morning.

It’s our third day and we’ve just about got used to it. Now we thought wouldn't it be great if the door had a shuffle mechanism that would always change the direction the door has to be opened? That would be so stupidly great.

Just after the first day

It finally arrived, after months of anticipation our first W+K day – so far so good! The people have been super friendly - big smiles and warm handshakes. Our work desks are 10 feet from the kitchen so lots of tea, toast and orange squash. And the office looks and feels really fun, busy and vibrant. As expected we were given a brief on the first day and it's a Nike one at that, how cool! We are reviewing tomorrow morning, so we'll keep this one short. Happy monday evening.

Just before the first day

It's our first day of work. We'll have to be there at 9.30, Jai is travelling all the way in from Osterley while I can snooze a bit longer, living in Aldgate East. Ten minutes walking time to W+K – one of the reasons I moved east in the first place.

We have been wearing big smiles for days. We are curious, excited and hungry for a challenge. So good morning everyone, it's time to go.

Tsar Hiddink

Huge congratulation to the Russians, who played yesterday againсt the dutch favorites and kicked their ass. The coach Guus Hiddink got them qualified for the first time since the soviet union fell apart. It's a team full of young players who don't have the big contracts like most of the other international guys.

It's fantastic seeing Russia doing well on the international stage. They are the underdogs, the newcomers. They have a reason to fight harder than any other. So do we.

Creative in London Worlde

That's what wordle.net is making out of our del.icio.us links. AHA! pictures coming very soon to a browser near you.

One two three four

We bumped into Ida from W+K tonight after AHA! and we must say, we're gettin more and more excited every single hour that draws us closer to monday, to our placement at Wieden+Kennedy. 4 days left. We can't wait.

AHA!'s over

We just got in and it was fantastic. Thanks all for coming, we'll do it again soon. Enjoy your badges. You can find more pictures from the evening a little later, after a we get a little kip. Good night. AHA!

Get practising…

Paper will be provided. Fun starts at seven. AHA!

AHA! Tomorrow

There are only a few more hours to go now and we’re really excited to see what comes of the AHA! evening. Everyone’s invited so if you got time for a sneaky one on a Tuesday night it’s in the Commercial Tavern (upstairs) E16NU London. From 19.00 onwards. Let's talk ideas & See you there!

Creatives' Paradise

Just before we left Leo Burnett we finished a little side project for them, an invitation to a party for the creative department in a place called Paradise – just a bit of fun.

Face your pockets

Last week we found faceyourpockets.com a pretty cool project by two Russians. It's pretty simple, put the contents of your pockets or other interesting stuff together with your face on your A4 scanner and press Scan. Above are ours.

We are properly off this week, no crits and a little break. Jai's doing London & Wal's in Hamburg. Moin moin.

AHA! Creative Gathering

Remember last year we had a creative gathering in London? It's time again to talk ideas! Come along, all you young creatives, senior creatives, planners, designers and everyone else working in our beloved idea industry. Share ideas, meet interesting people, enjoy drinks, make new friends and if you like – send on the invitation. Have a look what happened at AHA! June'07 and July'07. Tuesday, 17th of June 2008 in Commercial Tavern (upstairs) E16NU London. From 19.00 on. Hope to see you there!

Offices, Bananas and Fallon

Today saw us bright and early on Fallon's doorstep, eager and waiting to show our work to Chris and John, the lads behind Skoda Bake, Budweiser Popcorn and The List. It took quite a while to see them but it was well worth the wait – we appreciate them making time for us. The guys are super friendly and gave us some solid advice, we’ll be snapping up their words of wisdom and will get in there to show that we mean business.

We also got to see Fallon's new offices on Great Titchfield Street which they moved to just this week. They're pretty impressive granted there are a few missing floor boards and many a builders bum about. Although we haven’t seen the other floors, the creatives have got it quite nice, very spacious and lots of new furnishings to get marker pens on.

Birds, Trees and TBWA

I guess it is lucky, perhaps we should hang out under trees waiting to get shat on more often?

A few weeks ago we got a call from LIZH telling us that when they sent our portfolio to TBWA and out of the lot 'Steve Henry has seen your book and wants to see you guys’. So we bobbed along to Charlotte St for a short meeting with the big man and got on brilliantly. He gave us some great advice and offered to get us in front of the team in charge of organizing placements. Yesterday, we finally got a chance to go in and see Julia Taylor, and it’s now confirmed. We’re scheduled to start September, happy as we are we have our fingers crossed to have our names on a contract by then. So for now, 18 days to Wieden+Kennedy.

Great Short & Sweet

Today, after a bit of work and a Bookcrit (we saw Stuart from Mother, Hi Stu) we went to Short&Sweet to refill our inspiration cells with films & animations. The selection of short films was great, one of the best so far. If you have a spare hour tomorrow evening , make sure to go to the Tuesday Soho Screening, starting at 19.oo in the AKA Bar. You won't regret it, it's free and there's fabulous stuff to see.

The movie we liked most was The Raftman's Razor by Keith Bearden. It's on YouTube, but seriously, don't watch it! Go to the screening, get a drink, sit down on a comfy couch and enjoy it on a big screen, with a great audience around you. It'll make a huge difference. But only in case you can't make it, have a look.

More Portfolio Night

Lots of new media went online covering Portfolio Night 6, there are a bunch of pictures from London and photos and videos from this worldwide event. Read stories from young creatives here. Ours is to be found in our archive.