Sitting at a desk, looking out over Falmouth harbour and the patchwork fields across the water, it’s easy for us to understand why living here is so integral to the work we do.
With London just a 45 minute flight away from Cornwall, we’re easily connected to most cities in the UK, and able to tap into the valuable resources they have to offer. Really it seems like a no-brainer, but we’re often asked about the pros of having a studio by the sea. So we wanted to tell you why being in Falmouth gives us our creative edge.
It’s no secret that Cornwall is one of the most beautiful areas of the UK. Our clifftops, our moors, our beaches and our fishing villages welcome tourists aplenty every year (2020 being an exception, of course). People come here to escape – to fill their lungs with fresh air, to get just a glimpse of the more relaxed way of life that we are so lucky to enjoy every day. Being able to pop out on a lunch break and feel sand beneath your feet, the sound of waves breaking and gulls wheeling gives all of us in the studio a clear headspace. On busy days, where work is just as hectic as it would be were we in a city, this privilege to take 5 minutes and experience unbridled nature is paramount to the work we produce.
In a county where outdoor pursuits are king, we’re able to run along the seafront, surf the north coast’s famous waves and hop in the sea for a quick dip every morning. It’s widely known that this sort of outdoor exercise does wonders for mental health – making us a more positive bunch for it.
Creatively, nature and its shapes, movements, and colours have long been perceived as the ultimate inspiration – for artists, writers, and thinkers alike. Spending weekends tramping clifftop footpaths and seeing the coastline constantly changing is testament to this. Every day, our designers and illustrators have these magnificent landscapes in mind, and however abstract it may be, in much of our work you’ll often find an homage to our home county.
Of course, practically is where you would expect us to face the challenges – but we’re pretty happy with that side of things too! Although it’s important for us to meet people face to face, especially when we first start working together, with an ever watchful eye on our environmental impact, we’ve always been keen to make use of technology throughout a project. We catch up with our clients, suppliers and friends in different parts of the world via video call often. It’s never quite as fun as a face-to-face chat over a beer, but if the expense is at that of the planet then we’re happy to forgo a few of those.
We’re also really lucky to have a team that is in love with our landscape – none of us need a car to get to work, and many of us can walk to the office in less than 5 minutes. There’s a lot to be said for impressively short commutes, and many of us take advantage of this extra time by working on creative projects outside of office hours too – whether it be textiles, writing, photography or simply nurturing our allotments.
We’re lucky – very lucky – to be living here, and to see it as a barrier to improving our work and building relationships is simply impossible. If you’d like a slice of Cornwall’s creative ingenuity, pop down and see us! We’ll sink a few Cornish ales on the harbour and show you around our hometown that makes work-life balance and creative thinking oh-so-easy.
