All Things Optic: January 2025
So, that's January wrapped already 🤯
A productive month with the added bonus of getting muddy between meetings…
It's been a great start to 2025. Although the new year provides a new start, it's been rewarding to see many of our existing projects completed, with a range of new websites, brands and videos delivered after months in the making.
We’ve completed the design of a new website for a new eco-home development which we had the pleasure of branding last year. It’s a project we’re really proud of and can’t wait to share more of when launched in the coming weeks.
In addition, our work for Evaluagent continues to be rolled-out, with a refreshed brand identity, application of this to their existing website, expo stand design and comprehensive suite of supporting assets all delivered. This has been a huge project for us – one that began back in the summer and still continues now, with work in progress across a range of additional items. Another one that we can’t wait to share as a full case study soon.
Overseas, we are close to delivering a new brand film for a long-standing US-based client, which will be the first of a suite of videos and animations. We can’t say too much about this one just yet but it’s one we’re really excited about.
With the financial year end on the horizon, we’re in full-on planning mode, working with our clients to prepare for our upcoming work on multiple Annual Report & Sustainability Report designs. We have a great team in place who are raring to go on these projects, with this year marking our tenth of Annual Report design for our long-standing client, Tideway. You can see the finished design for last year’s report here.
Away from the desk (and at it, too, with a smart trainer squeezed under my standing desk), I managed to fit in just over 200 miles on the bike throughout the month, though with much of this being through treacle-like mud (always a joy to clean!), I’ve been told a better parameter is to focus on time – so on that basis, January came to a total of 18 hours. The aim is >10 hours per week leading up to the first event in April (the 200km Dirty Reiver in Cumbria, in case you were wondering) so there’s work to be done on that front.
A mix of snow, floods, frost, rain and as a result, mud (lots of mud!) made fitting in the miles a bit harder than usual but as always, getting out in the elements proved to have its benefits. Productivity always feels higher on a day with a ride squeezed in – even if lycra has had to appear in one or two Teams meetings.
A hectic but brilliant day trip to Copenhagen demonstrated how can be achieved in 20 hours, despite the added challenge of Storm Éowyn to contend with (Britain’s strongest storm in 10 years, according to the Met Office). I’ll save this bit for another post but making time for these kind of trips and tying them in with meetings and / or relevant events is proving hugely beneficial in terms of both productivity and creativity.
It feels great to have some challenging goals set this year, both in and out of work. I’m aiming to share monthly updates on these both here and on my LinkedIn account – if nothing else to hold myself to account for the upcoming goals!
