The Year that was

Well it's that time of year again when people reflect on the year that is slowly losing it's grip. This year has been difficult for everyone. Financially the recession has hit and it's been all doom and gloom, if the media is anything to go by. For us experiencing a recession for the first time it was initially quite daunting. While we are not fully out of it, we seem to have weathered the storm.

I think what has been different from previous recessions has been access to information. People have been able to look historically to see what happened before and what brands came out stronger from these recessions. From our experiences. People seem to be looking at their businesses and brands ever so slightly differently. It's now seems to be a case of looking broadly as to how a business can contribute to society rather than only making money. It has been really exciting to explore this new way of working with people through the strategy and branding process. For us personally it has been something that has been integrated into Hoffi from the beginning.



Having setup NakedWales - a community space that allows for artists and designers to share information. We set it up with the idea of raising the overall profile of design in Wales. With this added awareness we hoped to raise the overall perceived importance of Design. With the idea of raising standards and exposure of design. In a similar way the recent work I have been involved in through ARK which has been set up to try and answer some of the current social issues.

Finally one thing I really need to remember is when attending launch events I need to take home the goodie bags.