Moving Brands

<3 Jim

Cofounder Jim left us this farewell note (made of play-doh) at Moving Brands SF yesterday. He returns to London after a long stint at our busy new US studio. It was great having him!

Moving Brands Inc. wants YOU!

Moving Brands San Francisco wants to find some wonderful bright sparks to join the team. We’re looking for creative types at all levels to become part of our dynamic, independent, global, award-winning, branding company in the West coast studio.

We invite interested parties to send over portfolios/websites/CVs and an interpretation of the MB logo to sf (at) movingbrands (dot) com. No agencies please!!

Highly caffeinated retail

As part of our initiation to San Francisco life, MB Londoners Ying and I were taken to Sight Glass – the hot, new pit stop for Californian coffee addicts. Sight Glass has a pop-up feel to it, as the coffee shop proper and roastery is built up around it. A wooden bench in the entrance catches the morning sun and the succinct menu includes the Hooker Mocha – so far SoMa. What really makes this place special, however, is their early adoption of Square – a tiny plug in card reader for the iPhone and iPad. Square, based in San Francisco, allows you to “Start accepting cash and card payments. No contracts, monthly fees, or hidden costs. Effortlessly manage the money you take with an easy and intuitive interface”. Receipts are also sent directly to your phone or email.  Find out more here.  Seeing the new business model in action is really exciting – it frees retail from a fixed back-end without resorting to cash-only, creates an instant digital connection with their customers, and allows stores to easily be where their customers are, however transient that may be.

iPad for a moving world

The U.S. iPad launch went off without a hitch over this past weekend.  At the Apple store in downtown San Francisco, lines were wrapping around the block with hungry customers.  MB SF got in on the action — here’s Ben (CEO) in the middle of it all, reacting to the excitement.

Gachapin visits SF

Here at MB San Francisco, it’s been a very busy week with many international visitors, such as Geoff and Toby from the UK, and Gachapin from Japan. (That’s Gachapin checking out the view from our roof.) He was sent by Aki Shelton at MB Tokyo, and now is a resident of all four studios. We’re very pleased to have him around, thanks Aki!

By the way, this is Marian, blogging from MB SF, and I’m very happy to be contributing to the Moving Brands blog. You can also find me online at my graphic design site BuildHappy. BuildHappy is a community-fed project—created to showcase designer’s personalities and inspire discovery and play through simple fun assignments. Take a peek and have a great weekend!

Moving Brands San Francisco Officially Launched!

Today activities to mark the official launch of Moving Brands Inc, San Francisco begin. To the left you can see a photo of our new studio, with CEO and founder Ben Wolstenholme, in the foreground. Apparently Ben has already been helping MB SF members with some cultural learnings – starting with English language (”naff”, “jumpers”, etc) and the Americans have reciprocated with classics such as “git ‘er done”, “for sure”. It’s clearly a learning curve on both sides. For lots more information about the new studio and Ben Wolstenholme, please check out the ‘Press‘ section of our website.

Extreme spectating

Two weeks ago was the Maverick’s big wave surf contest – a break at Half Moon Bay, just 30 minutes south of the San Francisco studio. Some of the biggest waves in history were recorded, with faces reaching 50 ft. According to reports, “Thirteen people were injured, with two immediately taken to hospitals. Eleven others were being treated at the beach for injuries including a couple broken legs and broken hands”. And that was just the spectators! Such were the force of the waves, that even supporters were smacked by rogue waves. Watch a film from the contest here.

Proudly announcing: Moving Brands Inc.

In conjunction with the piece in today’s Design Week, we are pleased to officially announce the launch of our new studio in San Francisco. Moving Brands’ CEO and founder, Ben Wolstenholme (pictured), moved with his family to live full-time in the city in early 2010. The new Moving Brands studio, located in San Francisco’s eclectic SOMA neighborhood, will enable us to service the fast moving needs of our West Coast clients as well as the wider U.S. market. The San Francisco studio is our fourth global division, with studios already in London, Tokyo and Zurich.

Keep checking back to the MB blog for further updates of the launch as it rolls out state-side.

Postcard from Moving Brands Inc.

Our General Manager, Diane Harwood, in San Francisco has been following the final stages of the rebuilding of the Bay Bridge. On the BLDGblog, Bay Area architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello have called for stabilizing the disused – and soon to be entirely dismantled – portion of the Bay Bridge. They propose turning it into a pedestrianized urban park and outdoor sports attraction. As our urban centres bulge with an ever-increasing population, the re-purposing of existing, heavy-load bearing structures becomes a vital skill when dealing with the cataclysmic change of our moving world.

On a lighter note, Diane has also been enjoying this hyper-American collection of chrome logos.