Great scott! I can’t quite believe it but 2011 is done & dusted and 2012 is upon us, and what a year it was. It really has been a roller coaster of a year for me, some incredible highs with some lows, but I wouldn’t change it for the world, because in those 365 days I learnt a great deal about myself and the world around me, made some fantastic friends and spent time with old ones. Reading the year summery I wrote last year, I was intent on getting a better balance of life / work and I really think I’ve achieved that this year, I feel much more focused and feel liberated because of taking a more relaxed approach to making things in my own time.
So then, what was I up to in 2011 then?
Well, I celebrated an entire decade of ‘being’ JamFactory, which felt fantastic and was celebrated in style thanks to the very kind Gav Hoffman sending me a surprise cake to mark the occasion! I never thought I’d still be here putting out work under the name of JamFactory when I plucked the name out of thin air as a sprightly and stupid 19-year-old, but here I am, here’s to the next ten years eh!?
I got the chance to try my hand at more offline stuff, particularly venturing deeper into the world of customising vinyl toys, from Lunartik’s Mini Tea to A Little Stranger’s Cavey plush. I got super lucky when I got the chance to customise a ‘Spy vs Spy’ toy as part of MAD magazines 50 year celebrations for the iconic character, that was a real honour.
Speaking of luck and honour, us in Aardman Digital have been fortunate enough to win a few awards this year for our work on various projects, we picked up 2 Royal Television Society awards in March, I was lucky enough to be nominated in The Critter web awards under the category of ‘The Next big thing’ but I didn’t walk away with the award (maybe i can just claim the title of just ‘The next thing’?) but the thing that blew us all away was that we won the accolade of all accolades… a BAFTA! But not one, flipping’ two! In May we won one for our work on Wallace & Gromit’s World of invention website and in November we won a Childrens BAFTA for our work on the Tate Movie Project site. Needless to say we’re still all pretty shellshocked about that, the 2 golden masks resting proudly in the Digital studio!
I didn’t do as many talks this year but the ones I was fortunate to give were fantastic, myself and Dan (Efergan - Creative Director of Aardman Digital) spoke at Bristols first TEDx event, alongside such legends as Sir Richard Noble and Imogen Heap! I also got the opportunity to collaborate with an old friend, Andy McMillan, the man responsible for the much-loved BUILD conferences held in Belfast each year. He brought me out to Northern Ireland to give a talk entitled “An evening with Gavin Strange” AKA “Build. Break. Do. Make” as part of the run-up to the main BUILD 2011 conference. For me, It was the best talk I’ve ever given, I enjoyed it so much and really felt at ease. I’m hugely thankful to Andy for getting me out there and make it all possible, I won’t forget that talk, I can’t wait to visit Belfast again.
There was so much that happened in 2011 that I didn’t expect, from raising over £1,000 for staying silent and only communicating in pictures for 24 hours, in aid of Comic Relief to fooling the good people of the internet with the release of my latest vinyl toy ‘Windlets’ in April. From doing some live art with The Dead Sea Mob to getting some new artwork to my feet (I commissioned the awesome Ollie Munden to design a skull for each foot and boy did he deliver, I’m the proud owner of the pretties feet in Bristol in my humble opinion!)
The biggest thing that happened to me and the factory of Jam was the completion and release of my fixed gear bicycle film ‘BÖIKZMÖIND’. (A huge shout out to my co-filmer & co-editor Jonny Clooney here!). What started as just an idea for a 2 minute web edit turned into a 30-minute long documentary which premiered to over 300 people outdoors on the BBC Big Screen in the centre of Bristol and has organised screenings in over 30 locations around the world with many more planned! The positive response really has been truly overwhelming and has lead to some incredible opportunities; I did a TV interview the night before the premiere on BBC Regional news including a live link-up at the premiere location and also went on BBC Radio Bristol to talk about the film and fixed gear bikes in general. It wasn’t all roses though, as during the making of it I was burgled and everything taken from my flat, including all my camera equipment and my Mac. Then months later my beloved bicycle itself was stolen, so 2011 really has had its shares of ups and downs.
The most magnificent of opportunities that presented itself last year was thanks to the wonder of the Internet and social media. Kyle Snarr, New Business Director of design agency Struck out in Salt Lake City, Utah found my work online years ago thanks to Will Beaumont, an old friend from Leicester. Kyle had followed my stuff and heard about BÖIKZMÖIND from me banging on about it online, he thought that Salt Lake City would be a great place to screen the film. Thanks to excited emails back and forth that screening turned into an opportunity for me to fly out to SLC, screen the film and give a design talk, backed by the SLC chapter of AIGA, the American Institute of Graphic Arts! Wow, simply put, it was the most incredible trip I’ve ever been on. I made so many new friends, saw so many new sights (Being sat in the Utah mountains with 44,000 other people watching a college football game is something I’ll never forget!) and I was overwhelmed with the positivity and inspiration I received from being there. Thank you to Kyle, Tim and all at Struck, AIGA and beyond that made that trip come to life, I’m truly humbled by it all.
So, there you have it, what a year! I’ve been very fortunate to have such a great 2011, thank you to you all for making that possible. I want to thank those friends and family who’ve pulled me through the tough points of the year too, their support and love means more than anything else, because really that’s what it’s about isn’t it. You can push as many pixels as you like, but if you don’t have the love and support of your friends, family & dear ones then it’s worthless.
To borrow a phrase from someone dear to my heart;
“Here’s to shared experiences and making memories”
Thank you for reading, here’s to 2012.
- Gav