To celebrate after a year of hard work, Air had its hotly anticipated Christmas party at a posh pad in Dorset last week. ‘To the Manor Born’ was the theme this time around, so there was tweed, flat caps and pearls aplenty (as well as caviar and gravadlax darling). Jolly good!

So all that’s left to be said is a very merry Christmas to all of our lovely staff, suppliers and clients, and here’s to a great 2012!

Why were we there? – well it looks like we might be setting up a local operation in Shanghai to complement our London and Moscow offices. We met with loads of people during our short 5 day trip, which included a 24 hour whistle stop tour of Wuhan, a provincial city with the same population as Central London! Thanks to everyone for your hospitality and advice. We learned a huge amount, least of all how determined, hard working and ambitious the Chinese people are.

The speed at which they can put major infrastructure projects together made me want to cry – particularly when in the UK we’ve been debating Crossrail for decades – in Shanghai, they’d just knock it out in a couple of years. A lot of that has to do with the decision making process at the governmental level which the Chinese system allows to happen much faster. And of course the money is there for the capital investment.

10 years ago there were no malls in Shanghai. Now there are many and with the trend now towards mixed use developments, the competition between destinations will be stepping up. We think there’s a strong market where we could really make a difference.

Oh yes and we wouldn’t be British without a nicely understated comment about the local weather. QUITE WARM with a touch of HUMIDITY!

Alan

Arriving under the pretense of a quiet drink in the studio, Ian was quickly whisked to the Magic Circle venue in Euston, where an assortment of family, friends and ex-colleagues were assembled ready to surprise him. Once a drink was firmly in hand, we went up to the theatre for some magic (well, that’s what Ian thought). In fact, we had prepared a ‘This Is Your Life’ style presentation, with input from childhood and college friends, family and colleagues (all complimented by some wonderful old photos – thanks Glenda!). Embarrassment over, we presented him with his own personal This Is Your Life red hardback book before sitting back to watch some magic and eat and drink the night away.

Thank you to everybody who came, the Wright family, the Magic Circle and those at Air for their efforts in the run up to the party. You all made it a great night. Now it just leaves us to say good luck to Ian; we wish you all the best for your retirement, it’s been a pleasure working with you and you’ll be greatly missed!

So firstly, to the new. Seán O’Mara has recently joined as our new Design Director. With a varied and illustrious career, we’re confident that Seán is the man to steer the creative direction of our numerous and diverse projects (pat yourself on the back HR!). He’s also a bit of an adventurer… Having climbed Mount Kilimanjaro last year, this summer he will be tackling Mount Elbrus in Russia, the second of the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge! If ever there was an excuse for a bit of graphic design, Seán will be marking his arrival at the peak with this beauty:

I’m sure you will all be meeting him in the upcoming months as he settles in and takes on more projects. Welcome Seán and we hope you enjoy your time at Air!

So who indeed is Seán replacing? Well, it’s with great sadness that we will soon be saying goodbye to our Design Director Ian Wright. After founding Air with Alan Robertson, Managing Director, back in 1998, Ian is now retiring to spend more time with his family and enjoy the finer things in life. He has been an indispensible member of the team over the last thirteen years, overseeing projects all over the world for law firms, transport operators, property developers, corporate organisations and a whole host more. You’ll be greatly missed Ian and we wish you all the best for your retirement!

It’s been a busy start to the year at the Air studios, and with so much going on it seemed only right that we have a little blog about it.

At the beginning of the year work got underway on the development of signage, environmental graphics, touchscreens and interiors for Nový Smíchov, a Ségécé mall in central Prague. We’ve been beavering away at the new Pinsent Masons office in London, where we’ve almost completed the wayfinding and environmental graphics throughout the sixteen level building. Our signage re-design for Russian Railways is also ongoing, with our solution set to direct over a billion passengers each year in several languages.

We’ve also just got back from MIPIM, the global property expo in Cannes. After a busy week of meetings we’ve got lots of work to do, but it was great to meet lots of new faces as well as seeing some old ones again! Thanks everyone for your time, see you at MAPIC in November…

Finally, we’re pleased to announce that we have a newbie in the studio in the shape of Jodie, our new Junior Graphic Designer. We all wish you a warm welcome!

]]> http://www.airblog.tv/2011/03/14/spring-is-in-the-air/feed/ 0 http://www.airblog.tv/2010/02/03/its-a-baby/ http://www.airblog.tv/2010/02/03/its-a-baby/#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:43:08 +0000 admin http://www.airblog.tv/?p=132

Everyone at Air would like to say a big congratulations to Lynne and Andy on their new baby girl Scarlett Grace Miles. Both mother and baby are doing just fine. Its just a shame that Scarlett doesn’t share her mum’s surname of Parnell. Otherwise she would be, wait for it… Scarlett ‘Pimp’ Parnell!

Back to the day job I think…

Air made a special trip the Isle of Wight for a pirate themed day of looting, pillaging and orienteering?!