Name: Drew Smith // Passion: Storytelling
Kicktable is thriving to be an inspiration and discovery platform. We are here to get you inspired and excited by the possibilities of life. Every week, we interview the most passionate people who are doing what they love and we ask them very simple questions.
Meet Drew Smith, designer, London host of Creative Mornings & brand strategist at Sense Worldwide.
In one sentence: who are you?
A globe-trotting curiosity follower
What is your passion?
Transforming the world through storytelling. Whether it’s better understanding how money really fits into our everyday lives (something I might do at Sense Worldwide), or helping to inspire other creatives (my job at CreativeMornings/London), in both cases, the power of personal stories to connect us, improve our understanding of each other and how we do business is really exciting.
Current project you are passionate/excited about?
CreativeMornings/London. It’s been an amazing journey so far and, having grown from 5 cities at the beginning of 2011 to 15 in 2012, being part of a global network of inspiring events is super exciting.
How do you get inspired? How do you discover cool things online and offline?
A large part of my work at Sense Worldwide involves conducting ethnographic research and doing a lot of interviews with experts. The ethnographic work means I have the privilege of travelling the world and spending time with people in their homes and cities, understanding how they live, their hopes and fears for the future and their motivations which is pretty amazing.
Interviewing experts allows me to spend some time with some remarkable people, say a designer who worked for Apple or a guy who has developed a social donation platform for global charities, and hear their own perspectives on the problems I’m solving for my clients.
Of course, I do a huge amount of desk research too. Although what I’m looking for always depends on the client, I have a standard list of about 60 blogs that I have in my RSS feed, like Chorus&Echo, that I can always turn to for inspiration.
What experience would you like to see on Kicktable?
A degustation hosted by the Italian automotive designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. Each course, perhaps 10 of them, would be served at tables that had his most iconic designs as their centrepiece, things like the Lamborghini Miura and Fiat Panda. The flavours and the textures of the food would be inspired by the vehicles and Giorgetto could talk us through the inspiration and design process for each vehicle.
Who is the most inspiring passionate person you can think of?
I’ve had the pleasure of spending some time with Chris Bangle, former design director of BMW Group, over the years. Before I met the man, I was inspired by the design-led culture he established at BMW and the innovative automotive design that resulted. Since meeting him, spending a little time shooting the breeze and having him speak at CreativeMornings/London, I’ve been inspired by his intellectual rigour, his articulation of the challenges we face as designers and his ability to manage the creative process.
Best moment/experiences you had in life?
Ha! It’s impossible to look back over the years and pick one moment as the best so, if you’ll allow, I might give you a few:
Hot air ballooning over the English countryside for the silence and the new perspective it offered of something very familiar.
Landing a job at Sense Worldwide and then becoming host of CreativeMornings/London for the experiences and opportunities both have given me.
Working in retail for Apple from 2002 to 2005, just as things started taking off for the company. I learnt about the power of storytelling, authenticity and clarity of vision within a global corporation.
Most inspiring book?
Hmm, tough one. In recent memory, Arabesques: A Taleof Double Lives by Australian author Robert Dessaix. It’s a tale of the author’s discovery of North Africa, Portugal and France in 20th century intermingled with tale of André Gide’s discovery of the same places just before the turn of the 19th century. It’s a beautiful set of observations on human and artistic beauty, travel, sex, love and religion.
Favorite travel destination?
Somewhere I’ve never been before if I’m looking to be inspired. If I just want a holiday, my home city of Sydney is pretty tough to beat. Either there or the Balearic Islands off Spain.
Favorite drinks?
Easy! A Negroni!
Bonus: A cool recent tweet… 09.01.12, The Bathers Pavilion, Balmoral, Sydney. Bit of a crap view really. http://pic.twitter.com/Tn8cDqJq
Additional info:
- Twitter account: @drewpasmith
- Blog: www.downsideupdesign.com
- Website: www.senseworldwide.com and www.creativemornings.com
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Check out this great interview from Kicktable with Drew Smith, our fantastic CreativeMornings/London host!
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