Gareth Rutter on LinkedIn: Hi When I was told we were moving to Devon from Manchester when I was 15… (2024)

Love this from Barclays. Smart, cheap and direct to their customers. The cost of this little pop up vs a branch in a small market town. Love it. Located in a pannier market in my old schools market town of Tavistock.

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My holiday reading for this week, a really interesting argument for improvisation, happy accidents and great work coming from less than perfect environments.Love the book, highly recommend it. Sometimes mess is best!

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I find it baffling when pitching for work or freelance. That in a lot of cases you don’t have an example that is very close to what someone wants to achieve you’re discounted. It’s like not going to a great restaurant because they don’t serve a certain dish.

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I spent a wonderful breakfast this morning surrounded by a group of fellow agency founders, hosted by the affable and delightful James Horwitz from Two Times Elliott. Arranged by James, it was an informal forum to share advice, fears, desires, problems and has been something that for me has been somewhat lacking. Candid advice, support and camaraderie. It can be lonely especially when times are hard and this was a real tonic for a Monday morning.It was interesting to hear from other founders, find common ground and eat James's excellent home made bagels. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone else who attended and especially to James for bringing a great idea to life!Here's to the next one!

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An important part of our creative process Bellow is taking in all forms of inspiration. Be it music, food, art, experiences or my favourite, art. This week to recharge my heart, soul and creative spirit. I spent some time at the Serpentine shows. Both were mesmerising.The first show by Judy Chicago, new to me, a revelation. A pioneer of the feminist art movement. Her work centres around the absence and erasure of womens experiences in western culture.It was powerful, thought provoking, difficult and magical. Like all great art is.One of the pieces stuck with me, in her series ‘If Women ruled the world’ it questioned it all buildings would look like wombs. Not the steel and glass phalluses that grace/blight delete as appropriate our skylines. So it made me think the same about design. What if the patriarchic structures didn’t exist in design. What would be different? Traditional studio power structures, approach, equality, studio culture etc. In my own personal experience the best workplace I ever worked at Household was run by three women. Michelle Du-Prât Julie Oxberry and at the time I was there Sarah Page I’ve never been treated more fairly, had more understanding around my mental health. Support in general was in abundance. It wasn’t of course perfect, nothing ever is, but it’s the closest I’ve seen to a studio of creative harmony. I’m curious to know other peoples thoughts are on this. What do you think would be different?

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Being lucky enough to be the current master of my own working patterns and places. Today's workspace is Crystal Palace Park, in the shade, as the home office is far too hot. Being surrounded by nature and the sounds of humanity is such a nice tonic for the creative process.And I have an exciting call with Lagos shortly to see if we can take Bellow to another new continent!

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I spent a wonderful afternoon yesterday with my kids sifting through the cornucopia of weird collections submitted by people and curated by Hetain Patel. From a cabinet of used erasers collected by a school teacher, which had a strange solemn poignancy to it. To a flock carpet covered Ford Escort. The weird, the wonderful, the whimsical and the farcical all jostling for attention in a lovingly curated space, using a disused building Croydon by Artangel There was also a beautifully poingnant film document and tying together some of these collectors and diehard enthusiasts in a powerful paean to both togetherness and otherness. I couldn’t recommend the show enough. A real cavalcade of curios to suprise and delight. https://lnkd.in/ePtjU9BY

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As it’s my 44th birthday today. My eldest made me a ham and cheese omelette this am.One of the greatest gifts I ever received was the skills to cook. They have served me a lifetime and helped me cultivate and explore a passion for food. From the dirtiest burger to the finest tasting menu.Very much like my creative career, my food interests have always been high or low, always avoiding the dross in the middle. The best stuff is always near the edges. Like the old classic Kurt Vonnegut quote‘I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.’And an ever wandering and restless mind has allowed me to explore a lot of my culinary interests, my biggest regret being I never got my ice cream startup off the ground. Passing down skills and having an open and curious mind has not only served me well in food and allows me to accept and revel in the education from others. But is a great way to approach design and indeed life too. Be open minded, question things, know you don’t know everything and have a childlike wonder for the world. ✌🏻

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Where quirky brand language goes to die... the back of an envelope.I love a bit of quirk, especially being fairly quirky myself, but this just falls a bit flat.When quirk becomes cringe.

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