Alfred Malmros

After spending 9 months trying to create a communications solution that we knew wouldn’t work, for a product that no one wants, I almost a lot of hope in what I do. An incredible amount of dough is wasted on clients’ behalves - but more depressingly is how much of talented people’s time is wasted.

In those 9 months, with the team and budget we had, we could’ve launched a competitor to the product we were marketing. Fixing all its flaws instead of trying not to talk about them. 

But we didn’t. 

So I thought, why not try to spend the next 9 months of my spare time to try and launch a product. And I did.

But I didn’t launch anything.

I tried to create something I didn’t really know how to do and became too dependent on other people.

I tried to create something too big in scale so it became too big of a leap.

And I focused wholeheartedly, on the plan of the business rather than the business. The blueprint for a house I didn’t know where to put or even why. I just wanted to build a house. 

It was almost as wasteful as the prior example, in that case we still launched something, but I only invested time, not any money.

So for 2012 - launch a business - then plan it. Reversed order to make it right.

The core purpose of this blog (still feels weird saying it) is reflection. To reflect on my work, the wider context of it (the communications industry) but also, about what has come to be what really inspires me: To start a business. 

During the last 6 months, pretty much since the moment I got my wonderful Kindle, I’ve been going deeper and deeper into the phenomenon startup, I’ve read too much of the literature, I have Techcrunch and the usual suspects in the RSS feed and I’ve drafted a few business plans. But still not a business.

Why? 

Topic for the next post.

My project One Thousand Cranes for Japan has been nominated for Design Museum’s Designs of the Year 2012. Can still not really believe it and looking at the competition is humbling - we will never win but it is an incredible honour. The site isn’t live anymore bur you can read more about the project over on Dezeen.  

Facebook’s timeline made me realise, that the more public and open the platform has become over the years, the less I have used it for reflection. I used to report about both sad and happy times, about the struggles during projects, not just the end results.

Now Facebook is like a social CV - which means you only share the good and inoffensive bits.

It’s not a big problem, and I don’t wish for Facebook to necessarily change. I just need to switch things around. My blog used to be a broadcasting tool - I used it to tell the world about something - to openly reflect or document processes -  but it became too public. Now when Facebook (and Twitter, but it has always been) is too public, I’ll start a blog again for the more personal stuff. As Ben said, “no one reads blogs anymore” - perfect.

Now I don’t have to worry, because people will actively have to search this stuff out - something that people who care about me and what I do hopefully will. And I was 

So here’s to a new blog.

A music video I did at Anomaly for Sony Music. My concept and strategy.

Read more on Mashable, PSFK, The Fader, Creative Review, AdWeek and The Next Web. Visit the campaign site and watch the call to entries video here.

Winner of a Social Buzz Award.

Shortlisted for a Tomorrow Award.

A project I did at Anomaly in support for the disaster in Japan. 

It was based on a beautiful Japanese tradition tells that a wish may be granted in response to someone with the devotion to fold one thousand origami cranes. It is commonly done to support people who have fallen ill to wish them a swift recovery.

We asked famous artists, illustrators and photographers to create designs that could be made into origami cranes.

A donation to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund allowed you to download a design that printed works as a piece of origami paper. Turning ordinary white printer paper into something special and symbolic, something of value that you can use to contemplate and reflect upon the tragedy when folding your own crane.

So far we have collected almost £3,500 and folded over 1100 paper cranes.

Read more on Dezeen, Hypebeast, Design Taxi and PSFK.

Visit the site here.