06 Jan 2011: A year to remember
2011 has been a great year for us here at RONIN, and so as we enter 2012 we thought it would be a good idea to reflect on the best bits. Each of us has different memories and highlights and so we’ve listed them individually below.
Steve’s highlights
Wow! What a year. It’s been our busiest and best ever. So there’s plenty to choose from.
1. Joint top has to be the great clients we’ve worked with this year and the way RONIN team has developed in that time. The really fantastic thing is that every one of our clients, new and existing, are a real pleasure to work with: special thanks to Oliver Wight (EAME and AP), Creative FX, Stoneham Kitchens, Ocean Media, Sanderson, EMEC and Reliable Manufacturing. We’ve even had a few old customers come back to us, which is always great. They set us some tough challenges at times but they are always immensely supportive of the team and quick to praise when praise is due – and frankly it is. I know that can only be so because every member of the team here is doing their job properly: Clare, Darren, Milly, Sonny, Laura and Judith are all passionate about getting a result for our clients; and they take it as a personal affront when they don’t. More and more, I see them taking the initiative, tackling new challenges and doing that bit extra to make the clients smile. Seeing them achieve new things is great. Even the interns we were lucky enough to have with us in the summer – Hannah, Amy and Georgia – quickly acclimatised to working life at RONIN. Thank you all.
2. Watching our clients succeed, knowing we had a hand in it
3. Working on the Oliver Wight video and EMEC website
4. Being on the tele with Creative FX
5. Having enough people in the company to have a real Christmas party
On the downside:
1. I have been evicted from my desk in the main office and sent to a quiet corner on my own.
2. I haven’t had nearly enough holiday
Clare’s highlights
2011 has been a great year for me at RONIN. I feel like I’ve made some real achievements, I’ve taken on more responsibility and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it!
These are my top five moments of 2011:
1. Getting Creative FX in to the national press – they were in the Mail on Sunday in February – and on TV. Filming with Fifth Gear, meeting all the guys from the show and watching an old Rover Metro get wrapped in chrome, was a real highlight for me!
2. Building Oliver Wight Asia Pacific’s profile in Australia and across Asia
3. Starting working for Kitchen and Bedroom Transformations – never have I had a more nicely eccentric client!
4. The recent RONIN Christmas fairies, which lived in our office over December and played a starring role in our Christmas e-Card
5. Without a doubt my favourite thing about 2011 was getting more people in the office – first with our lovely interns and now with our two new recruits!
Milly’s highlights
I only started working for RONIN in September, but in the three months I’ve been here, I’ve got some great highlights.
1. Seeing Julie Ireland’s success in print – her picture heading the contents of Kent Profile was a real accomplishment for me.
2. Receiving an influx of cool magazines for Kookeli Research – especially Grey – a so-called magazine, in fact a huge book!
3. Embracing our inner Kookeli’s, thinking of creative slogans, silly fingerprint doodles, and getting carried away with Kookeli as a word. Everything got Kookeli’d!
4. Becoming an ‘expert’ in cloud computing and feeling knowledgeable about the future of IT!
5. My ongoing success at guessing the right year in Radio One’s golden hour and creating our own golden hour thanks to DJ Clare!
6. The changing scenes of Bromley on the way to work – the poppy filled trees, the markets and the Christmas deccies.
Darren’s highlights
I’ve had the opportunity to design lots of great stuff in 2011 and have worked with some great clients.
These are some of my favourite bits:
1. Seeing the Stoneham Kitchens website go live
2. Helping with the re-branding of Oliver Wight (in Europe and Australia), in particular their IBP Exec Guide and ‘Wight Papers’
3. The positive feedback from the Oliver Wight EAME LLP video
4. Working with our Egyptian clients, EMEC. Designing new bags and PDFs for them, and of course getting a stylish new website designed and ready to launch!
5. Designing a new ID and website for Langley
6. Creating a new website for local hockey club, New Beccs
Sonny’s highlights
1. The journey from student to the creative industry!
2. Completing my first live brief, and seeing my designs in print (KABT Ads)
3. Pushing my creative boundaries and working on projects that are completely new to me such as exhibition stands and bags.
4. Receiving the nickname ‘Aladdin’ from the local coffee shop!