Blood, Sweat & Tears

I studied at Leeds College of Art and Design many moons ago and so when one of these final year degree shows turn up I like to pop over and see what the new crop of creatives has to show. This year was nothing less of what you'd expect from LCAD, a really inspiring show from a range of creative disciplines. We had a swift run round after the talk by Jimmy Choo at Creative Networks. Since it was so late on in the evening it meant turning back on some of the lights to see the exhibitions, but we weren't disappointed when we did.

Image © Leeds College of Art and Design

One of the best exhibits we saw was by an illustrator called Claire Pullan. She had some absolutely fantastic illustrative work on display and a ton of MOO cards with her artwork on, so we took one of each design. Check out her artwork here:

http://www.clairepullan.co.uk/

Jimmy Choo Shoes

Wow, what a thrill to see Professor Jimmy Choo OBE live and in person! ...and what a humble person he is too. Every seat in the lecture theatre was taken at Creative Networks (a great new monthly Networking event in Leeds that hosts talks by top-notch industry gurus like Jimmy).

Image © Creative Networks

The son of a Malaysian shoemaker Jimmy climbed to fame and is known the world over for his beautifully crafted shoes. His shoes have been strutted around in by pop-stars, celebs and royalty (even the late princess Diana herself had shoes especially made for her!)

Image © Creative Networks

It was mesmerising to listen to him speak about his journey and I think the most important point he made, when he was imparting his knowledge and experience to the audience, is that determination is the key! When he first set out in his career he explained how important it is to get your name on your work, to be recognised and be credited for your work. Don't let other's take advantage.

He said, "You must INSIST!" Insist that your name is put on your work. Insist that you are given credit for your hard work!

An audience with Prof. Jimmy Choo OBE - what an absolute treat!

Inspiring Yorkshire's Young Minds

We were invited to pay Yorkshire Forward a visit to share some of our experiences and help inspire young future entrepreneurs from local primary schools. Young Enterprise Forum and their campaign, "Enterprising Yorkshire - Inspiring Young Minds", is an exciting initiative which aims to "make Yorkshire and Humber the leading region in the UK for Enterprise Education."

Kooji does Bangkok!

During the exciting IIFA weekend, Kooji was in Thailand to witness the event first hand. Mingling with the stars and dedicated fans of Indian Cinema, we saw behind the scenes of the awards ceremony as well as the glitzy fashion show, film premiere and media conferences.