The Most Influential Design Studio in the WORLD!

Unlike many designers who I have met over the years, I don't profess to have been overly influenced by any record sleeves or a particular designer or any fashion movement, I am very sad in the sense that I grew up spinning on my head, watching kung fu movies and trying to master the 1/4 inch punch, whilst evading the Master of the Flying Slipper - aka Mum and her side kick, the Master of Flying Spray Can, my brother Zulf Ali.

I would like to add that I managed to get through Uni without touching a Mac, it was all about omnicroms and color copying and omnicromining on to color copies back then. My first mac was a second hand Performa and like any curious kid, my first task was to open it up and see what was inside.. lots of dust.

Coming into the creative industry in the mid 90's I found Neville Brody and David Carsons creative style very attractive, but for me it was a wallpaper covered design book that became my reference book for all matters relating to life, a book called Noise 2; that would over the next 12 years influence an intricate career path and plonk me in front of the creative legend James Sommerville!

As a designer and founder of a design studio myself, Attiks influence has been pivotal. I was obsessed to work for them and in between career jumps I came very close. After submitting a rather comical letter of application I was asked to come for an interview, which resulted in several sleepless nights and a very nervous entrance to the then Huddersfield HQ. I kept my composure, had a laugh and joke with the team and got shown around, but alas there was no job.They just wanted to meet the author of the letter (I had threatened to kidnap their creative director if they didn't interview me), I left on high with half a dozen ATTIK posters under my arm - Jackpot!

At my various jobs I progressed from junior designer, to designer, to senior designer to studio manager to Creative Director, always taking influence from the design stars and keeping a very close eye on Attiks development, and much like the rest of us felt a little let down with Noise 4. It wasn't until 2 years ago when I started my own studio Reach BCS; that the full gravity of Attiks achievements hit home. Their scale and success now seemed more impressive, so with renewed focus and armed with a positive attitude I forged ahead with my then business partner Robert Hand. Together we grew from a duo to a team of 26 in 24 months and then it all turned Pete Tong. My beloved Reach, my dream was becoming a fast food studio, get em' in and out, we've got bills to pay, wages to pay, we haven't got time to spend on this project, that client is full of sh*t etc - it was at this point I had a light go on in my head, since I've modeled my creative aspirations on the Attik - they must have faced these problems? maybe they can help?

I did a bit of research and found a video on the CIDS site of James Sommerville giving a talk about their ups and downs, he looked approachable enough. So I wrote my tale and as before I mailed it in. To my surprise I got a reply from Hilary, telling me James was traveling the world and wasn't available for 6 months, well I certainly wasn't going anywhere so I thanked Hilary for her reply and explained as passionately as possible that I was willing to wait, willing to travel, willing to fly to meet James anywhere, anytime, anyhow... It was obviously my lucky day, Hilary took pity on me and scheduled me in to meet James in 8 weeks time.

As you can imagine I was very excited about this meeting - it felt like a designers pilgrimage. I went about my business gathering my thoughts, thinking of uber cool designery type questions to ask James, and then the day arrived.

I turned up at the Leeds HQ and I couldn't believe I was about to meet the MAN, I was actually sat in the Attik offices again (and they are cool offices) thumbing through the Creative Review, going over my questions in my head. I was told James was running late and he would be with me soon enough, I was totally lapping up the atmosphere and enjoying the anticipation.

Anyway I was summoned to the board room, 3 flights of stairs in to a bright office with beautiful red walls and ornate frames featuring choice pieces of artwork. Enter James Sommerville - he's taller than I thought! Firm handshake and very pleasant. Flippin eck' he's not a one of those shirty business types at all! I had to actually apologies to James because I couldn't stop grinning and must have looked scary. So down to business, I thanked James for taking the time to meet me and explained how much of an influence the Attik had been in my career, and how much of big deal this day was for me. I forgot my questions and began by sharing my business challenges and aspirations. James patiently listened and openly shared his advice in relation to the problems the Attik had faced at various stages of its business life, issues with staff, relocation, expansion, clients, competition, new business - and funnily enough it mirrored much of what I was going through, only I was going through it all at once. Much of what he discussed was on the video on the CIDS website, only I had the opportunity to ask more detailed questions.

What was scheduled as a 30 minute meeting turned into a 90 minute one-on-one mentoring session with James and his insights and experience absolutely bowled me over. I had overlooked the simplest things and in my ignorance was letting 'my' business slip away - another light bulb flickered in my head! James' advice helped me understand the gravity of what I had in front of me, what I had accomplished in a very short time, and through sharing his own experiences I began to see a clear way through my challenges. It was a powerful moment of realization. Well my time was up, we both had businesses to run and I had some serious soul searching to do, I had finally come full circle with the Attik and this time left the Attik studios, with a fresh sense of purpose!

After some very blunt discussion with my family, I had come to a major decision - me and my business partner of 2 years had to part ways. If I was to salvage my sanity and continue to develop as an entrepreneur I had to return back to my roots, quality over quantity, a creative work environment, a place of energy, focus and action. Going in to business and growing at a rapid pace had taken its piece my creative soul and I was going to get it back. Rapid growth felt very glamorous when I was in the mix cruising in my Range Rover Sport, but it takes a lot of nerve and experience to manage that level of growth, workflow, finances and cashflow. Experience I didn't have and yet we managed to keep stumbling forward, somehow making the right(ish) choices but it was taking its toll.

I had to make my choice and calmly explained my rational to my business partner and he was feeling much the same way. After an amicable split I retained the brand and the staff were free to choose which way to go. Thankfully the majority stayed put but I had to scale down. At 26 staff to pay something had to give. Like the Attik I scaled down to my core staff, the team that have worked together since pretty much day one. We regrouped and set our objectives, we set our limitations and our core services and I learned probably the biggest lesson of all, saying 'No'. If your good, you will get work, more work than you can handle, and that was our problem, we couldn't say No, No was bad, No went against everything we knew. But when I started saying No we began to realize our core strengths and thankfully we still have more work that we can handle.

There are some vital business lessons I learned which I would like to share.

1. You will be surprised at how approachable seemingly Godlike designers are, and the majority of them are more than willing to help you out. This applies to business people in general; they are generous with their knowledge, but be sure to return their time should they need help, very important!

2. Ask for advice, ask for advice even if you don't need it. I was always told to keep your ideas to yourself, don't tell anyone, that's how you succeed. What a load of bollocks. Making money is a team sport, show me a millionaire who did it all by himself, it doesn't happen. Share your ideas, express your concerns, help people out, It will come back to you ten-fold.

3. Be decisive. As creatives we live on gut instinct and I have learned to trust mine. There's a difference between a knee jerk reaction and gut instinct ;and once you've learned to distinguish between the two and act on what you know is right, you will be much happier and your career path and business decisions will be clearer.

4. Speak your mind. This one is a big lesson for me. The amount of people I have come across in business, newbies and experienced folk alike who dread speaking their mind, fearing it will lead to a confrontational situation. I don't think you can truly get to know someone until you have had a good argument with them. Just because you've raised your voice or defended your position, it doesn't make you a bad person and it certainly doesn't mean that you must damage your relationship. If its causing you grief, either deal with it and put it to bed, or let the beast out and speak your mind. I've found that you get a lot more accomplished once you've had a ding dong with however you upset with. Never be afraid to speak your mind!

So thanks to the Attik, thanks to James Sommerville, thanks to my ex-business partner and thanks to CIDS! If anyone needs advice from me, I've got some impressive battle scars and I would love to share my experiences.

Aftab Ali
Founder of Reach BCS

design@reachbcs.com
http://www.ReachBCS.com

Aftab Ali
Creative Director and founder

Reach BCS
Brand Communication Solutions

Business of the Year
ICT Innovation Award

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