Monday, June 12, 2006

First Day Butterflies

June 12, 2006

Ahhhhhhh... Monday morning. Slightly cool and overcast - just the way I like it! My first day of work. Finally time to start earning my keep.

Well, not quite yet. As one might expect from the previous night of events, the scratched eye hurt a bit this morning (but it was tons better than Sunday night). Having left off with the eyeball adventures, last night, that's where we'll start today.

Jim volunteered to meet me Monday morning to walk me to the eye clinic (notice all these acts of kindness. He must know I'm blogging. Just kidding). Thanks Jim. We walked several blocks to the eye care clinic. We actually arrived 30-45 minutes early so we'd be first in line (the place opens at 8:30). Well, turns out that bit of a wait was well worth it, because I ended up being 2nd in line (of 15?)... checking in, visiting the doctor and checking out – all well within 10 minutes or less. Public healthcare baby! It's the best (it was that morning, anyway).

Now... i can finally start my SUMO day.

I eventually made it into the office for my first workday with the SUMO crew. I'd met most folks at the dinner party the night before, but I still made my introductions and took a quick look around the office.

First of all, SUMO has a pretty cool space, but it's definitely more "intimate" than I'm used to. Designer's work areas, production areas, conference room (with display of past works!) and... a giant robot in the courtyard? The hell? Fantastic! It's good to see they work in an environment where everyone is happy to work side by side (literally). It allows free flow discussion and idea sharing (although I'm sure it can lead to just as much interruptions). I can't wait to join in.

Okay, this is for all the designers out there who will all share my pain: I really miss my old computer, mouse, chair, application preferences, etc. It's so hard to move into someone else's workstation. I'm so used to my setup at Brains. No big deal, really. Just thought I'd whine a bit (sorry, Michael, if I've screwed up your setup. I'll do my best to put everything as I found it before I leave).









As far as the work goes, I'm working on the new visual/conceptual theme for the Durham Literature Festival. It's pretty open-ended (which I'm not really accustom to). It's a project for a really cool client who allows SUMO to really spread their creative wings (which I see they regularly do, so I'm feeling the pressure). I've got to clear the cobwebs from my head and bring some truly inspiring (or at least "cool") ideas to the table. I spent all day sketching (which felt great too – Having the opportunity to just brainstorm with pen and paper). Something good's bound to come of it, right?


After work, a few of us gathered at a nearby shop, Elektrik Sheep, which sells cool, artsy, designer limited edition shirts and prints and stuff. I think the shirts are £60 or something. Yeesh! The special event was a small showing of artwork by the likes of Jamie Hewlitt, Banksy, D*Face,and others. There were some nice pieces there, but they were all seriously expensive (and placed too high on the walls for me to steal. Kidding of course). BUT, they did offer free drinks. Yep, small, artsy shops with no space know how to keep the art kids flowing in.










Once we'd had enough of that, we just setoff for dinner and stopped for drinks here and there. Nothing you'd wanna read about (unlike the pure poetry I've been writing for the past couple of days). Well, there was Jim's mocking my American accent version of "cheers!"... even if it was accidental. Pretty funny stuff. I'm glad we had a chance to hang out, chit-chat and get know each other a little better.



All for now. G'night.

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Man. All looks great. The SUMO setup doesn't seem TOO bad. The giant freakin robot makes up for any annoying stuff you'd have to deal with.
Super jealous of you seeing all the cool artsy/design stuff. Was the Gorillaz Stained Glass piece large? Just wondering. Looks like you're fitting in pretty well. Anyone notice your PWEI shirt?
Everyday seems to get cooler. have fun.

12:46 PM  
Blogger Justin Gammon said...

Gorillaz piece is actually a triptych. I just posted the center panel.

The robot's from some theatre group who performed back there. It was part of a play or something.

1:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Michael pointed out his desk at SUMO. It's fun to see it all! We must be keeping him pretty busy because he hasn't had a lot of time to blog. We've tried twice to go eat sushi but it hasn't worked out yet.

The login won't take any of the user names I put in so I'm just going with anonymous.

Alison

4:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How's the bread?

6:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That robot in the courtyard is freaking awesome.

11:43 AM  
Blogger Justin Gammon said...

bread's fine. I haven't been blown away by any.

9:38 AM  

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