Yo, 2017 was a biggie, here’s some highlights of what the studio’s been up to.

The year began with us continuing to develop Miko, an on-going research project which investigates augmenting handmade processes with emerging digital technology. With the proof of concept phase of the project wrapped up, we were invited to exhibit our findings at The Next Web Conference in Amsterdam which sparked some interesting conversations around the future of manufacturing.

Fast.Co design flew in from New York to make a little film about our work on the project so far. You can see us looking startled on camera here.

Later in the year Chris was invited by Innovate UK to sit on a panel during the Innovate 2017 conference in Birmingham. Discussing Creative Tech: Building Creativity into innovation alongside Bethany Koby (CEO/Co-founder of Technology Will Save Us), John Vary (IT Innovation Manager at John Lewis) and Mat Hunter (MD, Central Research Laboratory). The session focused on how creative and design led practices are driving innovation within small businesses and how that is a benefit to the wider UK economy.

Ballot Bin — our project for Hubbub and Westminster Council — grew from being a one off installation into a mass produced product, picking up some celebrity fans along the way. From independent trials, Ballot Bin has been proven to cut cigarette litter by 47%. A ballot bin case study is coming soon.

The summer months were spent bringing a fresh, colourful new look to the innovative custom confectionary start-up Candy Mechanics' website. Having built the first version of the site in 2016, this refresh simplifies the interactions in the custom chocolate editors and improves the user flow throughout the site. Candy Mechanics also toured their pop-up chocolate factory around stores across the UK. To help with the transition from online to physical retail, we created a bespoke interface for their kiosks.

In partnership with our friend Tom Stables, we were approached by the Resuscitation Council to tackle a unique problem — simplifying the complex and sensitive subject of healthcare professionals discussing with patients the right to resuscitation.

We created a web-app that brings together a combination of role play scenarios, animations and downloadable podcasts, allowing healthcare professionals to learn at their own pace. The app is now being trialed by NHS trusts across the UK.

For Makerversity’s campaign “Making Connections”, we launched a new microsite. The site is a hub for live streamed lectures and discussions around manufacturing processes and a platform for skill sharing between British creative communities with Shenzhen, China.

Chris and Jonny were invited to talk at Chelsea College of Arts, and will be running a two day workshop in February. Sam continues his tutoring at Goldsmiths, teaching first and second year design students creative coding and web languages.

And finally, we continued showcasing our woodblock animation — Pictures Of The Floating World — with showings in London, Korea and at the Vienna Biennale in September. A nice excuse for the studio to decamp to a very hot Vienna for a few days and drink many Aperol Spritz.