PDF - We Built This City

January 2015
GAZETTE
LONDON
Revolutionising London souvenirs!
50
7,000
85
600
3,000
Days selling creative
souvenirs to visitors
from over forty
countries
Artist-designed gifts
and art prints now in
homes across
the world
Artists & designers
work showcased
in a central
London location
Different Londonthemed products and
prints on sale,
for 50 days in W1
A new pop-up shop
assembled in 5 days,
trading over 2 floors
and 3000ft2!
Revolutionising souvenirs since 2014
www.webuilt-thiscity.com
GAZETTE January 2015
LONDON
The London souvenir revolution…
has only just begun!
“With London now the
most visited city on the
planet – and being home
to one of the most creative
communities in the world
– we thought it was high
time that London souvenirs
got an artist-designed
makeover! And what
better place to launch our
mission to the world than
in a 3000ft2 launch store on
London’s famous Carnaby
Street...
Curated for both first time
visitors and established
city dwellers – our launch
collection featured 600
products and prints – all
hand-selected from 85 of our
favourite homegrown artists
and designers. 50 days, and
some 7,000 transactions
later – and the homes of
tourists from all over the
world are now proudly
displaying artist-designed
London souvenirs that truly
reflect this city’s creative
talents (and not a key fob or
dodgy snow-globe in sight!)
We Built This City has
already proved the power
of collaboration – from
our community of creative
partners who have worked
so hard to keep our shelves
stocked, to the late night
shop makers and the tireless
shop floor team who have
not just sold but helped
champion every one of our
artists and designers along
the way. The biggest of
thank you's also goes to
Shaftesbury PLC for believing
in our mission and offering us
this extraordinary launchpad
in the heart of the West End.
The best part though has
been witnessing the reactions
on customers’ faces… finally,
a memento of their trip
to buy in central London,
made by real people with
an inspiring take on this
city’s landmarks, people and
culture.
‘So what’s next?’
Well plans are already
underway to pop-up
again in just a matter of
months – this time with the
addition of our own WBTC
Collection, commissioned
exclusively from our artists
and designers. And we’ll
also be pushing ahead with
our commissioning agency
– we want this year to be
about helping businesses
and brands to realise their
creative London projects with
the very best emerging and
established talent.
For now though, a huge
thanks to everyone who’s
taken an interest in what we
do, supported the artists and
designers by buying one or
more of their excellent works,
and for proving to the world
that London can do it better!
Stay tuned for where we go
next at:
www.webuilt-thiscity.com
Alice Mayor
Founder
London... we can do
better than this!
{ “I don’t want to be interesting. I want to be good.” }
Mies Van de Rohe
{
2
“To apply art to useful wares... is not a frivolity,
but a part of the serious business of life.”
William Morris
}
Revolutionising souvenirs since 2014
www.webuilt-thiscity.com
Life on the
shop floor
Over two floors and 3,000
square feet, our Carnaby
Street pop-up was the perfect
showcase for our creative
partners’ work – plenty
of space for artworks and
objects, ceramics and cards,
large and small. Our simple
New thinking, cool design,
and ideas with a twist –
some snapshots from our Winter 14/15
pop-up shop on Carnaby Street
but striking shop design
elements (ubiquitous pigeons
and hanging brickwork)
gave their work a fun and
appealing London-centric
setting. And while we’re
talking of products, below
are just a few of the many
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3
inspiring London-designed
goods we stocked in our
launch store. Once the doors
opened in late November
2014, we were astonished
at how much pent-up desire
there is for items with flair,
wit, and a touch of that
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trademark London style.
And with customers hailing
from any of 40 countries we
couldn’t be happier with how
far we’ve shared our partners’
work, and supported their
creative talent this year.
AM
7
5
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6
1. Tate Modern Collectible PopUp Card by Paper Tango, £7 2.
Lundunar Kort cotton cushion by
Kristjana S. Williams, £135
3. Salt & Pepper Shakers by David
Shrigley £78 4. Bowie by Cranio/
Mosaic Design £60 5. London City
Skyline Necklace Mona Mara £58
6. London Willow Teacup by We
Love Kaoru, £28 7. Teatime by
Robbie Porter at Made in Arts
London, £40
inspires you?
{ Tell us atWhat
twitter.com/w_b_t_c }
{ The urge for good design is the same as the urge to go on living. }
Harry Bertoia
8. Full English Tectonic Plate,
by Honey Manko for The New
English, £50
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GAZETTE January 2015
We need excellent shops
“
like yours! Dan, London
Dan, London
I normally avoid town like
“
the plague but happened
upon the store on Saturday.
Love It, Love It, Love It! So
refreshing…now you just
need to replace all of those
awful souvenir stores across
town.
Stephen, London
feedback
from our
customers, press, and art partners
‘London’s most exciting souvenir shop’
I just wanted to say a
“
massive THANK YOU to
you all for creating such an
awesome shop! It really did
make my year finding you
guys and getting stocked
on Carnaby Street – I still
can’t quite believe the
number of my friends, family,
acquaintances who excitedly
tell me they’ve seen me
there!
Simon, Alfred & Wilde
‘Better than a ceramic corgi and
Kate’n’Will’s tea towel!’
I was incredibly impressed
“
with the entire aesthetic of
By far the best discovery
“
I made today was WBTC. If I
could’ve I’d have bought the
whole store I would!
Katie Anaya via Twitter
‘A souvenir shop that finally reflects the
true creativity of London’
the store, I hope this is just
the start of WBTC?!
Jeremy Harnell,
Sons of Wolves
What a great idea and
“
congratulations. As a
Cool pop-up on Carnaby
“
St. doing souvenirs but with
a twist (the twist being they
aren’t s**t!)
Lawrence Wakefield
via Twitter
‘London is abuzz with creatives, so why
do tourists always end up with tat?’
Meet our
commissioning agency
Thanks
to so many...
At the heart of We Built This City
is a desire to champion London’s
best artist-designed products and
support the creatives behind them
to do what they do best – make
beautiful and thought-provoking
things!
A HUGE THANKS go to a
collection of utterly brilliant
humans who have pulled out all of
their creative stops to help launch
We Built This City... Interiors wizard
Hannah Franklin, Numberwang
winner Aimee Costello, art guru
Katy Wheeler, miracle worker Will
Parkinson, brand & newspaper
champ Alex Mayor, bricklayer
extraordinaire
Chloe
Cussell,
curator of cool Lindsay Seager, logo
legend Leo, late night editor Adam
Shoemark, the brilliant Paul Bishop,
Beyond just retail, 2015 will see
We Built This City act as a one-stop
commissioning agency helping
both businesses and individuals to
create bespoke London-inspired
prints and products – all from our
network of talented creatives.
Whether it be a bespoke London
illustration, a unique set of city
ceramics or a large-scale skyline
mural – we can source the best
creative for the job and manage
the project from start to finish. And
don’t miss our very own take on
London souvenirs we’re planning
for summer 2015 too!
If you have a product or print
that you think we’d like, (or half
an idea scribbled down on a
napkin), we’d love to have a chat
with you – just drop us a line at:
[email protected]
instagram/wbtclondon
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Londoner I am delighted
that you are setting up this
business. It will make a huge
impact and a huge difference.
Dr Colin Stokes, MBE
Volunteer Chair,
ArtHouseMeath
master of retail Olivia Hegarty, Ricky
and Barney for snapping away,
Twitterati Lee Taylor, housebuilders
Martin and Olly, the late night
painters and the rest of the Mayors!
Very special thanks also go to
Shaftesbury PLC, Emma Steele and
Bill Mayor Senior.
twitter.com/w_b_t_c