Event / 4 min read
Stories from the Makers of Bath
Event / 4 min read
Stories from the Makers of Bath
On 3rd March we hosted ‘Stories from the Makers of Bath’ – an evening where eight makers from Bath shared their stories.
Each Maker showed 20 images with 20 seconds per image, so a total of 6 minutes and 40 seconds for each Maker. This format made for a fun and informal evening.
We collaborated with The Holburne Museum and the event was held in one of their wonderful galleries.
The inspiration for the evening was our Made in Bath book – a collaboration between Mytton Williams and Opal Print – where we celebrated makers and revealed their stories. And this event was a chance to hear from the makers themselves.
Following a welcome from Chris Stephens, Director of the Holburne Museum, I then shared the story of making the book as a way of introducing the Makers.
We started with Stephen Melville, Director of Format and their amazing complex, geometric structures, followed by Michelle Comins of Comins Tea talking about making and appreciating tea – including demonstrating a tea ceremony. Next up was Ed Robin from Mytton Williams talking about the importance of textures and making brands stand out.
Next we heard from Claire Smith, Partner at Buro Happold and the extraordinary diverse array of brilliant engineering projects they deliver around the globe. Matt Wright, from Matter gave us an insight into creating category-changing products and experiences, followed by Joanna Crosse of Meaningful Films and her career path that led to making films that make a difference.
Adam Rodgers, Creative Director of International Magic, an experience design studio shared some of their unique and ground-breaking digital projects. Finally, we heard from Dan Farrell, Technical Director and General Manager of Moulton Bicyles and the story behind their unique, iconic, small-wheeled bicycle.
The key themes we noticed running through all the maker stories in the book – creativity, craftsmanship and collaboration – were clearly evident throughout the evening.
At the end of the evening many people said not only how they enjoyed hearing from such a diverse range of speakers, but that they were surprised so much amazing stuff was going on in and around Bath. Our thanks go to all the Makers and everyone who helped make the evening such a success.
Our aim was to bring the Makers – and those interested in making and creating – together. It was an experiment. There are things we might do differently next time, but as I heard recently – ‘done is better than perfect’. From the feedback we’ve had so far, there is a real appetite to do more:
“Absolutely fabulous! SO interesting and inspiring. Wonderful, eloquent, clever, engaging speakers.”
“Great variety of speakers. Format worked well, good pace. Please keep doing this! Great to build creative community.”
“Excellent event and important to give a voice to innovation in Bath. Look forward to more.”
“Very interesting and inspiring – I would like to have more of this as part of a new way of branding Bath.”
“Beautifully curated to bring creative stories to life. The book and the event underline Mytton Williams passion for details and those that notice them. Let’s make more of this!”
Bringing the makers and creatives together, to learn from one another, to be inspired and to share stories is not only good for business and creativity–- it’s good for the soul.
“Beautifully curated to bring creative stories to life. The book and the event underline Mytton Williams passion for details and those that notice them.”
