The Assembly

The Price of Kings We’re working with the very talented...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:53:55 +0000

The Price of Kings

We’re working with the very talented Richard Symons and the folks at Spirit Level Films to promote a fascinating series of interviews with world figures to understand the sacrifices made by leaders.

Clarence is in the house Soon appearing again in a freezer near...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:43:06 +0000

Clarence is in the house

Soon appearing again in a freezer near your talking about delicious Rice Fusions

The Monday Club 2012 Every two months The Monday Club will...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:40:11 +0000

The Monday Club 2012

Every two months The Monday Club will select a different terminal as a departure point for talks and debate supplemented with food, wine and peculiar trimmings. These determinations will explore and decide questions one station at a time.

As always, tickets for this journey will be free.

We begin with Liverpool Street, original site of Bedlam and the question is:

What does living in London do to your brain?

Novelist Will Self will explore the estates of mind arising from the city.

Alok Jha, science correspondent for The Guardian, will introduce the latest research on how city life moulds us.

Matthew De Abaitua, author of neuro-novel The Red Men, will be your host for the evening.

And you will provide the answers.

For information email hello@theassemblyagency.com

Taking time to plan We took a little time out of the agency to...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:34:20 +0000

Taking time to plan

We took a little time out of the agency to plot our future and the lovely people at the Royal Geographical Society were kind enough to host us. A stunning building filled with achievement, perhaps a little economical with the heating. And to be in the company of Scott to the Pole and ‘An evening of endeavour’ certainly set us up with the right amount of ambition.

We’ve published a book Our first book is hot off The...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:25:00 +0000

We’ve published a book

Our first book is hot off The Assembly Press and it’s a beautiful, thoughtful collection of anecdotes, biographical detail, photos and drawings of Gerald Summers, one the most innovative iconic figures of modern furniture in Britain.

If you’re potty for plywood and can’t get enough modernist furniture drop us a line at hello@theassemblyagency.com and we’ll send you some juicy details.

Our final Monday Club of 2011 was a gluttonous affair with...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:11:48 +0000

Our final Monday Club of 2011 was a gluttonous affair with stacks of burgers, wheels of cheese, a prawn cocktail of obscene proportions and a tub full of chocolate mousse. Despite wonderful talks from Matthew De Abaitua and Tim Hayward, everyone was hungry for more.

A village on our terrace Where once there were toxic gas spewing...

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:13:49 +0100

A village on our terrace

Where once there were toxic gas spewing air conditioning units, now there is a sweet little sheep village created by the very lovely Jessica Dance and Rob Francis. Even more reason to stare out the window and daydream.

A masterclass with Larissa Joy Our very own Larissa Joy is...

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 08:43:00 +0100

A masterclass with Larissa Joy

Our very own Larissa Joy is hosting a lunchtime masterclass with Stylist magazine this Friday. Career advice, entrepreneurial dreams, achieving balance and a mesmerising fluency with the Drink-Spotty Book will be featured from 1pm - 2pm GMT.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Drink-Spotty-Book-Pelham-Witherspoon/dp/0593010078

Check it out here:

http://www.stylist.co.uk/stylist-network/lunchtime-masterclass-larissa-joy

Will Self displays true Envy at the Monday Club On the 20th...

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:48:00 +0100

Will Self displays true Envy

at the Monday Club

On the 20th June The Assembly was host to the third Monday Club going sin by sin through the seven deadly ones. The evening was a celebration of Envy with delicious green food and drink and enviable tunes.

Kathryn Busby from The Equality Trust discussed how if we were more equal, we’d be better off as a population and if there was greater equality there would be less envy.

Will Self took then took to the floor to point out that Envy is a first class sin; not to be confused with its younger, less serious sibling - jealousy. An uncomfortable, provocative, funny, entertaining romp through the big E ended with a tale of a 450,000 year old axe and a reciltal of the wonderful poem by Clive James - The Book of my Enemy Has Been Remaindered.

http://is.gd/iQArbM

Sloth is next. Stay tuned for details.

Relic’ing a few Fenders For one of our lovely clients...

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 05:56:57 +0100

Relic’ing a few Fenders

For one of our lovely clients we’re helping with some music festival sponsorship and as prizes we’re giving away a few stunning Fender guitars. But not brand spanking new ones. Oh no. They’ll be lovingly relic’ed by Katie & Kerry and will be 3 of the most sought-after six strings around.

Many months in the making After many months of hard work with...

Fri, 20 May 2011 09:15:00 +0100

Many months in the making

After many months of hard work with wonderful teams at Ernst & Young across many parts of the business, from all over Europe, America and AsiaPac our first work makes its appearance in the FT this week. Many campaigns to follow in the coming weeks so you’ll be seeing a lot more.

It’s a Set Up Hot new author Felix Riley released his...

Mon, 16 May 2011 21:30:09 +0100

It’s a Set Up

Hot new author Felix Riley released his first novel. He’s not completely new to the writing game having dabbled a bit before become a City financier and escaping that gig minutes before the global financial meltdown. We’re proud to help Penguin market Riley’s thriller, The Set Up; a novel filled with money, greed, sex, greed, power, greed, deceit, greed, egomania, greed and greed.

Cooking with colour We’ve paired stylish chef Esther...

Sat, 07 May 2011 23:04:00 +0100

Cooking with colour

We’ve paired stylish chef Esther Röling with delicious Turning Leaf wines to create a menu that matches perfectly with the wines and the senses. Testing dozens of recipes and drinking many, many glasses of wine was a tough job but someone had to do it.

An NYC installation The very talented Kyle Bean created this...

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 20:21:05 +0100

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

An NYC installation

The very talented Kyle Bean created this for us. He’s now helping us create some very exciting installations for windows in Times Square NYC.

Doing something funny for money Some of the best character...

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 21:58:00 +0100

Doing something funny for money

Some of the best character animators in the world helped us develop a range of designs for the 2011 Red Noses.

We’re getting greedy Our next Monday Club event is on 9th...

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:43:00 +0000

We’re getting greedy

Our next Monday Club event is on 9th of May and the salon will feature all things greedy. The line up is just being finalised, but we’re gutted that Gordon Gekko can’t make an appearance.

Working our way up the league tables We’re very happy, but...

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:02:02 +0000

Working our way up the league tables

We’re very happy, but not satisfied, to be 11th on the AAR’s list of most new business wins in 2010. We’ll be celebrating with some deep-fried goodness at Poppies.

http://poppiesfishandchips.co.uk/

Cult of the brand Certain corporate HQs can sometimes remind...

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 17:12:00 +0000

Cult of the brand

Certain corporate HQs can sometimes remind you of places of worship. The Zen-like Nike European headquarters in Hilversum is one such place. Instead of crosses we find ticks everywhere and instead of monks and priests we find the employees of Nike. Apparently, they genuinely get annoyed if they see that you’re wearing Adidas. A glib observation?

The management consultant, August Turak recently spent 6 months living with trappist monks and discovered these 7 organisational principles.

#1 – Having a high overarching mission worthy of being served.
#2 – Selflessness; dedicated pursuit of a noble, well-articulated, mission.
#3 – Commitment to excellence.
#4 – A ruthless dedication to the highest ethical standards.
#5 – Faith; through boom and economic bust.
#6 – Trust; deployed throughout the organization.
#7 – Living the life; a rigorous methodology of reinforcement.

Not sure whether this applies to Nike’s business but it seems like a pretty good way of getting people to believe in your business nevertheless.

http://augustturak.com/

The poetry of hip-hop “Hip-hop lyrics—not just my lyrics, but...

Sat, 18 Dec 2010 20:15:00 +0000

The poetry of hip-hop

“Hip-hop lyrics—not just my lyrics, but those of any great MC—are poetry if you look at them closely enough.” Jay Z, Decoded

Hip Hop, despite its success still aches for respect and recognition. Having already achieved it as businessmen, rappers would now like you to see them as artists – proper artists. Poets, even.

The release this month, of Jay Z’s ‘Decoded’, a collection of footnoted lyrics accompanied by biographical anecdotes and observations, marks the next front in this battle.

And he is not alone. Adam Bradley an English professor and, author of Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop writes, “The best MCs—like Rakim, Jay-Z, Tupac, and many others—deserve consideration alongside the giants of American poetry. We ignore them at our own expense.”

He urged fellow English professors and scholars to expand the poetic canon to embrace rap. ‘Book of Rhymes’ uses the terms of poetry criticism – assonance, alliteration, exaggerated stress patterns - to admire both the content and form of rap lyrics.

For anyone, with even the vaguest interest in the English language both books make for compelling reading.

For more info see this article in the New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/12/06/101206crat_atlarge_sanneh?currentPage=1

The Monday Club - An evening of Lust Our first Monday Club of...

Sat, 18 Dec 2010 20:03:00 +0000

The Monday Club - An evening of Lust

Our first Monday Club of the year was a steamy affair. The theme for the 2011 is the seven deadly sins and Lust was the topic of the first salon, with presentations from Sam Roddick, the founder of erotic lifestyle boutique Coco de Mer and author and TV personality Hallie Rubenhold. There was lusty music, aphrodisiac snacks and sexy cocktail that was originally created for the Museum of Sex in NYC.

Bring on Greed in May.