Strands of Genius: How Can We Make, Buy and Live Better, More With Less, A Brighter Future

Guest curated by Matt Hardisty Founder of ‘art for our sea’ + a pop-up strategy studio

Dec 14, 2023

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, MATT HARDISTY ::

LOCATION: I live between the coast and the city in the UK.

Hello. My name is Matt. What a privilege it is to be here.

I worked with Faris 20 years ago. Those halcyon days of Naked. Pre his dreadlocks. We danced to drum and bass, a lot. Then I set-up AnalogFolk. Then I went to Mother London and then AMV BDDO, each time to head up strategy.

Now. I raise funds to make coastal towns healthier and I sell my time to solve problems. 6 weeks on - school holidays - repeat 6 times. It’s an experiment. Be either ON or OFF. Work hard. Canoe home. I’ve always loved that pitch style energy, direction, and collaboration you get with tight timelines. And I love spending time with my daughter. Right now. ON / OFF works. Life in the balance. I’m massively inspired by the whole Danish Sommerhus model of living.

The nonprofit climate fund is called ‘art for our sea’, seeking to plant a network of seagrass meadows circling the UK to rewild our seas and suck-up some carbon. All funded by art.

To keep the lights on, I run a pop-up strategy studio working with agencies / brands, businesses and charities directly. I choose 6 clients to work with over the course of a year, for 6 weeks a piece. With a semi-strict ethos of those looking to make a positive action for our world.

Outside of those set pieces I Dad and I paint.

Editor’s Note (Faris): In my recollection, Matt was the very first employee at Naked Communications and was a key part of making those halycon days…halycony. Matt was a cultural guru to me as a young strategist, bringing so many varied influences to the table. We certainly shared some passions - see DnB above - but he introduced me and all of us to so many other things, musical and beyond.

SO DON’T MISS THE XMAS PLAYLIST HE MADE FOR US AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS EMAIL.

He is also incredibly nice, cares deeply and is easy to work with. One of my strongest memories is him and I spending an entire weekend in a boardroom at a fancy creative agency writing a pitch for a beer brand that is served in green bottles. Every half a day or so the CCO would pop in with the ‘new idea’ and we would try to fit all the insight and activation ideas into that. No, that’s not how it’s supposed to work, yes that is how it often works, especially when creative agencies would hire Naked ‘white label’ to write 'the comms strategy and ‘non-traditional’ creative ideas around their pitch scripts. What a time. I enjoyed bumping into Matt a few years back in a pub in east London and have kept in touch / an eye on him especially because I’m inspired by his indefatigable passions, which now lead him to healthier coastal towns. We also prefer very much the project based on/off model, it’s a huge part of why we live and work the way we do. Time to refuel, not burn out.

Thanks so much Matt, hope to see you soon!

:: THE LINKS ::

HOW CAN WE MAKE, BUY AND LIVE BETTER

Back in the Spring I decided to educate myself about climate change. We all work in sustainability now, right? What the world needs now is mandatory sustainability bootcamp. My bootcamp was at Cambridge University, enrolling on their now infamous Business Sustainability Management course. These 3x pieces were discoveries from that course. So over 200 hours of learning condensed into 3x seminal links. Neat.

After spending time with these 3x pieces. You’ll begin to see a clear question emerge: how can we make, buy and live better? There are A LOT of moving parts from Planet Sustainability, each interlinked, it’s a system. There is no silver bullet, although fossil freedom would help. But to think in these 3x lanes has helped me. It may help with your client work too?

How can a client make better? (renewables, design etc). Then how can it encourage its customers to buy better? (sharing, circularity etc). Then even at a purpose / patronage level, how can it facilitate us to live better? (repair eco-systems, regeneration etc - intrinsically linked to the product ideally).

I think sustainable practices are not the starting point, 'the fix', it's the ultimate aim for how we need to live full-stop - creating a new system that balances Earth, for its long game

The first, a timeless piece about how the potency of design can negate 80% of our impact on the planet. It is primarily about selling the right solution. Being fully problem aware. Like any good strategist: what is it you seek to solve? Ignoring for now whether a linear, growth economy is really in service of life. That’s covered on the next link. Why, how and where products are made is vital. This first step informs everything. And one that I had not fully recognised. While collaborative platforms like Open Supply Hub are addressing the need for transparent supply chains, materiality and reporting. You must first learn, before creating and sharing. Making is the cornerstone upon which we can buy and live better. (TheRSA)

MORE WITH LESS

This piece is about how doing more with less, will halve our impact - and it comes with the best set of references for anyone new to this space. It is the theory that sits behind business models like Houdinis. Earlier this year they became the first store on the planet where you could rent, repair, subscribe, trade and buy pre-loved apparel. Houdini is showing us a way. Changing our relationship with the physical world. Flag bearers for a new now. Replacing a linear model. A model of ‘just a little more’: growth is never happy. Rebranding the much debated transitionary ‘degrowth’ term, by representing it with a forward facing energy that it is undeniably infectious. A new and a more fulfilling way of life. Repositioning profit. From reason-to-exist, to the basic enabler that is delivering something far more visionary and exciting. Growth for growth’s sake, that’s the real distraction. Kurt Vonnegut said: “We’ll go down in history as the first society that wouldn’t save itself because it wasn’t cost effective” - makes you think, right?(ACEHUB)

A BRIGHTER FUTURE

And this final wonder-filled piece is about how with new stories, the future can be brighter. Right now, hope-filled stories of the good life are seen as an act of rebellion. The prevailing stories are of pessimism and disaster. Yet the future belongs to those daring, those making the seemingly impossible - possible. Because that hope becomes belief, and I believe we can make things better. I am not a hippie. I don’t live off-grid. I am not an activist. I think we need more positive storytelling. More reasons to be cheerful. You can’t erase the bad. But we should not shy from trying to create, and share the good. That is what will drive all our ideas. We are in a battle with imagination.

All I ask is to ponder this one question on behalf of your clients, or your sphere of influence: how can we make, buy and live better? That’s it. Create change. Don’t jump to the golden ones on Terra.do. (Vox)

Looking for more from Matt Hardisty? Coming Friday, look for an interview from him in your inbox!

:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: I spend many joy-filled hours playing ‘Guess the Sketch’ with my 8yo daughter.

:: City :: Ulannbatar, Mongolia - it’s the most otherworldly place I’ve been fortunate enough to visit.

:: Book :: The book I have gifted most recently is ‘Citizens’ by Jon Alexander.

:: Podcast :: Without a doubt. Nate Hagen’s ‘The Great Simplification’. I bounce between coast and city, so between my daughter’s Rainbow High ‘Rainbow Vision’ soundtrack, Nate’s mind expanding interviews are great company.

:: Album :: Of this year: ‘Further Out Than The Edge’ - Speakers Corner Quartet.

:: SETTING THE MOOD ::

The Photo

I have found many people interested and engaged in this space - have had ‘a moment’. A moment when they witnessed a change, with their very own eyes. Gone are the references to ‘our grandchildren’s time’. It’s now. This is the scene that opened my eyes. Margate (UK). 13th of July 2022. 9.14pm. And still, 30 degrees outside in a once temperate England.

The Quote

“What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” - Mary Oliver.

The Joy

A festive gift for you all - yes, I made you a playlist. JOY.

Imagine the scenario. You’ve got friends, neighbours, colleagues coming round yours for festive cheer. It’s only two and a half hours, but you want to give good cheer.

Here’s a playlist to stick on.

Not so heavy on the twinkles and that Charlie Brown album. More Santas and elves are arriving. Drinks mixed. Shapes thrown to Madonna. There’s a lock-in. The I.T. guy sings along to HAIM. 6 Music Mum does gang signs to Nas. Some mid-90s jungle track suddenly becomes A.I. girl’s go to Tik Tok backdrop. If I were joining some festive cheer this season, I’d like it to sound something like this. Enjoy.

Nature is technology too.

If you’ve enjoyed this edition of GENIUS / STEALS. Believe that change is possible. Believe in a hope-filled future. And if you can. Please support me in planting a seagrass meadow for Margate (UK), funded by art. Make a pledge in exchange for an artwork here.

If planted, the seagrass meadow will purify the sea. Protect us from storms. Boost biodiversity. Suck-up carbon.

Nature is technology too you see.

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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.

Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.

Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)

Strands of Genius