Abraham Asefaw is the co-founder of The Pop Up Agency. He was born in Saudi Arabia but moved around to different countries as he was growing up. He currently lives in London, where he has been for the last 5 years.
He went to a school called 'Hyper Island' in Scandinavia where he studied design and later, founded The Pop Up Agency with 5 other fellow designers.
The Pop Up Agency
The agency is known for setting and completing briefs within 48 hours. They have been to 40 countries; completing briefs and giving talks. They created their own needs and values and applied it to The Pop Up Agency.
During their time at Hyper Island, the 6 designers proposed an idea to a school to fund their mission which was 'The Pop Up Tour'. This consisted of 15 (clients):15 (weeks):15 (countries). The take away from this experience was that Abraham felt naive and stubborn enough to see it through. It was a big challenge and stressful but they did manage to eventually achieve it.
The reason why they give 48 hours per brief is because at school, their only spare time was during the weekends (48 hours) so they felt that they could dedicate a small amount of time to a brief. The idea stuck as it made them unique and efficient in what they do. After they left school, they had completed 26 briefs.
There are no roles in the agency, they want to constantly grow and revolve so they all have an open mindset and a valuable input.
After they moved to London to start the agency, they we not getting paid and they didn't understand why. They asked 2 well-know advisors that they had met or have heard of to help them with their problem. They told them to focus on the creative process and training as that is their strength and is what they are known for.
The advisors also told them that they should charge higher for their service as they haven't considered their own time and work which is their: salary, expenses and savings. They had to see what was sustainable for them and if the fee was reasonable for the clients. They now charge a flat-fee where it is reasonable for them to earn profit and reasonable for the client to pay for their services.
Balance sales, development and execution.
The take aways that they had from the 2 advisors implementing in the business was that they understood their value - the value of people, guidance, feedback and mentors etc.
The team also re-evaluated their needs and values to see if the agency is what they wanted it to be. They gave everyone 2 days off to figure out if they wanted to stay or leave. By the end of the 2 days, only Abraham and another designer stayed at the agency and carried on. They are the only co-founders left but still have a good relationship with the other former founders.
Intention of The Pop Up Agency
Before and after each day begins, they like to check in. They like to check in the state of mind of others, work that they are currently doing and what is happening. This helps so that they all know what and how each person are doing so they know how to help/allocate to that.
They like to be transparent, reflect an have feedback.
Clients
Most of their clients approach them from word of mouth and transparency when they do talks around the world.
Abraham especially finds clients that are not the stereotypical creative clients and apply the creative process to their business the most inspiring.
Have clear expectations. Set goals and expectations but don't forget to go over them.
Creative principles
- Have an open mind
- Collaborate
- Focus
"We are a reaction to our time".
Workshop brief
How can we create a business based on our needs and values?
In the task, we were teamed up with a group of 5 people where we 'empty y[our] brains' and write down business ideas that fit in with our needs and values. We then we around to each person and added onto their list, expanding the business idea.
Our business idea
A creative library where all designers and artists are welcome to use and experiment with facilities. The open-space allows designers to collaborate, work and explore the wide range of facilites where they would have to pay a one-off entry fee and bring/buy their own materials and stock. The library is open 24-hours and is a safe space for talks, design work and renting space.
My take aways from the talk
I've learnt how to generate ideas in a fast pace manner and see the business side of design and how to valuate myself reasonably in the design industry.
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