Back on track
(Simon’s Store; logo and shop view: Shanghai)
Right, I am back on track and will once again be offering daily posts here. Apologies for the week-long absence, but I was correct in my assumption that both an Aberdeen hostel and the ‘Inver Boathouse’ on Loch Creran do not have broadband! After the urban confusion of Suzhou and Glasgow, waking up to a silent lake in Scotland with herons and seals for neighbours was very welcome.
I had wanted to use these pictures on my glorious hundredth post, but unfortunately couldn’t get the images in time. Ying and I (in our usual haphazard fashion) stumbled across ‘Simon’s Store’, a tiny little shop amongst the hundreds of others, packed together like teeth into narrow Shanghai lanes. I wish I had an image of Simon himself who turned out to be in the shop at the time; he was a very jolly local who has, like us, a history in Product Design and also in Engineering.
A short chat later – mostly conducted by Ying in Mandarin – led to Simon explaining that his shop is a showcase of the work of different designers. His hopes are somewhat similar to concepts of mine; he expects his shop space to develop into a collective of designers producing their own work. This would encompass exhibiting, selling and communicating and would seem to be a little radical in the heady atmosphere of solid commercial gain in the city. I hope that he and I will have the chance to collaborate on a couple of projects and to learn from each other. Perhaps there is a future for *pipless jam in China… I bought a nice, big heavy-duty bag there and I was delighted to learn that it was produced locally with organic cotton and printed with eco friendly inks. I must also assume that since the price was close to matching a European market, not too many people in China will be sporting it.
By the way, I am not exactly sure of the address of this little boutique, but I will add it once I know (just in case you’re passing!)
