The skiing in Chamonix was fantastic and the pasteis de nata of Lisbon were mouthwatering but now it’s time to get back to work for the good folks of Sekkei Studio. We say goodbye to 2008 with a round-up of the favourite projects during an interview with co-founders David Henriques and Elodie Lo Van. As always, we grabbed lunch at one of the studio’s favourite downtown Shanghai locations and caught up on what is going on:

OurMainSH: First of all, Happy 2009! I see that you enjoyed the food and the wine on your European vacation. It’s been awhile but here we are. It’s year-2 for the studio, why don’t you tell me about the experience so far.

David: Happy 2009! Its been a great first year! When we first started, we had no idea where the business would take us but it seemed to happen fast. The studio was able to get a couple of key clients that allowed us to grow quickly. By May, we were able to hire our first outside web developer and now we are up to 4 employees and we have a plan to hire more in the first quarter of ‘09.

OurManinSH: Elodie, you seem to be the silent partner. How was 2008 from the graphic design side? Of course, you enjoyed working most on my logo/visual identity. In all seriousness, do mind telling us a the highlight of the things that you worked on?

Elodie: Well, it has been a busy year for the studio. Office in a Box(OIB) by Fusion Systems was an interesting project for us. It allowed us to showcase our full range of services including: visual identity, web development, brochure design and online marketing. It was exciting to see a new product launch in both Tokyo and Shanghai.

OurManinSH: Excellent. David, what was an interesting project for you as you look back on ‘08 from a studio perspective?

David: Well, for me it comes down to one of our core mandates. We design sophisticated yet user friendly websites with a strong, clear and consistent image. Sekkei Studio was brought in as a vendor for a piece of a larger project involving a french travel company named Sinorizon . This allowed us to handle the visual identity and website design.

OurManinSH: What projects do you see the studio focusing on in 2009? Are there any surprises in-store for new and existing customers?

David: Although the studio has a core strength of visual identity and web design, it’s always good to “push the envelope” and get out of our comfort zone. In 2009, Elodie and I are pleased to announce that we are broadening our service offerings. We will continue our relationship with Our Man in Shanghai to be able to bring a social media component to the studio and to educate our customer on social media. Soon, customers  will be able to have access to new iphone applications and a “hush hush” killer workplace web based service.

OurManinSH: David and Elodie, its been a pleasure. A big thanks to the customers, business partners and loyal readers of the Sekkei Studio blog and we wish you all the best in 2009.

Until Next time, This has been Our Man in Shanghai…It’s 10pm, Do you know where your Blogger are??

It was a beautiful autumn afternoon in downtown Shanghai and I was meeting with David & Elodie to discuss a few things so I figured I would time it for a lunch with the whole gang of Sekkei Studio. After much debate, fierce words and verb threats that would make my mother blush, it was decided that amongst all the choices of Shanghai life, having traveled half way around the world from Canada or France: We would have Mcdonalds delivered to the office!

The great thing about lunch @ Sekkei Studio is the rooftop patio. Along with parking the bikes, smoking and watching the neighboring buildings go up, it means that we catch a few rays plus have an excuse to catch up on the day’s events. It was a matter of dusting off the table, grabbing all available chairs and squeezing in for the best position to munch down all available burgers, chicken nuggets and fries.

These are the moments that bring a team together. The value of a spontaneous lunch is exactly was it is, spontaneous. It was a busy day but a good meal. Keep up the good work guys!

Until Next Time and Remember……..you either like pickles on the burger or ya don’t!

It was a grey and rainy day in early November in downtown Shanghai and Sekkei Studio was on Yandang Lu for the opening ceremonies of Hello Allo Canada. Hello Allo Canada  was a free, downtown Shanghai event with interactive displays, educational booths, immigration specialists, tourism information, arts, crafts, music, movies, competitions and food. There were over 100,000 visits over three days to learn about the vibrancy of Canada

It was a busy morning with lots of dignitaries and chinese government officals giving speeches. As Mark Ceolin, the chair of the Canadian chamber was finishing his speech, I got a chance to catch up with David to get his reflections on the concept of Hello Allo Canada. Here is part of our conversation

Our Man in SH: What do you think of the Festival and the Opening Ceremonies?

David: This is a different type of festival. The French week was about business and there wasn’t much about France. Hello Allo Canada seems to be more about a cultural exchange rather than a business event. It gives people a chance to learn about another country.

Our Man in SH: Do you know much about Canada?

David: I know there is alot of snow and that you Canadians seem to be hooked on Maple Syrup.

Our Man in SH: Do you think you would ever travel to Canada for a visit?

David: I have been interested in taking a trip to Montreal or Quebec City. To me, these two cities have a historical connection to France.

Our Man in SH: Don’t you think you’re forgetting about Toronto?

David: I just assumed there would be an “Our Man in Shanghai” tour to Toronto. Canada is a big country and I am sure I’ll get aroiund to seeing alot of different places.

Our Man in SH: Anything particular that comes to your mind as the highlight of the morning so far?

David: Didn’t you promise me a free pancake breakfast @ the Julie’s tent? What’s up with all these moose on the streets of Shanghai.

All in all it was a great three days of hanging out with the Canadian community in Shanghai. Until Next time!

After much international fanfare and hype, the team at Sekkei Studio’s welcomes me, Canadian Peter Davison aka Our Man in Shanghai as the inaugural blogger for this dynamic founding French duo of David Henriques/Elodie Lo Van and their team at Sekkei Studio.

How did this relationship come about?

The relationship came about do to the simple business principles of building and designing good websites. David and Elodie have the philosophy down to a tee: Create Websites that you want .  Oh, did I mention how much we all enjoy a good teppanyaki?

Websites and Social Media = Websites with Customers

As of this evening, Sekkei Studio’s and Our Man in Shanghai will work together to create websites that you want plus help drive a social media campaign that will lead to the customers that you need. Our intelligent by design campaigns will be a one stop solution for web design and social media.

What on earth are you talking about?

Come back again and catch up on the on-goings of sekkei studios and Our Man in Shanghai to learn more about the whole team, our campaigns and how fun life can be while working in one of the largest cities in the world: Shanghai, China