Final report in from Nick and Jo as they prepare to head back to the UK

It’s amazing what’s possible in 48 hours. In our tour that means spanning the USA from West coast to East coast doing something that appears to be very rare – stopping and spending time in the middle!

To be honest, much of our plans for the tour in terms of social media flew out of the window. This was unfortunate but the reality of 18-19 hour days for 2 weeks meeting a huge bunch of amazingly kind and generous designers, clients and associated organisations took its toll. And none more than the past 48 hours which has shown the amazing diversity of the USA.

los Angeles

On Wednesday, it was our last day in Los Angeles / Hollywood. In our time there we met with the astoundingly talented and respected designer Michael Doret along with his equally creative wife and Adobe expert and trainer Chana Messer. Chana organised the LA Illustrator user group meeting which was very well attended and had a lively atmosphere. Made all the better by Chana’s catering which allowed all who attended to feast on some lovely food!

Oklahoma

Flying out to Oklahoma City was a big contrast. From the palaces of Beverley Hills to the plains of OK showed just how different the USA can be physically and in character. On our travels, we did ask many people what they knew or thought of OK, but most drew a blank. But the city proved to be a very vibrant place with a huge amount of confidence and energy. And it was a very honest place.

Oklahoma City would have been “interesting” to navigate with its lack of taxis and vastness (what Americans refer to as “small” is anything but) if it wasn’t for one of the kindest people to have graced this planet – Mr Sean Ferguson. Having taken two days off from his day job at creative agency Staplegun, he took his trusty gold truck, which in the UK would be classified as a tank, and gave us the full tour ensuring we were regularly fed and watered. And some of us allowed to recover from a very warm welcoming evening… All this and you’ll find Sean to be one of the best vector designers out there. They should rename the Will Rogers OK airport after him, and our other new creative friend and purveyor of fine T-shirts, Dean Wilhite, should create another great logo for the airport in celebration! Thank you Sean and Dean.

New York

And now it’s New York City. Being a NYC virgin, this is a place that has already made me stare in wonderment. Arriving in the pitch black of the early hours only made the twinkling lights of the towers seem more magical. Time to meet the last group of greats including one person we are all indebted to – our colleague and developer behind a couple of our products. I know it will be another honour and add to the pleasure of being able to call those we have met up with true friends.

Following our return next week, we’ll start looking at editing and publishing several videos taken including the meeting with Michael Doret where he showed off some of his original pre-digital artwork. Jaws dropped at the quality and detail.