Devastated for his lovely wife Emma. Devastated for his two young children. Devastated for all his family and friends (and I know Simon had a lot of friends) who will miss him dearly.

I don’t contribute to blogs and I don’t tweet. I’ve been promising to write a thoughts piece on our site for years but nothing has compelled me enough to make the time to write, until now… I would be doing an injustice to not talk about Simon – as he really was one of the best.

We met Simon in November 2013 through an introduction from the Design Council. Our initial pitch lasted nearly three and a half hours, not just because we like to talk, but also because Simon was so passionate and excitable about their company, their products and their potential… let’s just say we all hit it off.

We won the job to refresh their brand but were told in in no uncertain terms that we couldn’t touch Simon’s beloved pink logo with a conical flask icon. He struggled to see how we could improve on it – but of course it was actually his love for the company he was talking about, not the logo itself. We took his attachment as a challenge.

Over the following months we gained Simon’s trust, as we realised the immense possibilities of the Jesmonite brand through our collaboration. Not without a wobble on Simon’s part mind, with him (so we’re told) pacing around his kitchen with head in hands – contemplating what to do and whether to take a big leap of faith.

But that was my experience of Simon, a deep thinker who was bold, creative and forever the optimist, a real ‘glass half full’ kind of guy.

Our conversations were never short or one-sided, they were always open discussions which started out as copy amends or explaining details of their product range that invariably led to music and art or cultural stories from his latest overseas trip.

He was always open to suggestions and completely driven to do the best for Jesmonite. He flew all over the world, had infinite product knowledge, got stuck-in on the shop floor and somewhere between – fitted in the brand management and marketing too.

He checked the details, sourced images and all the other stuff that must have felt mundane compared to wining and dining royalty half way across the globe. He had the rare ability to see the bigger picture and understood and appreciated what brand and design can do to elevate his business. He just ‘got it’.

He was our biggest advocate and for that we will always be eternally grateful. My glass feels a lot less full today and will do for a long time. We will miss him.

The result of our collaborative efforts with Simon and the team at Jesmonite can be seen here.

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Written by Faye Thompson  |  July 2017