A year ago today, we decided to make a commitment to a company who we love. We told them that we would send them an idea or thought which we hoped would push their business on, just a little bit further. But not just one idea every so often – we decided to challenge ourselves and send a new ‘thought’ every day for a year.

It didn’t matter if we were busy doing other things, or if we found it hard to get access to a Mac, or even if they were just too busy to read it – the idea would get sent, no matter what. They got one on Christmas Day, every bank holiday, and sometimes even two in a day if we were feeling particularly inspired. The company who has been receiving our ideas is HOWIES, an ethical clothing company based in Cardigan Bay, Wales.

Before we started TFTD, we had some contact with howies. They liked what we were about, and we liked the way their company was about more than just selling clothes – they want to make people think, as well as buy. So we wanted to find a way to put put ourselves at the front of their minds every day. It would have been easy to give them a Thoughtful-branded mouse mat, or Post-It notes with our faces on, but thats not us, and its certainly not them. howies are into ideas, and they’re always looking for ways to do things better. TFTD seemed like a great way to get on their level.

The first few weeks were great, we had loads, but soon enough, what we thought was a relatively easy task started to get a bit more difficult and forced us to think harder… much harder. Our first ideas were written down in advance, meaning we could come in each day and just copy-and-paste each new idea into an email. But the lists dried up quicker than a slug taking a salt bath. So everyday (from about four weeks onwards), we would all sit down in the morning and discuss what was going on in the world and how howies fit into that world – it was tough, but we enjoyed every minute.

We don’t mind admitting some of the ideas were a bit rubbish and off the mark, but some were OK, and some were just so brilliant, we couldn’t believe David knocked them back!

OK, we’ve given away our ideas for free, and we’ve spent a huge amount of time thinking about them. But in return, we’ve learnt so much about new subjects, people and technologies which we would never have, which we feel is an essential part of being a designer. And it got us much closer to a bunch of people we greatly admire.

We make a point of trying to push ourselves everyday, regardless of budgets, timings or distance – which is why we seek out companies like howies. We believe we’re good for each other.

We dont mind if others out there take on the TFTD idea for their clients, though like we said, it isn’t easy, but it’s definitely worth it.

Thanks to our past placements, Steven, Hugh and Sarah who have also given their ideas.