We found out about the SAGE Bag Yourself A Billboard competition a little later than we would have liked. Alright, let’s be honest, we had less than a day to throw together a video to show off in 60 seconds exactly what we do here at Gather.ly. It was no mean feat, especially given we had a big deadline for a project and some of the team on the opposite side of the world... but we got it done. There were frantic video edits and many a laugh over memorising lines and ingenious makeshift studios, but we pulled together a vid that demonstrated the story of who we are and what we are doing for the creative community in the UK.

The next hurdle came when we discovered that not only did we just have to submit the video to be in the running, but to be voted into the top five videos to get before the eyes of the judges. There were already some impressive videos that had been clocking votes for weeks! We took a deep breath, called on all our mates and followers, (alright we clogged everyone’s social media feeds with the competition) and before we knew it we were being awarded a massive billboard in the heart of East London.

After all the tears and cheers had died down we had to decide exactly what we wanted to plaster up on this billboard. Part of the prize was to have a massive agency design it for us. We were excited to get the ‘pros’ to look at us from an outside perspective and have a view on telling our story. They nailed our proposition and proposed some amazing concepts. We were so excited but later found out logistically they couldn’t deliver them. Their team put in a huge effort to try to create something that worked for us and our audience. Sadly, they ran out of time and we nearly lost the opportunity. Always looking for the positive we decided to take it on the design ourselves as this is exactly the thing we live for and do.

This gave us the opportunity to show that our network can do what the big boys couldn't and live by our core value of ‘Making peoples lives more interesting’. The agency negotiated a small extension on the deadline and decided to give the billboard space back to one of our illustrators to create a piece. The only constraints being they had 48 hours and it needed to have our name in there.

Mr. Edward Carvhalo-Monaghan had worked with us on a past project, The Art of Interpretation, and we were big fans. His work is clever, eye-grabbing and seriously cool. He delivered something blindingly great. You can see his work here, but for the real deal, make sure you go to the billboard on Old St, Shoreditch and check it out in XXXL life size form, it’s staggering.

I asked Ed how he felt about the opportunity, he couldn’t reply quick enough at how happy he was to do it. In fact, he was super happy to do it. As a friend of Gather.ly he knows what we are all about and fundamentally supports everything we do, in his words “I think it’s pretty sweet.” Ed isn’t about financial gain, he wants to work his craft, no matter what, as long as he’s got shoes on his feet, he’s happy (even if they do have holes in them).

He feels that sometimes when you get given opportunities you notice that some are extra special; they're really interesting and you have to get right down to it and apply yourself totally from the get go. This is how he felt about the opportunity we gave Ed for the billboard, he made certain he applied himself straight away, knuckled down and did his best work, really expanding on his work. He wanted to make it count, and he totally did.

Ed doesn’t usually draw reference or inspiration; he uses a psychedelic sixties style and colour scheme and draws on his past work when creating something new.

He didn’t know what he was going to draw for the billboard; he just got down to it and applied himself. Ed really relished this opportunity because he doesn’t usually do typography and it was a great way for him to expand on his style and is looking forward to the exposure of a different type of his work. Cleverly, each letter is a different typeface, yet Ed has managed to fluidly draw them all together to make them one image. Using smooth controlled lines, the contours eventually work themselves into the style.

This opportunity for Ed is an example of a message he feels strongly about, that marketing and advertising needs to become less regulated and more relaxed. He strongly believes in giving people a fair go to prove themselves, just as we did for him.

It’s so refreshing to speak to someone who doesn’t care about material shit, who is happy with making enough to pay the rent, as long as he’s doing what he loves. He offers advice to those who choose to do the same, "if you have holes in your shoes, it’s easy, just don’t go out in the rain".

Ed strongly believes in what we are trying to achieve at Gather.ly, “it’s necessary to level the playing field…everything is too insular nowadays.” He feels that people care just enough to give you enough money to be able to get to the next level, which is totally cool with him, but he also believes there are lots of other parts of the creative process that drain loads of money and that it should be invested into those areas.

Being the Good Samaritan he is, he would love to use his exposure to help other people have opportunities like this as well. Even though he is slogging it out and working his ass off all the time, Ed compassionately notes that there are people out there who have a way harder time. While he doesn’t try to have a commercial look, some people think it is commercial enough to get work, whereas there are some people who don’t have a commercial look but they have other really interesting ways of working and he would love to help get people like that opportunities and exposure of their stories.

Ed graciously thanks us for the opportunity, but really, we are thanking him. He’s an absolute legend and we are just as stoked as him to be able to show off his amazing work on such a large scale and to promote a name that he believes in as much as we do. If you haven’t already, make sure you get to Old Street in Shoreditch to check out the billboard in the flesh.