22nd November 2019 / Alan Moore

Love the work you do: Blitz Motorcycles

Hugo and Fred build motorcycles. They build them from discarded older motorbikes, curating their builds using the frames, engines, petrol tanks and handlebars from machines of another time. They call their company Blitz — as in giving new life, new energy, new purpose, to old motorcycles. Possessed with an aesthetic vision of how these motorcycles […]

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14th October 2018 / Alan Moore

Why the practice of craft makes a meaningful life

I was trained both as a typographer, and as a book designer. Both these practices are steeped in craft. So much knowledge required of materials (don’t get me started on paper – colour, transparency, weight, texture – to this today every piece of paper I touch is evaluated – receipts mostly), production processes, typefaces, and, […]

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2nd October 2018 / Alan Moore

Millennials. They want the cool thing, and, the right thing.

I asked Dame Fiona Reynolds, a Master at Cambridge University, UK and author of ‘The Fight for Beauty’ – ‘what gives you hope?’ Her answer; “The reason I feel optimistic is because I think young people are amazing and they get this stuff. This is a generation that has got no ticket to the future, […]

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5th December 2017 / Alan Moore

The business case for purposeful leadership

The great master of martial arts Morihei Ueshiba became deeply troubled as to his true defining purpose. So he retired into the mountains with a Zen philosopher to reflect upon his work and life. He gave up the practice of martial arts as a form of violence and created the graceful non-violent martial art of […]

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22nd November 2017 / Alan Moore

Beautiful Business conversations with Xero CEO Rod Drury

I talk to Rod Drury CEO of Xero, an accountancy software company. We discuss the idea of legacy, beautifully written code, why beautiful businesses are the future, and why craftsmanship plays such a key role in Xero’s enterprise design and customer experience; how that relates to automation and AI. Can you scale beauty? Its a […]

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22nd November 2017 / Alan Moore

Beautiful business conversations with Geanne van Arkel interface

A conversation with Geanne van Arkel, Head of Sustainable Development, Interface EMEA. We talk about not only sustainable business that can be profitable. But businesses that are regenerative, restorative and resilient. Purpose, and, design play a vital role in crafting a company that delivers on those goals. In a recent Deloitte study, 73% of CFO’s […]

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21st November 2017 / Alan Moore

How to craft a beautiful business

The time has come for a sea change in how we think about business, the role of business in our world its impact on our society. We need to reframe business in the context of beauty. Why beauty? Beauty isn’t about pretty dresses and sunset vistas: it’s about taking common objects and experiences, and turning […]

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19th December 2016 / Alan

What does it mean to be a beautiful business?

I have always been fascinated by beautiful things: architecture, furniture, tools, books, even businesses. Beautiful things are prepared with love. The act of creating something of beauty is a way of bringing good into the world. Infused with optimism, it says simply: Life is worthwhile. The effort to create enduring beauty is not dependent on style […]

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27th November 2016 / Alan

Start with optimism

Where do we start any piece of work? We want to be inspired, to be excited about the creative potential of making something useful. It could be a new piece of personal work, it might be a business challenge, but key is to be intrigued enough to lean forward and give it your full attention. […]

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