Two of Us, Partnerships
First published in the June instalment of the Two of Us monthly(ish) thematic email, ‘Partnerships’. Sign-up here if you wish to receive future emails direct to your inbox.
Partnerships
Welcome to the ninth instalment of our thematic emails. This month we wanted to talk briefly about partnerships. Being a partnership ourselves, we were curious about others.
We often talk about how important it is for us to continue to practice work as individuals, as we feel this adds to our offering as Two of Us. Having different interests, hobbies and sources of inspiration all play a part in the work that’s produced by each of us, which improves our process and aesthetic as a partnership.
Wally Olins and Michael Wolff
When business partnerships are discussed, it’s often advised to partner with someone who has different qualities to your own, to create the perfect balance.
We’ve long been admirers of Wally Olins and Michael Wolff. We feel that the success of their business and output in the early days of Wolff Olins was due to the fact that they compliment each other creatively and professionally, but are actually very different characters as individuals.
This fantastic four part discussion between Wally and Michael touches on this subject.
Cultural
Partnerships of course are common across all professional fields, but keeping within the field of creativity, some of the most successful, well known and iconic partnerships appear in music, TV, literature, comedy & film; Lennon & McCartney, Laurel & Hardy, Holmes & Watson, Morcambe & Wise to name a few.
The Coen Brothers (Joel and Ethan Coen) are award winning filmmakers responsible for films such as Fargo, No Country for Old Men and The Big Lebowski. Here’s Alden Ehrenreich talking about how working with the brothers is like working with ‘A two-headed brain’.
Other resources
Non-Format partners talk about their working relationship and what their partnership means to them.
“There’s a reason people rarely work entirely alone.” – 5 famous partnerships
Studio Twocan (Sisters Maddie & Becc Sharrock) combine their shared skills and knowledge to create beautiful cement ceramics and artwork. www.studio-twocan.com.au
Read about comedy duo Laurel and Hardy and how their time was spent before the pairing.
“Is it true that you do everything together? Do you never go out separately?” Gilbert: “Always together.”, George: “Always to the same restaurant.” – Gilbert and George: Two’s company
Previous instalments
Thank you for reading. If you are new to our thematic emails, or would like to refer back to a previous theme, you can view all our past instalments here.