Welcome to the first Clubhouse of 2018.

If it seems a little late to be sending out our first New Year's greetings, we're sorry. We spent January holed-up, heads down, tinkering with our website. We've just this minute put it live, and we're very excited about it. More on that later.

This month's Clubhouse is all about keeping going: the art of having another stab, taking a moment, making better decisions, and erm, peeing on an advert to see if you're pregnant. 

Happy new year to you all.

ON KEEPING GOING
 Don't ditch those resolutions just yet

We all love the exciting beginning stages of a project. But then comes the valley: the doubt, the difficulty, the despair. This School Of Life animation is rocket fuel for anyone thinking about giving up.
 

THE PAIN OF THE VOICE ARTIST
‘Keep the pace, but slow down some of the words, yeah?’
 
This wonderful short film takes you into the sometimes painful process of voiceover recording. (While we’re on the subject, our Ed is no stranger to the booth himself. You can see some of his latest work for EE here)

THE SECRET LIFE OF UM
Why we use filler words

You're thinking more than you might think you're thinking. In this interview, a linguistics professor explains what's going on in our brains when we're umming and ah-ing.

PEE AND QUEUE
A new high for audience interaction

A good week for marketing innovation turns into a bad week for the guy who deals with coupon fulfilment at IKEA. This advert features a built-in pregnancy test, and if your urine shows that you’re currently with child, they’ll give you a discount on a cot. Beautiful.

CONFIRMATION BIAS
What it is and why it’s ruining your life
 

Every decision we make is shaped by pre-existing beliefs. Sometimes that's a good thing. Often it isn't. Understanding the way we read the world might help us make better choices.

MAGIC WORDS
Turn a conversation around with these phrases

Turns out, it's not just the way you say it that matters. There are certain words and phrases that have power to get a bad conversation back on to good tracks. Use responsibly. 

WE'VE GOT A BRAND NEW WEBSITE
It lives!
 

We're starting the year with a big old tick on our to-do list: we've re-done our website. We've put some of our favourite projects up there, and started a new notice board of our thoughts. Come and take a look. 

HIVE VIEW
Worth watching

We've been  looking forward to seeing this go live for a while: Hive's swish new home camera arrived this month. We've been helping to name it, brand it and write this video script for it.