LB/Lisboa - An Agency With A Soul

Arrived at our hotel around noon after a long, sleepless night of travel and a short connecting flight through Madrid. The flight from Madrid was only an hour long, but offered up some beautiful views of what I believe are the Central Sierra mountains, or perhaps the plateaus of the Sistema Central... My geography is a little rusty...either way, the topography in the Iberian peninsula is quite lovely...

We decided to venture out of the hotel to the office, to drop off 3 of the heavy suitcases we had lugged from Chicago filled with workbooks and supplies for our meeting. The office was right down the street, a 5 minute walk, but we managed to completely destroy two of these suitcases by dragging them down the cobblestone streets. Truth be told, these suitcases have probably 500,000 miles on them and were on their last legs anyway, but dragging them down the streets of Bairro Alto was probably not the best idea. These cobblestones are no joke either - I brought the wrong shoes for this city...

The agency was a revelation... Located in a building from the 1500's, it's airy, has high ceilings, and lovely tile and paint work inlaid in the walls. There are less than 100 people working there, and every employee has a headshot located on the wall behind the receptionist. There's a rooftop deck with a glorious water view, where we'll be lunching in between sessions, and the whole place exudes a vitality and youthful energy woefully missing in the corridors of Leo Burnett Chicago. I've grown used to working in a big steel and glass skyscraper inhabited by a horde of people I don't know, perpetually trading cubicles in a building that doesn't have a lot of character. This agency feels much more like a living, breathing entity, and the building itself gives the company a familial feel. I'm looking forward to spending the week here.

Outside out meeting room is a small foyer completely overstuffed with Cannes Lions and countless other international awards, a testament to LB/Lisbon's incredible creative track record. The walls throughout the agency are decorated with amazing and inspiring work, but some of the pieces that jumped out at me are actually from a brilliant poster campaign by a designer /illustrator named Mico Toledo, who used to work for LB/Lisbon before departing to London for other opportunities. Mico created an exquisite poster campaign around song-lyrics, and they're all over the walls at LB/Lisbon. Here's one that jumped out at me, but you should really check out the whole collection at his "music philosophy" site.
Below is a picture of the agency hosting their "portfolio night," an industry event that helps develop and nurture young talent... sigh... I wish my office had an open air patio...