The Essential List: Jacob Critchley

Born and raised in Costa Del Salford, Jacob is a senior creative at The Onlii, joining the team at the start of the year keen to embark on a journey with a young agency with a desire to produce the best creative. He knows everything starts with a solid idea and applies his conceptual thinking to everything from campaign, retail architecture, experiential design or brand activation.

Taking inspiration from all corners of the globe, you can often find him skateboarding in Manchester City Centre, having a few games of Call of Duty or looking for cheap flights for a weekend getaway.

Lifestyle

• Place of birth: Salford.
• Hometown: Salford.
• Staycation: It’s usually cheaper to go abroad, so I usually do that.
• Vacation: Lindos without skateboard, Barcelona with.
• Pet: Greyboots my cat.
• Place of work: My home office in Eccles or the office in Leeds. 
• Place of workout: The Iron Church aka Virgin Active at Media City.
• Good Habit: Backwards treadmill walking.
• Bad Habit: Snoring.
• Mode of transport: Electric scooter for purpose, skateboard for pleasure.
• Bonus Travel Essential: Cotton buds or q-tips for the American readers.

Culture

• Artist: Saul Steinberg who once said "Cat’s and dogs, being near people, are people. They become interesting because they clown people."
• Musician: I can always listen to A Tribe Called Quest, but I’ve recently had the following songs on repeat:
•     No Hands (feat. Z-Trip) by Joey Valence & Brae 
•     When The Heat Comes Down (feat. ASM) by The Allergies
•     Friendly Pressures (Sunship Remixes) by Jhelisa & Sunship 
• Commercials / music video director: Spike Jonze.
• Film director: Beagle of Baker skateboards / Shake Junt fame.
• Author: John le Carré.
• Photographer: Matt Price.
• Film: If I was going to put something on tonight it’d be John Wick 4.
• Series: The Bear.
• Invention: The Wheel.
• Commercial: “what if we treated athletes like skateboarders” series by Nike SB.
• Music Video: Sabotage by Beastie Boys comes to mind.
• Video Game: Warzone.
• Board Game: Trivial Pursuit.
• Book: Phonebook.
• Graphic Novel: Never been able to get into graphic novels.
• Podcast: The Bunt or The Nine Club; both really good skateboard podcasts. One is more critical and outspoken (The Bunt) and the other is a bit more industry friendly (The Nine Club).
• Newspaper (off or online): Tso much shit going on in the world and it’s rather depressing, so I avoid news outlets as much as I can.
• Magazine: Pocket Skateboard Mag.
• Obsession: No one or thing has a restraining order against me so I can’t be that obsessed.
• Bonus Culture Essential: Lot of cultures in yoghurt.

Food and Drink

• Breakfast: I’ll wait until lunch.
• Restaurant: New Wave Ramen in Manchester is my current favourite.
• Cheap bite: Royal Shawarma in Eccles (no affiliation with the crown).
• Working lunch: Ploughman’s seems pretty on brand.
• Dish: Smash Burgers.
• Snack: Snickers.
• Guilty Pleasure: I never feel guilty when I eat or drink and you shouldn’t too!
• Bar: Ideally somewhere with a pool table or Port Street Beer in Manchester which unfortunately doesn’t have a pool table.
• Booze: There’s technically alcohol in kombucha, the Hip Pop ones are really good.
• Not Booze: Many shots of Espresso.
• Bonus Food: Nachos.
• Bonus Beverage: Tenzing.

Kit

• Phone: iPhone 
• Computer: Macbook pro with a 27” external monitor is a mighty healthy combination, sit those on a standing desk and you’re onto a winner.
• Headphones: apple wired, old faithful.
• Camera: iPhone, it’s one camera you don’t have to worry about forgetting.
• Pen / pencil: A chunky fineliner.
• Where you document an idea: A4 Layout pad to sketch, Notes app to write.
• Casual Clothing: Kirkland signature plain white T shirt, jeans, cap.
• Smart Clothing: Kirkland signature plain white T shirt, jeans, no cap.
• Footwear: Nike SB Dunk for skateboarding, Birkenstocks for at home, Hoka Speedgoat 5 for running + walking. 
• Accessory: Patagonia sling bag.
• Collection: I’ve got a lot of rocks.
• Home comfort: Scented Candles.
• App: Gravitus and Strava.
• Website: Met Office.
• Blog: Dezeen.
• Work program: Mainly the big three; illustrator, photoshop and indesign. 
• Digital work tool: Reverse Google Image search.
• Analogue work tool: Brain, Heart and Gut.
• Morning grooming / makeup essential: Tongue Brush.
• Bonus Kit Essential: Sauna.