A few months ago, W+K Portland set up a publishing initiative, 'Sharp Stuff'. They wanted to see how quickly they could put together some words and pictures which make sense. And then decide what to do with them.

They have just completed their first title, 'American Dreamers'. This brings together inventors, artists, entrepreneurs and visionaries. Subject matters from cooking to space travel; from sex to running. It's a mixture of projects, schemes and blueprints for brighter futures.
_Dr Zubrin reminds us why humans must travel to Mars.
_Cindy Gallop offers a real world alternative to porn.
_Stan Lee calls for heroes.
_Arianna Huffington banishes old media gods.
In just over 3 months, they have accrued more than fifty dreams in this one charming book.

'American Dreamers' is currently available as Print on Demand or as an eBook here. Some of the dreams are also available on Medium.

The Portland team behind this is keen now to see how these can live in other forms. Below is an example poster, inspired by Kurt Anderson's piece, 'Reset' and designed by Andy Prince (husband of ex-WK London legend, Lisa Prince).

Portland will be making more of these. And a couple of online experiments are bubbling away. In the meantime, you can follow the initiative on Twitter – @makesharpstuff.

This (above) is Lara Chapple. And this (below) is her account of what it's like to join W+K as a new recruit.

The giant playground.

Push through the looking glass, and
bang! You’ve jumped into Alice’s Wonderland. Welcome to the Wieden + Kennedy reception.

Bits and bobs and games and toys, all muck in with rows of home-made
self-portraits. These are the faces behind thumbed cats and butter. Walk in
stupid, Blender Man will keep an eye on the happy chaos.

Whirl down the spiral staircase
and you’re underground, plunging feet-first into creative juices. Observe
W+Kers bubbling over meetings; the toast gannets and coffee addicts. You are cordially invited to the Mad
Hatter’s Tea Party. Please, sip from dinky cups in puddled saucers, reach
from tiers of crumbling cookies. Let’s chew over status in a Pink room… meet
clients in the Oval… Now, criss-cross-across to the Cross room. Make sense? Good.

On with the show.

Back up those stairs – don’t trip
over the bicycles – and re-group in the library. Ssssh… Quiet around the books
and planners, please. Take a peek behind the velvet curtains…

Time’s up – you’re late for the
suits upstairs! Meet the fully-buttoned shirts, so-east-it-hurts Account bods. Hear
the harmonised frenzy of squeaky trainers and tapping keyboards, they tick off
to-do lists with a clickety-click. Now, up to the ice-cream van and crawl
inside the green padded cell. Enough bouncing off those walls on conference
calls, there’s work to do.

Rumours of a W+K penthouse
featuring a roof garden? Final stop! Pace up those stairs, sweep by the
multi-coloured cove, burst out into the November day, and you’re on cloud nine! But
London’s raining on the roof garden parade.

Back down to Earth.

Sit, desk, screen, tea.

The Giant Playground. It’s
stuffed with big, chattering toddlers, Cheshire cat grins, faces scrunched
behind laptops. They’re hopping and laughing between desks, whilst others are
settled in thought, brain held between headphones.

This is work. Busily we buzz in
the advertising hive, filling honeypots to spread over telly, sticking it to
billboards, it trickles through the web. This is the work.