I never noticed this until I met Archie, but Bichon Frisé dogs really look like miniature versions of Goldendoodles. This handsome guy from Freight Design and Freight Books is used as their secret weapon to charm customers. Makes sense: He’s charming and good looking. I had so much fun getting to know Archie; I hope you’ll enjoy him as much as I did!
Napa: What breed are you?
Archie: I’m a Bichon Frisé. Lots of people think we’re a fancy-pants breed, but I’m a laid back wee guy. I don’t go in for those pom-pom hair-dos. I model my look on Snowy from Tin-tin.
Napa: Tell me more about working at Freight Design.
Archie: Freight is awesome. We are a graphic design agency and indie publisher, based in Glasgow’s Merchant City. We work with clients across a huge range of industries and publish mainly literary fiction and humour. I have lots of friends in the office. The girls especially love me. I think my daddy, Adrian (one of Freight’s Directors) uses me as his secret weapon for charming clients, which I’m pretty good at it.
Napa: What is a typical day like in the Freight Design office?
Archie: In the morning I enjoy pats from lots of my colleagues, and then I mostly sleep. I never miss a meeting with Adrian. We have a nice red Danish sofa in the meeting room from which I keep a close eye on all his proceedings. I get up to greet pretty much every visitor to the studio. The only folks I’m not so keen on are the ones who wear hats or hi-viz vests. Don’t ask me why. I rarely bark, but I’ve learnt how to make my bowl rattle with my paw when I want food. When it’s sunny I like to chase shadows on the floor.
Napa: Whose desk do you sit under most often?
Archie: I sleep beside Adrian. I have a soft bed, some blankets and a toy. I often wander under Helen’s desk causing random items to drag across the table as I get caught in wires. I find this most amusing.
Napa: When you get bored around the office (in between important tasks), how do you keep busy?
Archie: Some of the Freight team are foolish enough to leave edible tidbits in their bins, so I make it my mission to locate the good stuff. Unfortunately, I ended up with chewing gum on my face this morning, but a quick beard trim sorted that out. Towards the end of the day Kouki or Helen sometimes gives me doggie-massages, which are great. There should be more of these.
Napa: What’s the best thing you’ve ever eaten around the office (even if you weren’t supposed to)?
Archie: Although I’ve figured out just the right look to make Kouki give a biscuit, most of the team are too well trained at not giving me treats. I was once caught with items from the sanitary bin. That was embarrassing and definitely won’t happen again! The worst incident was when I was a puppy. I ate a very expensive box of handmade chocolates the day before Valentines. I had to go to the emergency vet for a stomach pump.
Napa: What’s your favorite funny dog video? Please share the link!
Archie: Here’s some of those fancy-pants Bichons I was talking about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVHwGIWPzp0
Napa: Where are you from? What’s your favorite trait about the area you live in?
Archie: I live on the southside of Glasgow where there are loads of parks. So I’d have to say big green spaces to run around and chase urban foxes and squirrels.
Napa: If you could tell your human co-workers anything, what would it be?
Archie: To give me more biscuits and stop staring at those big screens so much.
Napa: Can you share any advice for other work dogs?
Archie: I think being as chilled as you can really helps. I don’t even mind if Andrew brings his dog Oscar to visit. Oscar is much bigger than me, but I’m cool with it. I think stress is over-rated and nice dogs like me are the cutting edge of calming everyone down.
Napa: Freight Design’s previous work is incredible. If you could lead any future design projects, what would you choose to work on?
Archie: I’ve always thought about creating a range of coats for dogs. I would lead on the product development, but as an agency with an amazing reputation I’d definitely have Freight design my branding. There are lots of hipster dogs in Glasgow (who you can see in Pub Dogs of Glasgow), so I’d probably tap into that market. I’d also like my own range of sunglasses for dogs. They’d be called Doggles.
Are you an office dog? Is your co-worker a canine? We’d love to hear from you! Get in touch via email or leave a note in the comments section below!
Side note: Do you run a business in the pet industry? Would you like to drive more traffic and sales to your site through a search-optimized pet blog? Get in touch with my office-mates at Lantern Content Marketing!
May I simply say what a comfort to uncover an individual who genuinely understands what they are discussing over the internet. You definitely realize how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More and more people must look at this and understand this side of your story. I was surprised that you are not more popular since you definitely have the gift.