Coexist

When you work in a microagency 24/7 - there is nothing better than jumping outside of your world and into another that fully appreciates what it means to live by a "micro" mindset. Just last night, my wife and I decided to visit the culinary stylings of Dragonfly - a local vegan restaurant that prides itself on offering a place that embraces agriculture, artists and gourmets alike.

As you pull up to the restaurant located just south of the Ohio State University campus, you will notice a small garden in back that has been meticulously set up to grow all sorts of vegetables and herbs - most of which you have probably never heard of or even seen before. The garden’s completely maximized use of space, no bigger than a typical 2-car garage, can feed up to 50 diners with the efficiency of a full on corporate kitchen. Obviously I can't help but draw parallels with the Coexist studio and our approach to efficient collaboration and I begin to blush.

Once an order has been placed, the very personable waiter teases diners with a mini salad-type of appetizer aptly dubbed "micro-greens" and the presentation of color and ultimate pay-off with a burst of unexpected flavors makes me smile as I contemplate the beauty of this micro-offering. The subsequent plates that follow are amazing in both originality and taste and it just becomes so crystal clear as to why the micro-approach from dining to creative agency makes so much sense.

I am sitting in this quaint, yet perfectly sized restaurant and everything speaks to me in this moment - from the host and waiter to the seating to the artwork on the walls to the dim lighting to the ambient music piped through at the perfect decibel - this is the way it is supposed to be. Intimate, personal, original, inspiring and fulfilling.

A very peaceful hour and a half later we get our check as well as a complimentary order of micro-beignets and again I reflect on this wonderful evening. Wow - what a difference a focused micro-approach provides. Whether it be some strange mushroom dish that I can't wait to tell others about or that new online demo we just launched that must be shared with others - the micro way is the only way to go.