In the early hours of Wednesday 16th May, 8,000 hand-made clay figures appeared around Manchester’s busiest streets, designed to reflect the rushed, early morning commutes made by those who were most likely to find them.

The public were encouraged to take away the figures for their own enjoyment and share their thoughts, films and photos online. As such, word spread very quickly on twitter of their existence, with many people tweeting pictures and details of their locations, so much so the hashtag #littleclaymen began trending.

The models, designed by artist Lawrence Epps, were placed around the city as part of a campaign to promote the Future Everything festival at MOSI, which celebrates the latest developments in art, music and technology. Lawrence had previously created similar campaigns in London and Stoke.

Whilst many had no idea about their existence and merely stumbled across this brilliant campaign, many were actively on…