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Community, social networking, travel and opportunity were the words which described my personal interests and lifestyle until March 2020. Then, the outbreak of COVID-19 happened affecting not only my own lifestyle but causing a global change. Considering the term "critical incident" describing "[…] an event which made you stop and think or one that raised questions for you. […] It is an incident which in some way has had a significant impact on your personal and professional learning” portrays the outbreak of this pandemic completely. Thinking back, in the beginning of this year I saw DPS as the perfect opportunity to gather experiences worldwide, to develop my skills and grow personally. I felt excited and curious to get out in the world learning from professionals, experiencing different cultures and building a social and professional network. The fear of failing, of rejection and the stress were only a small part alongside my curiosity and excitement. I felt lucky to have one of the most interesting years of my life right ahead of me. However, I experienced a "critical incident" known as coronavirus which changed my point of view completely. My thoughts were turned around and instead of feeling lucky and excited I felt scared and stressed. As everyone else I didn't know what would happen, if I still would continue with my DPS year or if I would go straight into third year. I didn't see the variety of opportunities any longer. Yet, I started applying for internships, attended competitions and found my luck within the crisis. I got an internship at Mercato Metropolitano. From that moment on, I started looking at the world differently again. I got my excitement and curiosity back and started looking forward to this year. I started looking around me and realised that this difficult situation had the effect on people to find new solutions to everyday's lives tasks. Looking at the question "What New Agency comes from a complete global reset?" I am the opinion that the term "new agency" can stand for anyone and everyone. It could stand for all the businesses which changed their structures from employees coming to the offices to sending them into home office. It could stand for all online meetings to keep communicating with each other. But most importantly, I think that, "new agency" is targeting us individuals as everyone had to change and adjust their lifestyles. I realised that my main interests, which I mentioned in the beginning, namely socialising, travelling and community, don't exist in the way they did before the crisis anymore. Even though I miss my "old lifestyle", being able to enjoy my personal freedom, seeing friends and going out, experiencing life in the pandemic shows me how flexible our society is and that with each negative comes a positive. For example, due to the lockdown, less emissions were caused helping the environment. Additionally, after the first wave hit Europe and events were cancelled, people realised that their lives have actually been stressful before the crisis, as there was always something happening. Because of lockdown, I started making time for myself by reading books which I hadn't in a while as I was constantly busy with seeing people and being on the run. Interning at Mercato Metropolitano I got insights into their business strategies and how they adjusted to the constantly changing situation. Thinking about it now, I believe that by working for them in the time period from September to December 2020, I was able to learn more than I could have expected. I experienced the reopening after the first lockdown, their responses to constantly changing restrictions as well as the second lockdown. I am impressed and fascinated by their fast past work and feel lucky to be a part of such a forward thinking and hard working team of problem solver. They managed to turn their whole sustainable food market into a huge restaurant, offering table service, so that the community would still be able to enjoy their drinks and food. This happened within a day. Whilst the Market sites were still open I was researching app developer thinking about how to expand community culture and convey Mercato's beliefs in the future. As soon as the announcement of the second lockdown happened, MM opened an online grocery, offering people the change to get food delivered home. All those changes do usually happen within years but I feel lucky that I experienced them within a couple months. Mercato Metropolitano is just one example but a lot of businesses became in my opinion "new agencies" changing their services and adjusting them to new situations. Another internship I am currently attending is requiring work remotely. I was looking for some part time internships which I could do alongside Mercato Metropolitano as it started of as only a part time internship. I think that the fact, that home office became more common and has a lot of positive sides to it, was the reason why my boss offered remote work. This happened to be a great solution for me, not only as it is possible to plan my own hours, but also as it introduced me to home office. In the beginning I was quite concerned about staying home and working eight hours on my desk only communicating over Zoom, email and calls with my boss as I didn't know the what she expected me to do. I realised that in the start, logging into social media accounts and their website and starting to post and promote activities, was a challenge for me because I had to figure everything out by myself. I think it would have been easier to come to the office and being able to learn the different softwares by her showing me. I also didn't know if I would meet her expectations. Nevertheless, by working alone, I understood how independent I am and by working for a longer period of time for her, I realised that communicating exclusively over the internet works very well. Anne Nestler
BA (Hons) Graphic and Media Design @annes_graphics This year started with mixed feelings about the new world that forms around us. We were still at the start of the pandemic when online DPS lectures started while sitting at home hoping we will start a normal year. At the end of the summer, I started applying for internships. Everyone was asking questions about how it's going, how many did I sent, and the only emotion I felt was pressure to find something immediately. I wrote more than 100 emails by the end of September and unfortunately, I haven't heard back any good news from studios during the first month so that was the time I realised that this year is going to be much harder than I anticipated it. I spent 6 months in a small town in Hungary where I struggled to keep up a positive attitude because everything seemed like a struggle. During those months I tried to stay creative and joined creative movements like the "Stay Sane, Stay Safe" poster brief. This year I want to concentrate on projects that evolves the industry through this transition. First I felt like I'm always running into a wall when I try to figure out this new normal. Around September I started to look for a new flat so I could move back to London. After all these months, it felt like I restarted my life in London like when I first moved here. Everything seemed a bit odd like people were pretending that life went back to normal by going out, and many people weren't wearing masks like we wouldn't be still in the middle of a pandemic. It was a surreal reality like I was looking out from the inside. In the middle of all this, I still felt relieved and productive regarding this year and DPS. The motto for these times that everything matters that are worth it. Even in the process of applying to internships, I felt like I'm learning something new that I have never done before because I was always afraid of rejection. This pandemic made one of the worst setbacks for creatives, and even the media/government projected that we should find something else "more helpful" other than arts. I found it funny that the creatives turned this message and created memes to fight back because the ads weren't even worthy enough to be taken seriously. Last year around spring, I was remotely completing a D&AD New Blood Award Brief with three other people from LCC. That was one of the first signs for me to this whole global reset. We had to turn to unconventional solutions to complete the project, solutions like working from 3 different countries while trying to keep up a brainstorming session. This DPS year, I would like to bring the same energy and work with these creatives and bring back a community that we lost during the way. Something became definite in my life, that is the courage to say that I'm afraid of what happens next because this year feels like a trailer of 10 years of movie compilations. End of September, I applied to a sustainable British menswear company called SIRPLUS here in London. I heard back from them after three weeks, so I thought it's going to be an "Unfortunately we Can't..." email but to my surprise they liked my work and wanted to work with me. I spent the first week in self-isolation because I just flew back from Hungary a week before. First, the adjustment was weird that I can't meet the people I work with, but everyone was welcoming. My job as a graphic intern is to design online and offline marketing and branding as well and today is my 7th week into the job, and I learned so much about commercial design. My skills in photoshop, editing, printing, photographing evolved during these weeks without me noticing. These everyday details keep me going that we can't look at everything and say it's not enough. With this opportunity, I stepped into a new world that was far out of my reach. Now I get to meet new people (safely, of course) and learn about fashion, photography, and so much more with this sustainable brand. I got to earn some knowledge on surplus materials and the history of the brand like how Henry the owner started off the brand with only selling boxers with leftover fabrics so nothing goes to waste. Anytime I had some free time, I joined live sessions with creatives like the Adobe Max Conferences. Those talks were uplifting to learn something new and also to connect with the industry for tips and tricks. The uncertainty is always going to be there to question our choices. This year is all about growing and learning as a person, and small achievements are major accomplishments as well. During the Wednesday classes with Sarah, we usually talk about the industry, the balance between work and free time, and these Wednesday classes are always a good way to reconnect with people from the university and talk about how we feel about this whole new industry that's everyone is uncertain about. Since the new lockdown was announced I'm working from home and in the studio as well, but sometimes I still feel like I'm stuck. I can't complain about my living situation because I live with friends, but I still feel closed inside and struggle with these feelings. I appreciate this year and all the opportunities for internships and live briefs as well. My live brief choice is Selfridges. It's an interesting comparison between my internship as a small sustainable company that is trying to make a change step by step and between this humongous department store that can be misleading about their true intentions. Even though I struggle with something everyday I look forward to 2021 and new opportunities for internships. For example, 2020 could be described as the worst year so far, but there are some pretty good moments as well like I had an interview with one of the Pentagram teams for a possible internship, and it made me want to achieve more goals because this studio in 2018 seemed so out of reach while still living in Hungary. The possibility of this change in 2 years really presents a huge improvement for me even during this mess around the industry. So let's see how this new reality turns out. Lilla Cseh https://lillacseh.com/ @lilla_cseh GMD- Graphic and Media Design The technological shift within the current climate: A global reset within ways of working11/19/2020 Since March, we have all had to adapt to the “new normal” of 2020 with increasing concern on our own mental health and ways of working. For me, my search for internships at the start wasn’t as stressful as I thought because I was lucky enough to start the DPS course with an internship with Mercato Metropolitano (which was a result of a previous competition where I pitched the idea of developing an App for them). Mercato Metropolitano is a sustainable food market based in elephant and castle (now expanding into different parts of London and Berlin) with great ethical and social morals in relation to food and wanting to help the local community through various charitable means. The internship started where Mercato approached us asking if we would re-design their website instead of focusing on an application, as that was more important to refresh their previous designed site to reflect the market and its community values. This meant the first month involved researching the main markets, the people, its community initiatives and how it became such an inspirational movement full of culture and passion for good food. Interestingly, this research uncovered a lot about their positive social and environmental impact with their sustainability goals and how this has built the foundation of MM. Of course, this was needed to be communicated greater within their website pushing their amazing initiatives to the public. During this whole time, I was able to work in the offices physically interacting with the other members of the team and working closely with the marketing team and head designer. With their help and understanding how the market worked (in terms of operations and financial side), it was beneficial especially in the next couple of months when everything changed again with the new government regulations… Even though the shift in technological advances has affected most businesses in terms of virtual communication and basic operations, working with Mercato has given me first-hand experience with this dramatic shift especially in the hospitality industry. Weeks before the second lockdown was introduced, I was approached by Mercato to work more than 3 days a week (my prior agreement) to full time with pay, expressing their concern of the current climate and the urgency of exploring new digital ways of operating. At first, their original operations of ordering food at stalls had to shift to a table service idea due to government guidelines, meaning they had to become one of the largest restaurants in Elephant castle and Mayfair. Only 6 people could sit at each table, resulting in a more controlled operation of the usually busy and thriving market site which immediately altered the atmosphere and community spirit of Mercato. Nonetheless, it still managed to attract to people to visit in safe space. This restriction meant that Mercato had to shift their own ways of working and bring in a new ordering system from your phone. Like a lot of restaurants at the time, this dramatic shift allowed app developers and designers to respond to the current needs of many clients in hospitality, which for me was more interesting to experience as a designer because of the adaptably and importance of the work we do. During this pandemic, designers have still had to problem solve and respond to new ways of working, despite the fact in some instance they are still underappreciated. This global reset has helped reflect the type of work I do, in more of social mindset and made me realise that without designers during these unprecedented times, a lot of people would be struggling more. The basic level of virtual communication through zoom and online platforms was designed and coded by someone trying to help find a solution to the dramatic shift of having to hold digital meetings and virtual workspaces. This accelerated over the time of the pandemic, and companies might now use this new method of communicating within their structure if people are able to work from home, cutting financial costs of travel and even the physical spaces. Despite this point, many companies like Mercato still rely on this physical social interaction within offices and their physical sites which is why despite the recent lockdown, Mercato still wanted to try and help the community physically and in other virtual ways which was possible. As part of the internship, I was asked to work on their online grocery and help find ways of selling their goods online due to the markets now being closed. This shifted their operations again, as their only form of revenue and way of helping the community was to shift completely online using Shopify and Social media. Instead of focusing on app developing for their new table service system, I had to suddenly adapt and learn more about how Shopify works and re-design their old site, so it is up to date with their style. I had to work closely with the operations and grocery team to make sure it was up to date product wise, which meant staying after work 3 days in a row before the new lockdown restriction to make sure it was live and ready for customers. This intense shift of working was a tiring experience and made me aware of the pressures that working in situation like this has on people in businesses. The stress of having to re-design the website had its own complications, but the shopify website was up and running in under a week after hours of quick photography and intense hours. Mercato still managed to have some physical interaction with the public as they recently opened their physical grocery where they hand out food bags and provide goods to the local community, even on a smaller scale. Overall, seeing a business like Mercato shifting from its reliance of physical space into a complete digital reset was something I am glad I was a part of, as it made me realise how adaptable designers have to be in situations even when faced with external influenced that make the job harder. Here are examples of the shift of mercato, from the seated market space to the new grocery which still operates its community initiatives such as CoMMunity meals which was given out freely to children and family during this time.
Jake Richardson jakerichardon.uk @jake.richardson__ GMD - Graphic and Media design Joanna Domagalska (Graphic and Media Design) Every single day over the past two weeks, I've been trying to come up with an easy way to touch on all the things I want to write about, not sure whether I should even include certain aspects at all. I am always trying to find a balanced approach but overthink everything I do and say, which is very counterproductive, because, well - I’ve been working on this blog in my head for this long without even beginning to write a single word. And I worry that I will make it too personal. But personally, I love it when people make it personal. Makes it more genuine. I'm probably not going to surprise anyone by saying that my life's been pretty much turned upside down this year, which includes me being back at home for the longest period since I moved out during my gap year. It has been a real shock, coming from an environment where my schedule was packed to the limits with both university and work, being financially independent and living on my own terms to being back in my home country with no clue of what was going to happen next and no plans in sight. But there have also been multiple positive aspects - it has given me a lot of valuable time to think and focus on what I really want to do without the external pressure of having to worry about rent and all those stressful factors that arise when living in another country. To my own surprise, I felt really comfortable in my safe little bubble, and whilst overwhelmingly anxious about what was happening in the world, I felt grateful for the opportunity to reset after some incredibly hectic months. Since then, I've been trying to redefine my practice and find the new ways of working™. Am I a graphic designer? An illustrator? A 3D motion designer? Maybe I'm all at once or maybe I'm none. I'd say being lost would be the most fitting description of how I've felt throughout this confusing period of time. Luckily though, recently I've been beginning to find my voice and a steady ground under my feet. I have my curiosity and a constant drive to learn to thank for it. I should probably mention here all those unsuccessful internship applications, rejections, interviews, and placements canceled last minute so prevalent in the current climate. I knew it wouldn't be easy to get an internship this year, but I'm not gonna lie, I felt quite disheartened reading rejection e-mails, if any at all. However, a rejection e-mail is still better than no reply. At least I know where I'm standing. I'm not letting this put me down though, as I still have so many things I have planned to do this academic year. It has only just begun and I know there will be more opportunities later during the year. So far I've been mostly working on small freelance projects, as well as modeling and assisting in a lookbook shoot for a local crochet brand and working on my own ideas. I'm going to be honest - I've never experienced the painful notion of impermanence and unpredictability more than I have this year in face of Covid - and even more so during the past month. At some point, I feared I wouldn't even be able to continue my DPS year or anything at all. The sudden loss of a loved one has been the most challenging thing I've ever had to deal with in my silly 22 years of life on this Earth. Sometimes I find it really difficult to accept that the world is relentlessly moving forward and I feel really angry. But I'm learning to be at peace with it. If anything, it reassured me about what's most important in life and what I should focus on. I feel really motivated to continue what I've started - my journey with studying abroad and DPS - after all it was one of the key factors that made me choose to study at LCC and I worked really hard to be in that place. Learning new skills has been a positive channel of energy for me and helped me to stay hopeful and motivated. A little over a week ago I started an online course on Cinema4D and motion graphics that I've been really happy with. It has given me a much-needed structure, alongside working on the DPS live briefs. I feel like I'm picking up the knowledge quickly and already feel confident enough to work on making my own stuff in C4D. I am looking forward to putting my skills into practice for the Selfridges project. I am also really excited about the Not Just a Shop brief, as I feel it will be really helpful in getting experience in setting up my own brand whilst having help with the business and marketing side of things. Apart from that, I've been really trying to stay on track regardless of the difficulties and started my DPS Instagram to post my reflections and findings, as well as document my progress. Documenting and reflecting is one of my favorite things to do so it felt really natural. Plus, the goal of posting at least 1 reflection a week will keep me motivated to keep working. So I guess what I've been doing was essentially just trying to make sense of this chaos amidst the global reset and finding my own way without losing my mind. I have a good feeling about it.
www.instagram.com/joannadps/ www.instagram.com/joanna.wip/ During this lockdown everyone has been forced to adapt their practices to be able to work from home. During a time of such uncertainty, it is especially hard to be a creative and it is hard to stay inspired. Finding a job as a music photographer, for example, is virtually impossible right now as none of these events are going forward. Agencies have and are closing, there are barely any job openings in illustration. After applying to over 70 jobs and internships, my job prospects seemed a little bleak. A few employers responded but most of them wanted me to work for free and one of them simply stopped responding, despite repeated follow-up. Perhaps they were struggling like many businesses now, or they just found someone else, especially with so much demand for so few jobs during this difficult time. During the lockdown, a new normal emerged for me, as perhaps it did for the vast majority of us. Working remotely became a norm. There was no speaking to / interacting with people face to face. Texts, Skype calls, FaceTime, and Zoom came closest to human contact. Daily routine was lost and I had no functioning sleep/wake cycle. Days seem to merge into one another. Lunch was at night and breakfast was a mid afternoon snack. It was probably not surprising then that, like many others and most of my creative peers, I ended up with a creative block. At the beginning of the first lockdown. I was overwhelmed by all the quarantine inspired creative content I was seeing on social media. I felt pressure to create work about quarantine but couldn’t because of this block. GQ interviewed some creatives in lockdown, and among them was Installation artist Rashid Johnson. They asked him if his work right now is ‘about the crisis’. He said “My work is always about a crisis- maybe not the crisis, but the crisis of the human condition.” This resonated with me and made me think about the purpose of my art. I realised that I should not be making work expecting a perfect end result, but just making to enjoy the process. Working this way made me think differently, removed my inhibitions and has allowed me to overcome my creative block albeit it took a good part of 6 months to do so. I have learnt that the best way to get out of an art block is just to have fun on some paper or whatever. Right now, we can only really share our work digitally. So, during the first lockdown I decided to finally finish what I had been procrastinating for some time now, finishing my website. It was definitely a long and challenging process as I’m not a web designer, but it was fruitful. Once I’d finished this, It was much easier to get the ball rolling on other things, like setting up an Instagram account for my art. I tried to find ways to increase engagement by using the ‘reels’ feature to create process videos of my work. This however, came with its own set of challenges. Setting up my phone to film was much harder that I had thought. After all, I was not mounting my camera on a simple tripod - I was wanting to set it up to capture my creative process and it needed to be at a certain height and a certain angle, and with the right kind of lighting and avoiding shadows, and so on and so forth. Thus, after a lot of trial and error I found the perfect makeshift setup (figure 1). You will be surprised at the many uses of cardboard boxes and books that have not been read in a long time and have sat gathering dust on the book case. I also had to work out how to screen print and lino print at home. After spending some time applying to job vacancies and working on my website and social media presence, I found an opportunity on Linkedin. A charity called Parkinson’s Concierge was looking to work with an artist who could help with their work. I offered my services and after sharing with them my portfolio and a few zoom calls, I was in business! Since then, I have been working with them to create a poster to raise awareness about the symptoms of Parkinson’s. While I have enjoyed working on this project and learning more about Parkinson’s in the process, adhering to deadlines and making many changes as per the client’s requirements was challenging. My final outcome is figure 2. Although the design process for this project is over, I am still working with the charity to monetise this project so that it could be utilised as posters in a variety of public places, such as community centres, schools, shops etc. Alongside this project, I have been working with a charity for OCD, Orchard. After looking at animations I have already made, they decided they liked my style and wanted me to create an animation to explain OCD. Figure 3 is my storyboard for this project thus far. During this time I think I have changed as an artist, as I have realised it is possible to collaborate remotely- I don’t need to be in a meeting with a client in person. I even tried my luck applying for a WFH job vacancy for an illustrator in Australia. I thought, since they don’t need me to come in physically, what’s the harm in trying? As it turned out, they did need the person to come in every so often, so the opportunity didn’t materialise. But, I think its a good example of how you could be a creative without being in a studio. I did manage to get some pointers from the Jimmy himself over at JimmyPatchIllustration and he gave me some feedback on my recent work. I think once the pandemic is over, working will never be the same again- it will be a collaboration of remote and in person working. So I need to ask myself, what will I change in my practice? I think the key is engaging your audience. I need to continue to work on my social media presence, as well as expanding my shop. I will be working on the ‘Not Just A Shop’ Brief during DPS, and I hope this would help towards that. I have changed as an artist and have learnt at least one way to overcome an artist block- create free of expectation. For me, that is the most important thing. Other than that, que sera sera.
Coronavirus has evidently disrupted everyone’s lives in 2020. By November we have reached over 50 million confirmed cases worldwide. Having had to resort to lockdown measures, everyone has had to drastically adapt their living and working situations. For creatives, including artists, designers, curators, photographers and many more, the international spread of Covid-19 has seriously impacted the work we are able to do. However it has also provided a compelling opportunity to record the uncertainty our population faces while we are forced to return to the basics of living and surviving. Everyone has become cautious while leaving the house simply for essentials. Problems we used to face in our day-to-day lives seem extremely minor in comparison to worrying about whether our family members could catch the virus while simply stocking up on food. It’s no news that the creative industry is one that has been hit the hardest since the pandemic. A lot of creative freelancers are known to have multiple jobs to support themselves. Since lockdown has been put into place, most of these ancillary jobs have been postponed, leaving many designers with no source of income. With all major networking events, such as the arts festivals, being cancelled, creatives have been left with little opportunities to make vital industry connections that would usually lead to commissions or funding. This has resulted in creatives having to keep up an active profile, try to stay relevant and involved through online means and come up with an artistic response to the current events and issues. Unfortunately, there is no promise of this receiving a tangible reward however. And although many people have been able to find an audience online, there is concern that sharing this content online or even giving it away for free devalues their work and even their practice as a whole. As a result, many creatives and designers have picked up new skills in an attempt to broaden their practice in new ways. They have found ways to respond to Covid and the pandemic as a means of keeping their practice afloat. Photographers have been able to interpret anxiety and survival during the period of Covid-19, designers have created a body of work regarding support for mental health during these difficult times, while others have created uplifting illustrations depicting day-to-day life. Left to right: Hayley Longman (2020) / David Byrne 'A Balanced Life' (2020) / Matilde Corno (2020) While there’s been many sectors in the creative industry that have been halted since Covid-19, it’s also given rise to discussion about the value of public spaces and the importance of its design. This might not be a new debate but the pandemic has made city councils reconsider its significance. Green spaces have been taken into greater consideration, as millions of people don’t have access to this kind of space within a 10 minute walking distance. The pandemic has brought these inequalities to light and therefore shows why the spaces we surround ourselves in are so important. Although size plays a vital part, they also need to be designed so that they’re healthy. So although coronavirus has most definitely hindered almost every creative in their practice, it has also created new opportunities and ways to expand creative careers.
The creative economy contributes to a huge amount to the cultural fabric of British society. It’s value is roughly estimated to be 13 million per hour. Considering it’s one of the fastest-growing sectors in the economy I feel as though the creative industries have been let down massively since the pandemic. Creative work is often in itself already underpaid and insecure and usually relies on good connections and investment in order to remain sustained. And still, even some of the major performing arts venues and museums are struggling to stay afloat. I think it’s unreasonable that the government has left freelancers to suffer and fend for themselves in these unpredicted times. It will be incredibly unfortunate to see diversity within the arts being set back yet again due to creatives being driven out of the industry who don’t have a big enough network or resources. Although I may be let down by how the government is dealing with this situation, the limitations we have had to endure due to coronavirus has also sparked creativity in many people. As everyone is forced to spend more time at home, it has been a common pursuit for people to turn to art, whether that be in the sense of interior design, baking or simply drawing. As creatives I find that many are happy to educate themselves in new fields that might be beneficial to themselves while we have to adjust to radical changes worldwide. I’m sure many people are in some way pleased to have ‘extra’ time to work on more self-directed projects that have been in the back of people’s minds but there never seemed to be enough time for them. I find it inspiring to see how different designers come up with creative ways to respond to the pandemic and incorporate it into their work. There’s a number of design professions which have been able to sustain their artistic ways even while confined and with enough support we can hopefully maintain doing so. I know many people, including myself, who have struggled severely during lockdown. Luckily, most people I know have had part-time jobs as their source of income, which led to people being furloughed. Those that have been furloughed enjoyed the time off while still being on a regular salary. Some have spent extra time in studios developing projects, while others have discovered a new creative hobby to get stuck in. In a sense we’ve been lucky enough to delve into new interests of ours while still having stability. And being creative has led to the additional inspiration of being able to keep ourselves busy and entertained in a variety of different ways. Eveline Kinzkofer Illustration and Visual Media Thinking without doing
As the designer of my life, I find myself lacking the tools, experience, and people to help me take on the brief I made for my future, now adjusted to the Covid19 restrictions. I take a step back and look at the mind maps of my journeys that now, took an unexpected turn; I try to redefine the “How might we questions” that highlight my ongoing struggles and goals; I attempt to reassess which problem needs solving first, or what new challenges have crossed my path uninvited; I start to endlessly brainstorm on new feasible solutions that will make my new normal more bearable; I negotiate with the stakeholders of my life and struggle to reconnect with my now separated team of people that have joined me along the way. I feel left with unfinished sprints and unclosed double diamonds in the brief I constructed for my future: my brief description, its goals, and with their background, deliverables, target audience and methods faced an unanticipated and unwanted pause. the Global reset gave me a collection of unsure ideas, unfinished applications and portfolios, empty plans, and dreams put on hold. In Design Management, when a design process gets struck by “uncontrollable” circumstances a designer’s solution is to rework the brief’s key elements to accommodate the new limitations: Something might have to be added to the project’s description; the target audience is perhaps not the most relevant anymore; your tone of voice has probably been affected by my unstable situation; Maybe, the deliverables are maybe outdated and my skills not fit for this new challenging world. I think about ways to make my brief’s goals more agile to survive future obstacles. Temporary numbed by a head full of questions and worries, I find myself unable to move forward without digesting all this new information. Inspiration and strength were in the past found on the outside. Events, people I met, and the random happening in the streets always fed me with material and energy to work with. Now, with most events closed, people confined at home, and empty streets I realised that perhaps meaning had to be explored inside: redigesting and recycling past processed thought and ideas. I was surprised to discover that I had sufficient recourses to stay motivated and I gained some confidence in my capacities. In retrospect, I now understand that only relying on external elements made me a very dependent designer. Doing without thinking Between thinking a doing there is a small space where ideas start to shape themselves, applications and portfolios get finalised, plans become visible and dreams more concrete. The double diamond slowly finds closure and the design Sprints find their completions. I start to mentally prepare for the next ones and I anticipate the moment I become ready to press play again. Then comes the first opportunity that aligns only slightly with my evolving brief. Tired of thinking and thirsty to get rid of my monotonous days I accept any chance that comes my way without thinking. The circumstances make opportunities scarce and I make myself believe that I can mould my next position to my still unsure goals. Surprisingly, having to work on something and feeling useful on a project was already a first step in the direction of my plans. My background describes that there are only three Design Management related courses worldwide. Its unknown aspect makes it easy to be quite agile across tasks: From designing campaigns, strategy, and marketing to UX design and copywriting. This resulted in me taking on every piece of work that was remotely connected to those skills. If for some task I did not have any relevant experience, I felt lucky enough that my remote internship allowed me to learn the additional requirements hidden behind my screen. Finally, I could stop thinking and just do stuff. Everything I had collected internally during my thought process was put into practice, and until then nothing was telling me I was doing anything wrong. Through the completion of task after task, I felt happy that for once my mind was peaceful after long days of nine-to-five work: There is no room to stop and reflect in the flow of busy-ness. As an intern for a corporate firm, you swallow sprint after sprint in an extensive network of stakeholders. Your team is replaced by Teams and among all the ad hoc requests and messages there is a small, social fulfilling interaction. But picking on tasks here and there without thinking, does not give you a meaningful understanding of the project and the role you fulfill. You feel like a tiny useful hand on the desktop background, and after a while, you cannot discern the purpose of your work. You forgot to mould what you were doing to your brief’s goals. Before I knew it, my investment in my internship had driven me away from the subject that mattered to me. For a while I had kept my fundamental interest for later, staying focused on only one specific element of my mind-map without moving forward in my journey. Doing and thinking Too much thinking numbs doing and too much doing numbs thinking. Managing to combine action and reflection has been my challenge in the search for a new agency during this global reset. It helped me to get to know myself better and It has brought me closer to my designing style: continuous work and thought in progress. It is in the consecutive experience of both extremes that I concluded that I am neither thinker nor doer but that the healthiest place I can find myself in is the grey-space between the two. Lola De Coster, Design Management & Cultures No doubt 2020 is an extraordinary year which changed lifes of each and every. Remembering my self in the very beginning of 2020, I had so many plans, ambitions and expectations. By then I finally reached long craved level in my career which opened the doors for work with celebrities at film premieres, at exhibitions, fashion shows etc. I had booked business trip to U.S in April which was meant to lift my business activity to the new level and expand the network as well as opening my eyes on immigration opportunities. Summer was promising a lot of money due to festivals and concerts where contract was already signed and I could imagine these numbers on my bank account, but even that did not satisfy that wish to grow, learn and develop. Opportunity to undertake professional practice and put some well recognized company on my CV sounded more than exiting and I was looking forward to start working in the industry as well as gathering material for my project. That excitement to meet new people, show myself, gain a knowledge was boiling in veins but suddenly... There is an island in Tasman sea, not big not small, uninhabited and the lack of resources become a reason for it to be named a Disappointment island. Exactly so I would name 2020 when all opportunities, plans and expectations went down the hill ,the only thing which is left is a hope and a DPS year proposal. So I started looking at placement opportunities. I would like to mention that before all the madness called pandemic was announced there were much many internship offers and placement opportunities available online. Not giving up I looked at offers from DPS which hit me on face with reality, because of most required skills such as animation and graphic design which I have nothing common with. That to be honest disappointed me a lot and put to the point of wishing to cancel the DPS course at some point and carry on with main studies. Realizing the issue in the beginning of Illustration and Visual media course year 2 (which was the first year at UAL for me) I started looking for the opportunities to fix this problem and learn to animate or get familiar with graphic design. Not that I did not try but that there were no lessons, workshops or anything like that before the lockdown offered, that disappointed even more and made me realize the main difference between illustration and so much adored by me fine art. Another issue was found - no suitable digital drawing device. During many projects I noticed that I 'am one in a thousand who still draws using old-school pencil method which takes long time and lots of power, to solve it this October I purchased (finally) a drawing tablet and started testing different software, styles, watching some recognized artists drawing so I could learn. Another problem is an absolute absence of portfolio related to my designing skills which luckily will be solved during this and next term of DPS year. Reflecting on the first session - we/students we were asked how are we doing I had nothing to say, I wish I could tell that everything is ok and I can devote most of the time to sitting at home and working on solving these mentioned above issues but nothing came better to my mind that this drawing (below) which is also a first complete digital drawing of mine using a tablet. The bright side of this story for sure is a HOPE. Hope which motivates to develop digital drawing skills, gathering design solutions in to portfolio with help of life briefs and some basic inspiration, but mostly focused is the final project which I aim to develop through the DPS year. First step of "Home" photo reportage project is financial investment in to promotion on social media to attract the attention of wider audience and investment of time of course to interview people, photograph and post onto social media project account. Photo journalism was my passion for long years, at UAL last year I attended the open day for the masters in photo journalism course which opened my eyes and motivated to simply do, make and create. Before I managed to get the camera, walking around the area, going to work and from work I was paying attention to people around me making a list of personalities, backgrounds, social layers to interview and a places where potentially these people can be met. Made a list of questions to ask and decided that recording the conversation would be much easier that putting notes. Also asked a friend and collogues to help me with a search for people with interesting life stories related to immigration and searching for home, also found many groups uniting photographers and models on Facebook so posted a request. Researching photo book making I highlighted some good companies which will potentially use later when enough of stories are gathered and page design made. About the design, I need to find book making application or software to design each page of the book. Honestly saying I feel anxious about interviewing strangers, what if they wont even to listen, what if wont take me seriously? There is a Russian saying - eyes are scared but hands are doing, which means - you might be afraid of the work/task you see but making/doing it will be much easier that it looks and hopefully it applies on my situation so its time to catch a good weather and go for the story hunt. The very last part of todays progress in learning is research in MBA courses available in London. I decided to turn onto business road which seem to be an exiting and full of opportunities, bearing in mind that MBA is one of worlds mostly craved degrees I started looking closer and highlighted a couple of recognized institutions providing this course, surprise was that for some institutions no any additional exams need to be passed and having a design bachelors degree there are chances to go straight in to business school what is more than amazing in my perception. Only one condition which sounds like a challenge is to achieve 2.1 on the degree and hopefully with help of Dissertation surgery provided by Academic support and the time of DPS year even this height can be conquered. |
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