Weird year: new insights...
Well, 2020… over here, the entire pattern of studio life was thrown into disarray. But I was brought up by parents who had to adapt countless times, decades before pivoting was a thing. So in the silence of the first lockdown, I started rearranging things. New combinations. New platforms. New ways of doing things.
Clients looking for respite and connection called in my loves of drawing and speaking for Zoom and pre-recorded workshops. Podcasting became the new rocking-up. When ‘Keep moving' signs in the first lockdown put a stop to sketchwalks, I reported from my new, small, world. Alongside my traditional design work (and even there, working with suddenly-virtual teams needed new approaches to process), I had projects to design around clients’ own shifts of platform. Experimental work and exploratory conversations have flowered in a new spirit of collaboration. I have skills now that a year ago, I had no idea I would need.
So for all the challenges that the pandemic continues to throw our way, I’ll be approaching the new year in a spirit of adaptability, collaboration, enquiry and invention.
Whether you’re thriving, pivoting or fighting to keep going, I wish you a good 2021. And if creative input can help, you know where I am.
