Vibes: December 2020
Onwards and upwards — this is the end of a tumultuous decade and the beginning of a new adventure.
🐿 Short in time? Here’s the nutshell…
We've made it! As 2020 draws to a close we take a moment to reflect on the year that shook the world to its very core. Pandemic aside, we've been faced with political upheaval, protests, and the tentative promise of progress. What does 2021 hold for us? And what will we leave behind? Take a few minutes to reminisce about the al fresco coffees with friends, the endless hours on zoom, and the revival of the pub quiz (albeit digital). In this month's newsletter, we have cherry picked snippets from this year, touching on 100 design lessons, horoscope trees, moving offline, being honest about coming second place in the business world, and Steve McQueen's ongoing masterpiece, Small Axe.
Seeing the year out with Driftime®
👆 The High
2020 has given us space for reflection and time to exercise gratitude offline. It's been a year of learning and adjusting, of launching our new Driftime® brand identity, leaving social media and, finally, joining the wonderful PLATF9RM co-working space this December. Coming out of a second lockdown has generated a new and exciting vitality into our business outlook, helping to fuel a hasty exit from what has been a pretty chaotic 12 months. Let's keep the same energy, and leave 2020 where it's meant to be, firmly in the past.
👇 The Low
It's time to be honest. We lost a near perfect project this month, what would have been a great fit with a great team who's principles align with our values. As with all our work, we would be wholeheartedly invested and committed to the progress and process — but this one in particular had our names on it. A hefty agency landed the deal instead of us which is hard to watch, and even more challenging to experience, but we win some, we lose some — there's always next time.
What's been your high & low? Leave a comment
The Driftime® team.
“The past is always tense, the future perfect.” – Zadie Smith
100 design lessons we can take into 2021 — what have we learnt?
This article by UX Trends offers valuable insight into the myriad ways we can learn and improve on our design skills in 2021. Number 16 resonates with us — this month we left social media for good, the algorithm (or perhaps more appropriately, "the way people programme the app"), no longer serves us or our principles. Have a read on our substack for our thoughts on the race to irrelevance, and take a look at Ana's article on selecting the right value architecture for ethical and aspirational business.
Steve McQueen and untold stories: how can we listen and uplift the Black community on the big screen?
This summer saw a call to action. The Black communities that are at the centre of police brutality, racism, and systemic oppression are also routinely erased and underrepresented in British film and television. This year saw Michaela Coel's I May Destroy You rise to critical acclaim [despite being criminally excluded from the Emmy calendar], whilst Beyonce's Black Is King marked a US triumph. We are going in the right direction, but we are phenomenally in debt to the Black trailblazers in the TV industry who have been overlooked for decades. Directed by renowned British film-maker Steve McQueen, Small Axe is a collection of five films documenting and celebrating London's West Indian communities from the 1960s to early 80s. A nuanced and comprehensive documentation of Black heritage and history, with a supreme cast. John Boyega, we're looking at you.
Driftime® vibes anyone?
And what a year it's been! The Driftime® Desk has devised a nearing 10 hour track list spanning the likes of Moses Sumney and Bonobo all the way to A Tribe Called Quest and Sevdaliza. Designed to keep you company during those work-from-home hours, your early morning run, or cosy evening meal, these 148 tracks are from the world over. Follow for new tunes and old classics, there's something for everyone.
And now for some festive spirit: the Christmas tree gifts that keep on giving.
The ever enlightening Positive News magazine brings us some digital content with a much needed optimistic outlook. It's never too late to opt for an eco-friendly gift to balance out the mindless consumerism this festive season, and Treedom are leading the way in thoughtful green gifts. Their impact business model demonstrates that through planting trees in active agroforestry projects we can help to glean social, environmental, and economic benefits for both the farmers and our planet. With over 1.5 million trees already planted, why not add your own — you can even find your horoscope tree here.
Introducing Glimpse, a creative collective for the new culture.
With an impressive roster of projects on record, Glimpse calls for a change of outlook, ambition, and attitude. By centring the voices of those often unheard or overlooked at the people's podium, we get a coveted insight into what it means to listen authentically and to be listened to without discrimination. Explore their delightfully accessible and aesthetic website for a peak into audio art and a collaboration designed to catapult birdsong into the charts. This sonic project saw 4.2 million insights across social media and 80 MPs gather in Westminster to hear the single. We'll take birdsong over Twitter any day.
The 2020 Ideas Report is here replete with visual footage and an interactive outlook generator. Let's take a closer look at what it means to be a creative in 2020.
A hell of a lot has changed this year, and the figures and stats speak for themselves: almost half of us have more confidence in our creative ideas in the midst of the pandemic, and teetering on a third of us feel more creative than usual, much of this inspiration being found in nature, family, and friends. This progress is significant and uplifting, speaking to our nifty ability to adjust to adversity in the creative community. Have a go at navigating through digital sand dunes to decipher how you are leaving 2020, and what you're projecting into 2021.
Is there something we could be doing better? Share your thoughts, leave a comment and let’s continue the discussion.