The outbreak of Covid-19 has shaken the world to its core, leaving the creative industries in an unprecedented situation. Here I share how my ‘day to day business’ has adapted.
Working From Home
As we all know, Britain has been in a lockdown for some time now. On the 23rd March, Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave “the British people a very simple instruction – you must stay at home”. Forcing UK businesses to stay at home and work remotely has definitely reshaped our lives.
In terms of adapting to the working environment, I feel that I am lucky that I have been able to continue to “work as usual” so to speak. Having an office in the home, kitted out with Macbooks, printers, and all sorts of office equipment. No kids (yet!), no mither, just 2 cats to keep me company. The working ‘environment’ remains the same, except for a surge of lazy days and broken up routine due to our drop in demand…
A Drop In Demand
It was evident from the current situation that workload would suffer. People are out of work, trying to save money, and have bigger priorities which is certainly understandable. When our workload dropped, we filled our time with other things. The most striking aspect, where it’s really heartening to see, is the number of businesses that have banded together to share strategies for survival. The way it has brought companies together will be, I hope, a lasting legacy of this terrible pandemic. We have reached a point where we are slowly getting busier – and have noticed an huge increase in business start-ups as keen entrepreneurs have found time to create their business plans and take the leap! More emails, more referrals, more deadlines. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Client Contact
From the surge in Zoom users to the scarcity of toilet roll in the supermarkets, each and every aspect of daily life has changed, including the way in which we work with our clients and each other. Like many other businesses in the face of this pandemic, we have transitioned into a new way of working. In order to continue serving our clients whilst keeping safe, we traded our working norms and “coffee-shop client meet ups” for the safety of ‘remote’ communication via Zoom and Microsoft Teams. We even invited clients over to the garden for 2m socially distanced work sessions.
With new digital technology has come more presentation practice, making us feel and look sharper, coherent and professional. Yes we are doing Zoom workouts, quizzes and drinks like everyone is, and we have been able to find small opportunities from the lockdown challenge.
“The Jobs That Never Get Done”
So what have we been up to? Everyone knows what I refer to when I say “those jobs that never get done”. From website updates, adding to the portfolio, general office organisation/administration, we have been ploughing through the dull, but necessary jobs we never seem to get around to doing. I now feel a huge sense of joy knowing these have been ticked off!
Professional Development
With the drop in workload, I have had plenty of time to develop my skills further. From advancing my skills further in Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator – I have also managed to become more competent in Adobe Premier Pro and Adobe After Effects.
Boosting Mental Health
Mental health has been extremely important to everyone in these unpreceded times, and of course – happiness fuels creativity. Happiness is great for general wellbeing and contributes to a positive spirit which, in turn, produces better work. So, amongst the hard work, we have also tried to have a lot of fun and stay active!
The lockdown is clearly giving everyone the opportunity to pause and reflect on what they had accepted as normal practice. And our approach to general ‘life’ will definitely change as a result. We look forward to continuing our strong relationships with clients over the next few months – helping others to build fabulous brands, creating awareness through stunning design, and helping businesses to grow and flourish.
If you are looking for any graphic design, marketing, digital media or print. Do not hesitate to get in touch! http://www.octopusinkcreative.co.uk/contact