Design community champs #DCC
Remote working has impacted us big time, in positive and negative ways, but there has no doubt been some type of change to the way we do things as designers. We tend to work individually or in small teams on projects so we can sometimes go months without seeing each other. Plus, lots of new people have joined dxw, including me, and no doubt many more to come! So now more than ever, togetherness, collaboration and a bit of fun is very much needed.
Which is why, I have set up the Design Community Champions at dxw — A group of individuals acting as the voice of the design community making sure we have fun, learn and be inspired. We want to make sure we have the most amazing time here at dxw and set standards for the industry on what it means to have a strong design community. So far, we have ran creative workshops, introduced new rituals and routines and now opened up the ground to the rest of the discipline! Cannot wait to share more about this soon! 👏🏼
Tiny changes, remarkable results.
For the past few weeks, I have been thinking about the stuff I want to learn and achieve over the next year or so. There have certainly been a good few frameworks I’ve used over my time including the SMART goal technique and the OKR break-down but what I have recently began to appreciate is the importance of the phrase ‘little and often’.
I’ve transformed my mornings by introducing some key habits and systems as inspired by James Clear in his book Atomic Habits, which have completely changed my world so I thought, why not apply the same to my personal development? My goal is to be 1% better everyday by making tiny, easy changes, let’s see how this goes ⭐️
“Success is the product of daily habits. Not once in a lifetime transformations” — James Clear, Atomic Habits
Last week in London.
I spent the latter half of last week in the beautiful London and finally met a bunch of dxw peeps in real life! It felt so strange to go back into the office environment and meet people who have been 2D zoom faces for so long. We hugged, had a tasty lunch and made some hilarious memories — get me back into the office ASAP will ya! Working from home is not really my thing but I have made it work over the past 18 months with little changes, but if I had to choose, I would want to spend the majority of my time in an office with people.
After work, I spent my evenings meeting up with old colleagues and friends that I have not seen in years so that was really special. I stayed with one of my besties who happens to be a food vlogger; we had far too many shots at Rum Kitchen, ate a load of mezze’s at The Real Greek and even indulged in an eggs benedict at 2am in the morning at a 24-hour skyline restaurant called the Duck and Waffle. Diet went right out the window, but I gotta say, it was worth it 🤤
New project with Ofsted.
Today, me and a few others started a project with Ofsted looking at how we improve business processes and internal systems. After a period off client work and collaborating on internal dxw projects, I am now eager to get right back in working with organisations and delivering value through design. My plan for the rest of the week is to meet the rest of the team, digest all the information behind the project, soak up the acronyms (of course) and really dig deep into the core of the design problem. Excited 🥳
Mentoring is life-changing.
This year, I signed up to The Step Up Sorority, the UK’s 1st sorority for Women of Colour, forming connections for under-represented young women at the start of their careers, helping to get them into the industry of their dreams after studying. I have mentored two amazing talents so far, who have just started their graduate roles in industry ⚡️
As part of this sisterhood, we were invited to a brunch at Soho House in London and joined by a panel of high-profile ‘big sisters’ including Rochelle Humes, Denise Lewis OBE, Ateh Jewel and Priscilla Anyabu. These amazing women spoke on the subject of being ‘Melanated & Making it, and how they successfully navigated industries that weren’t necessarily built for them’
I went and represented design and creative on the breakout tables, giving the opportunity for the ‘little sisters’ to ask for advice and top tips on entering the industry. Honestly, I cannot put into words how unbelievably incredible this event was and the surrealness (just made that word up) of connecting and chatting with incredible women we see on TV everyday who have smashed every glass ceiling there is out there. We got deep into conversation on so many subjects with absolutely no filter, leaving everyone in the room very motivated and really quite emotional.
Three things that stuck with me:
- Make your own ‘hype’ playlist and be your own hype woman.
- Build a strong-support system around you to keep that energy up.
- Get to the top and remember to pass the baton on.
Have an amazing Monday (if you can live without Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp for a few more hours 😂)
