The lockdown was different for everyone. As people were forced to be at home, surrounded by the same walls every day until further notice, I began to notice opportunities arrise where I could flex my creativity muscles and try new things out without the pressure of time and without my job taking up most of my waking time like usual. Covid-19 may have been a blessing in disguise for my creative practice...
After 3 weeks of working from home, IKEA placed all co-workers on Furlough. This meant that I had suddenly been given a lot of free time. Me being me, I already had a list of things that I wanted to do such as house jobs, decorating, reorganising and to generally use this newfound time to relax. My time was spend working through these lists for a couple of days, maybe a week, but then I realised that I could try and hone in my skills and develop my craft in this time too. I started to look on websites such as Behance for inspiration and decided that instead of big projects, I would put my skills to use trying new graphic styles and new tools that I wouldn't get to use in my day to day role and styles that I've never tried before in any context. One of my favourite pieces of work I did during the lockdown was a paper cut style illustration based on my love for Japan. Created in Photoshop and Illustrator I lost all track of time while I worked on this design and when you're in that zone of design and creation it's like time simply freezes but so do your worries or anxieties that may be lingering in the back of your mind.
The lockdown and Covid-19 situation for me was a chance to try new things in the comfort of my home. I knew that I was secure with my job role in IKEA and that everything was going to be ok. It's strange to say that I actually enjoyed the lockdown event. On the side, I also run a small eBay and Amazon business selling glossy prints I design. This pandemic event was a chance to get knowledgable about running a small business, how to create sale events and how to plan forward for commerciality. It was during lockdown that I became a seller on Amazon in the first place and also become a card designer on Thortful too. I wanted to try out new entrepreneurial channels to bring in further passive income. These streams all run today and work quietly in the background every day whilst I work at my day job.
Not many people will, but I look back at furlough and the lockdown with fondness.
Take a look at some of the work I created during lockdown below.
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