Together but Apart

Together but Apart 2020 - Illustration by Brenda Knoop

I had the absolute pleasure of illustrating and designing an inspirational card for the Cork Site Logitech Office. I am delighted and grateful to be able to share it with you.  We chose the following quote for the inside, which is an inspirational message during these times. 

'Believe that further shore

Is reachable from here.

Believe in miracles

And cures and healing wells.'

They arrived in our post boxes on Friday, which was a lovely start to the weekend.

A donation was made to Barretstown, my chosen charity. Each card was signed with a personal message from our Site Leads and posted to employees in Cork. The feedback of gratitude from employees was overwhelming so much so that I thought I should write a blog post to savour this moment in time.

Two weeks later, I was asked by our site leads to speak about my "Design Process in a Virtual Environment" and present at our weekly Cork site huddle. This posed another challenge for me because I had to talk about the card design and my illustration process to my peers.

Is there anyone that enjoys public speaking?  I don't think so. 

The Ask 

I guess I should start at the beginning to speak to how this project came about. 

The Site Leads wanted to gift the Cork employees with a piece of artwork to show their gratitude and appreciate during these unprecedented times. They wanted to create something Unique to Logitech Cork. I was undoubtedly hesitant and nervous at first to take on this project. However, as they explained their thinking and purpose behind the card, I was hooked and felt it was my calling to do my part in my humble way. 

In the initial meeting, I jotted down some keywords as they spoke.

• Non-corporate

• Positive

• Create a design that could an art piece

• Something people would hang on their wall

• Together but Apart

• Local

• A unique moment that we are all connected in

• Could be framed

• Personal

It was a challenging project to tackle within a virtual environment. But I stuck to my process, and I believe it was a success.

Storytelling

Telling a story is always at the core of my process. This methodology can be used in many fields and is crucial in the field of design thinking. Firstly to tell a story, you have to understand the plot or the ask, the beginning, the middle and the end. To achieve this, I always try to listen to what is being said and what isn't being said.

85% of what is communicated does not come from our words but our gestures. As they spoke, I tried to look at their gestures, listen to their tone of voice and watch at their expressions. I often spend more time in the defining or briefing stage of project listening.

Submergence Phase

I like to submerge myself in research and think about the brief.  I call this the submergence phase. In my submergence phase, I spent a few days thinking and feeling about the brief at hand and about what was said verbally and non verbally. I go for walks or listen to music. Sometimes the best ideas can come from spontaneous interactions or activities. 

The commonality that I felt and heard from our initial meetings was one of love, respect and gratitude, for all our efforts in these unprecedented times. They wanted to mark this moment in time where we are together but apart as a Logitech Cork Community. I thought about diverse cultures, all those that are so far away from their families, and the local Cork people. I also considered the cross-functional roles in Cork, the energy in the office and the landscape in which it sits.

When I felt it was time to sit down and draw, after some research, brainstorming in the submergence phase. I then try to get into my Ideal Performance State. Finding your IPS is even more challenging in a virtual/remote environment. It is usually referred to when talking about athletes, but studies show it is now being applied to the corporate world/workforce. It is not only about eating right, sleeping well, having a focus, being relaxed and calm; it is also about knowing your biorhythms. For me, I do my best work early in the morning; I am a textbook "Lark".

If the project that I am working on needs extra creative brainpower, I need to carve out time in the morning for it. I also like a clean working space; I love all the tools lined up like little soldiers going into battle.

Emergence Phase

Out of the blank piece of paper, the ideas come to life, and I just continue to draw in the zone until I feel it is complete. I like to call this the emergence phase. I am a little old school; I draw by hand, then like a carpenter, I measure twice and cut once. Hand drawing is less forgiving than digital but can sometimes be more authentic and pure. It isn't perfect, but by drawing in a continuous line concept, I feel it creates a more energetic piece. I usually illustrate in black and white, but for this artwork, I thought that it needed colour.

I didn't want to use Logitech colours as I was already worried I was off brief by drawing the building. So I chose bright, favourable colours that were close to our brand colours. 

The illustration 

Although the task was to create something local to Cork and non-corporate, I struggled to find an image, a building, a landmark or a thing that we all connected with or that told our story. The more I drew, the more I was brought back to the concept of our office, our home from home and it is our office and the work that we do there, that unites us in the past, in the present and the future as Logitech Employees. I am a student of semiotics; I even wrote a thesis on it once upon a time. I believe in meanings and purpose.

For starters in this illustration, the sun is depicted in triangles; in many cultures, a triangle represents balance and true wisdom. It can also represent the past, present and future. I felt this was appropriate. 

The aeroplane not only symbolises our airport location but it also represents the past and future, how we long for travel, connections, exploring and moving forward. 

The hills represent the landscape around us, and the icons represent cross-functional roles and work that is produced in Cork. 

• VR/AR

• Gaming

• Supply Chain

• Facilities and Office Deliveries

• Finance

• People and Culture and more...

The email, internet, chat, gaming icons are orbiting the office building as if I was looking through a VR headset. The Cork and Irish flag blow in the wind. The third flag is slightly tilted as if it was bowing its head; the black spot on it represents those that have lost their lives due to COVID 19. The flags stand on a clock; time knows no bounds. 

In the parking lot, microphones are now growing like flowers; this is an artistic impression of newfound purpose in our products. A product might have been initially designed to answer one ask, might now find itself answering many new asks. Coffee cups, socially distanced characters in the building, working from your sofa all make an appearance.

The entire structure sits on a triangle patterned Wonderboom speaker, booming vibrations of positivity. And the colours are carefully angled pouring down in pools of light on the different characters, illuminating areas in the illustration. The figure lying in the grass under a sunbeam represents the future way of working.

As I clicked send on my email, I was nervous. I was attaching a design/illustration that was kind of corporate; it had the logo and office building. I had to trust my instincts and believe that this illustration represented the story that I heard in the initial brief, our Logitech Cork story.

In a way, this card is a gift that keeps giving and continues to push me outside of my comfort zone and I am so grateful that I was able to contribute in some small way to the employees of the Cork site. It was a beautiful project to work on, one which I will cherish forever, with a great team and for a lovely charity.

Stay safe,

Regards,

Working from Hawaii