After coronavirus - designers.

As lockdown measures ease, designers discuss whether there will be any working practice changes for good, what they've learned from lockdown and what returning to work might look like for their studios.

Some designers are taking lockdown as a positive, the world doesn't often give you the time to have a break and ditch the old habits, it has given them chance to look at old ways of working and see what didn't feel right, they will now be able to move forward and put in place new habits which allow them to focus on happiness, health, creativity, family and balance. Some designers are saying that remote working has just become second nature but it can affect designers differently, as some may have their own workspace at home, some are working at the dining room table, some on the breakfast bar and others are trying to balance their job role and look after their children which need them to be mum/dad, chef, nurse, teacher etc so it can be difficult for some designers and they may just be itching to get back to work. 

Some designers are used to the remote working because that is what their studio does on the daily, so they find lockdown slightly easier as they have been within this remote working for some time anyway. 

However, the designers in the article I read discussed that it is still a lot better to be working face to face with someone so you can bounce ideas off of each other and be at ease, on a camera, miles away from each other it is difficult to communicate those ideas. 

What will the "office" be like when they go back? 

Designer Gabor Schreier, says that they will start to see the office a place of balancing work from home, a place where they can come together to work on specific tasks that you can't perform well at home. A designer from a studio in Manchester (Lauren Robinson) says that they have to look at the guidelines from the government and they would probably only allow 2 designers in the studio at a time if absolutely necessary. However, they have just signed for a new office which allows them space to distance from each other and work together, as this is an important part of the creative process, to be able to see the work laid out. 

As much as turning digital has and can be as effective to face to face, Lauren points out that face to face meeting with clients are better as it makes them build better relationships with clients, but clients also like to be involved in the process and as everyone is working from home and online this isn't something that they can allow clients to do as often. Which is also a cause for concern after it is all over, because there is a nervousness to being in contact with people in close proximity, so this is something they would have to think about for the future?