THE BLEED STAFF

For nearly 3 years, the world was in a state of isolation with everyone existing in their own remote bubble. I spent hours hunched over my desk, in a space that I had cultivated to be safe and comfortable. Yet even surrounded by the posters and art I had methodically hung on the walls, in a room I loved, creativity felt lonelier than before. No matter how much decoration I surrounded myself with, it didn’t replace the yearning I felt to be in a room with other designers, bouncing ideas off one another and feeding off of each other’s creative energy. While I would consider myself very lucky to be surrounded by friends who are artistic and work with their own mediums, none of them are going to understand the exact science that a logo’s spacing has or why a particular color is speaking to a certain audience. While I was so glad to have graphic design and school as an outlet, the burnout was becoming more apparent each day.

Oregon was one of the last states to lift the mask mandate and fully reopen again. There seemed to be a lot of mixed emotions surfacing from the juxtaposition of wanting covidfreedom and knowing the Omicron variant was still running rampant only a month before everything reopened. For many, this pandemic is nowhere close to being over. Public spaces are no longer safe spaces, gatherings are still not possible. It feels like I’m tip-toeing to peek my head around the corner; it’s hard to believe that after this long there isn’t another round of Covid hiding in the shadows. Simultaneously, I was feeling so ready for this dystopian nightmare to be over. After being triple vaccinated and having Covid twice, I had become a bit cynical about the whole thing. It’s hard to understand the balance between being conscious of the needs of others while grappling with the selfish thoughts that I am losing all of my early 20s and college years to this pandemic. That doesn’t mean the anxious itch to reach into a bag or pocket before stepping into a building has disappeared, nor the habit of social distancing.

The flexibility of working and going to school from home meant there were many people who enjoyed being remote. Lane Community College understood that many of their students, who all vary in age and circumstance, would want to continue to attend online. The college has done its best to maintain a hybrid learning environment. Our design program was lucky enough to have a designated classroom built for hybrid learning.This classroom has $30,000 technology called the OWL, which includes a camera, speaker and microphone combo. This allows the Zoom class to be panned around the actual classroom and participate more immersively in discussion. Anytime anyone in class is talking, the OWL will pan to that person and split the screen if two people are speaking. While this all seems a bit dystopian, it’s easy to forget how strange the situation is because of how happy I am to experience the community of a real classroom again. so many extenuating circumstances that can make going to school hard. It gives the opportunity for people to be able to speak about their work if they are anxious and don’t want to show their face. It allows me to see design as a way of striving for inclusivity that transcends the barriers of distance. This magazine is a testament to that.

About half of my graduating class continues to work remotely, some even living out of town or out of state. Covid has provided the opportunity for fluidity in our education system and workforce that didn’t exist before. I think there is more of an understanding that everyone has different needs when it comes to productivity; there are

I think it goes without saying that the power of collaboration is not lost just because we exist in a world that is more digitally connected than ever before. If anything, we are able to span our connections and projects globally with ease. Persevering creatively in a time that is a recipe for burnout is hard. My stamina for the mundane day to day seems to be lower than before. I have had to relearn how to stay present in class, ignoring the itch I would get at home to fold my laundry or complete some other household task. However, I am so happy to be coming out of this all as a more resilient designer. I am more appreciative than ever of the stability design has provided me through these unprecedented times. Most importantly, I am surrounded by a community of designers that understand exactly what it’s like emerging from creation isolation.