Into the unknown: Students and recent grads discuss their hopes, anxieties and aspirations

Ning Lui

Originally from Hong Kong, Ning studied architecture at the Bartlett, UCL, and recently completed a master’s at Sci-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture) on a full scholarship. She’s now based in London and working as an architectural assistant, while freelancing as a 3D artist and visualiser.

How has the Covid-19 crisis affected you and your work already?

The virus’ economic impact may limit job prospects; however, the role of the architect is highly adaptable to other creative professions. The rigorous education prepares you with skills to go into visualisation, UX/UI, VFX, illustration, as well as game, graphic, product and interior design. I think it’s really important for graduates to try to build on their existing skills in these unpredictable circumstances, and adapt to new environments in a world where change is the only constant. Although I am currently on furlough, I now have invaluable time to finesse my architectural rendering skills through hands-on practice and access to online platforms like Linkedin Learning. Although easier said than done, it’s vital to stay positive and passionate towards your interests as you never know what opportunities may be around the corner.

How do you feel the creative industries need to change?

The architecture profession would benefit from opening its doors to an influx of innovative minds with diverse educational and professional backgrounds. In the UK, it takes at least seven years to become an architect, which may deter talented people from entering the industry. By comparison, the US offers the MArch 1 programme (a three-year Architecture master’s open to applicants with any undergraduate degree), which allows people to join the profession at a higher level. Unpaid internships propagate a vicious cycle of exclusivity as only those who can afford to work for free gain valuable experience. To combat this, the architecture sector’s first ever trade union, SAW (Section for Architectural Workers), campaigns for all workers to be paid a living wage. The Instagram account “Archishame” sheds light on the industry’s ongoing exploitation by sharing offers of unpaid employment. Unfortunately, many “shamed” architecture companies have responded by stopping internships altogether. I hope that in the future, the rigour and resilience of architecture graduates will truly be valued and recognised.

Petra Lee

Petra was born in Singapore and grew up there and in Da Nang, Vietnam, before she went to university in St Paul, Minnesota, graduating in 2018 with a BFA in Studio Art and a BA in Graphic Design. She is now a junior designer at Malley Design, an agency in Minneapolis.

How are you feeling about the future?

At this point, I’m seeing 2020 as a year of reckoning for the US (and I would assume many parts of the world) on all levels – government, local, cultural, individual. It’s clear that centuries of capitalism, colonisation, white supremacy, mass incarceration, police brutality (and the list goes on) have been endemic for far too long. Initially, I was curious to see how just Covid-19 alone would change the way we do things – whether at a national level, a corporate level, within our industries, even how we treat each other. I was afraid that not enough would change, that once the pandemic ended, things would just go back to the way they were. Now it’s clear that that absolutely cannot be the case, as the revolution over the past two weeks has brought to light so many issues and already made significant progress in holding law enforcement accountable and working towards its abolishment.

On 7 June, the Minneapolis city council pledged to begin the dismantling of the Minneapolis Police Department. There’s still a long way to go, but it has been extremely encouraging to see support at a larger scale than before. Corporations and institutions seem to have found some generosity during this time of crisis, and though much of it is face-value PR, I hope they adopt it as habit – that it should not take a global health crisis or far too many Black lives to understand that these centuries-old systems of oppression need to shatter once and for all. I have been encouraged to see how many creative initiatives have launched because of all of this. In hopeless and desperate times such as these, art always finds a way to open a conversation and try to make sense of everything.

For me personally, it’s been hard to feel creative with all of this going on. Earlier during the Covid-19 crisis a silver lining for me was that time wasn’t a factor in the same way it used to be. With everything closed, plans out the window and endless time at home, it took off a lot of pressure to be whatever it was that the powers that be often demand of creatives. I’ve always felt like I am constantly racing against time – not only in meeting deadlines, but also in feeling pressured to reach a certain level of success by a certain age because of how competitive the industry is. I just passed two years out of university and I still don’t feel like I have accomplished as much as I would like to. That’s always been a constant anxiety for me, but when Covid struck, it made me feel like this is a year where I can experiment and play without feeling like I’m wasting time. However, that is in itself a statement of privilege, and I wish more than anything that we weren’t in the crises that we are.

Now, in light of everything that has happened in Minneapolis and across the globe, I feel that sense of urgency again. I should have been using all that extra time to fight for justice as much as I was able before more lives were taken. Black activists and voices have been ignored for decades, and while it is wonderful to see some change finally start to take place, I know it is extremely frustrating that it didn’t happen sooner. My work has always been about otherness, displacement and marginalisation, but I am now planning to connect more closely with the BIPOC art community in Minneapolis as I continue my practice.

How do you feel the creative industries need to change?

I think my biggest frustration with the creative industry is how white-dominated it is. I'm sure a lot of my frustration comes from living in Midwest America, where I can't even name one non-white owned agency in the Twin Cities where I live. In the three agencies I've worked at here in Minneapolis, I have always been the only person of colour. My experiences ranged from feeling like nobody tried to get to know me or understand that I was different, to the whole work environment feeling like a woke popularity contest, but for white people. They’d flex whatever progressive trends they were into at the moment, but it was always saturated with blindspots. I think the creative industry would be radically changed if there were more leaders of colour who had the space to bring their varied and diverse experiences to the table.

Annie James

Annie is a designer based in Pōneke (Wellington), New Zealand, who just finished a master’s of Interior Architecture at Victoria University of Wellington. She is currently freelancing part-time as a communication designer for an online literary journal.

How are you feeling about the future?

I count myself as extremely fortunate to live in Aotearoa (New Zealand) during this time. Sometimes the geographical isolation of New Zealand can feel quite inhibiting but now it feels like a haven. We are lucky to have political leaders that have prioritised the well-being of people before anything else. The pandemic has caused a complete perspective shift and my reaction has been two-fold: I am sceptical yet somewhat relieved? It’s daunting being a new grad at this time, knowing that many places of work have imposed hiring freezes for the foreseeable future. However, accepting the state of things relieves some of the pressure to get a job in what already was a highly competitive industry. This increases the value in the side projects and interests I have. While I didn’t force myself to become hyper-productive during the lockdown, the newfound time on my hands inspired a lot of excellent introspective thinking. We have all been forced to re-evaluate how we use our domestic spaces and I find this very interesting as an interior architect. This time has also given me the confidence to pursue personal projects, such as producing my own furniture and developing a publication that evaluates material culture. Additionally, I am able to collaborate on more projects with friends that I normally wouldn’t have the time to see through.

How do you feel the creative industries need to change?

I have found it really helpful having reasons to make things, so having more competitions for new grads would be wonderful as it would provide some intermittent motivation and encourages us to collaborate and learn from each other! I would also like to see more exploration into the processes of different design and architecture practices. There tends to be a focus on sharing the final designed result in events such as public talks or interviews without necessarily going into detail into the processes and time it took to achieve this result. I feel this would be insightful to new graduates and students especially when there are fewer opportunities for entry-level positions during this time.

Line Bach Poulsen

This summer, Line will be graduating from the Danish School of Media and Journalism with a BA in Graphic Design. She also works part-time as a graphic designer for the Copenhagen-based creative studio ArtRebels.

How has the Covid-19 crisis affected you and your work already?

The Covid-19 crisis has caused a lot of concerns and uncertainty regarding the future, as it has to many others. It has also meant that I have made my entire final project from home, and that I will be graduating over Zoom. Being able to work from home is a privilege in this situation, but working on my final project under circumstances like these also makes it seem quite irrelevant compared to what is going on in the world. Even though I would love to say that the situation has made me more productive than ever, sadly that is not the case. I really miss the long days in the studio with my classmates, being able to inspire and support each other. That amazing sense of community and support is something that I have really come to appreciate during lockdown, and I now see how important it is to my process!

How are you feeling about the future?

Right now the future seems like a lot of questions. First of all there are a lot of things that are making me anxious and worried. What will the industry look like? What will the world be like? Will I be unemployed? How is life outside the safe environment of school? On a brighter note, it has made me reflect a lot on how to evolve as a designer: How can I refine my skills even more? Who can I collaborate with? How am I able to stay connected to meaningful creative communities? How can I keep experimenting and nurturing my passions?

How do you feel the creative industries need to change?

Because of the current crisis, what I think is needed from the creative industries also applies to every other industry: Change. Even though it is caused by terrible circumstances, I think a lot of people have experienced a change in values and beliefs during lockdown, and it might have an impact on the way we want to work, live and consume. Therefore we are facing a very important moment for further changing systems and moving society into a better, slower and more humane direction. It is a huge vision that design cannot take on alone, but in collaboration with other industries I feel very hopeful that we as designers and creatives will have a big influence.

Michelle Kim Nguyen

Michelle is based in Sydney, where she’s in her second year of a BA in Visual Communications. While she’s interested in working with motion graphics, her goal is to become a freelance illustrator.

How has the Covid-19 crisis affected you and your work already?

Covid-19 in Australia has led to schools going online and many stores having to shut down during the pandemic. For us, this has been going on for about two or three months but has fortunately become a lot better and now restrictions have been lifted. Personally, this meant I was not able to work my casual job, which meant I unfortunately could not earn money; however, I found that this was the perfect opportunity to really focus on my design projects for university and also improve my illustration skills. I was also very fortunate to not have any of my family or I get the virus and I will always be grateful for that.

How are you feeling about the future?

If I could summarise my feelings on the future, it would be nervous excitement. As I keep improving my own design thinking, I feel more capable of being a designer; however, there is always a fear that I won’t be good enough. One key issue that keeps reappearing is the idea of stagnancy. I always get to points where I believe I’m not improving as quickly as others or that I just simply do not know how to get better at what I’m doing (for example, developing creative ideas, my illustration skills, etc). This always leads me down the rabbit hole of self-criticism and comparing myself to others around me. I hear rumours that the turnover rate for artists and designers is high, which makes me feel insecure. I’m afraid of the competition – and I know there will be A LOT of competitors. I understand that this is normal in every field, so I want to know how I should make myself truly stand out and keep being that stand out designer when I do get the job.

Lina Reidarsdotter Källström

Lina is currently based in Stockholm, where she is studying Visual Communications at Beckmans College of Design and working on an intriguing thesis project focused on a VR experience involving Tarot cards.

How has the Covid-19 crisis affected you and your work already?

Not being able to see my classmates has been really difficult. I think like in every art school the education is made up of the people, and while you can learn things from lectures and educators, the best learning and support ultimately comes from your classmates. It’s been hard not having the same access to that source of positivity and community. Missing out on the time when we were supposed to graduate together is like watching a really good series on Netflix and then the last and most exciting episode is just deleted and replaced with worrying newscasts.

How are you feeling about the future?

Now more than ever, I think it’s important to step out into the future with new visions, energy and hope. We have to force ourselves to make the best out of it and try really hard to bring the energy of the class of 2020 into the world. I feel like people understand this and are rooting for all of us who are graduating, and that’s touching and something I feel positive about. This situation has brought new perspectives on a lot of issues, and I feel as if there is no longer a “normal” way of doing things. Going back to a “normal” state of being doesn't have to be the goal. The pandemic has illuminated systemic inequalities in my own country and all over the world. When we recover from Covid-19, I hope we don’t put the pieces back together as they were, but use this opportunity to create a new and more equal place for everyone. I hope the industry acknowledges that this situation brings an opportunity for the industry to shape the future of this field in a more conscious way.