The Designer Journal: WFH

On the eve of my Spring /Summer 2021 trend meeting, with the Buyer from one of the UK’s biggest High Street retailers, all my work is ready to go. I feel confident in the trends, colours, graphics, shapes I am to present, following weeks of research, several comp shops to London and countless hours scrolling online. And more hours spent compiling and editing my research into readable trend boards, I’m ready to go…

But then Coronavirus hits and we are on lock down and all working from home!

Everyone has gone into panic mode, buying up toilet rolls and cans of soup! It seems to me every time we are faced with these uncontrollable problems we all go crazy!

We are all now coming to the realisation of how serious this virus is for us, but we must all try and remain calm and be kind to one another. Make sure your friends, family and neighbours also have everything they need. With the power of love and support together we can overcome anything. And it is with this power we can create something unimaginable.

Our retailers begin to look at new health measures to try and gain some control during this unusual time. Be it postponed meetings, we can certainly work around that. We must all learn to adapt to this new environment.

Adapting to new situations is key as a freelancer, you really don’t know what the next day will bring. Of course this can be very exciting but also a little unnerving. I can receive an email or call from several new clients one day asking me to quote on new projects and on the other hand experience some quiet weeks during August for example, when most of us are on holiday.

I must say I really do get through a lot of my work sat in my home office, much more than I did when I was employed working for someone else. It could be a combination of having people waiting for your work and to being determined and motivated to be successful and of course I don’t get called into several meetings during the day, as I did when I was employed.

With the right mindset, working from home is amazing - you learn to manage your time much more effectively. Getting through that to-do-list but also reducing your personal stress levels and living a more manageable pace of life. Taking regular breaks for tea and fresh air in the garden to stretch your legs and breathe.

Not to mention the time I save each morning from my commute, which gives me an extra hour a day to exercise, whether it's an at home YouTube workout, bike ride or a walk. With this start to the day my head is in the right place and all the rings on my apple watch are closed!

We are also able to keep in touch with whoever and wherever they are... with Skype and zoom calls, emails and good old fashioned phone calls we can keep up with the outside world.

I regularly have calls with my clients from all around the world, and I’m more able to speak to people from home as I’m not limited to the 9-5, where I might miss a call from another time zone if I had already gone home or not arrived into the office yet!

Let's try not to put our precious lives on hold but to stay healthy, stay calm and all be kind to one another and look forward to the future.

Bye for now.

About Our Author: Amy Poole Design are a Suffolk based design agency, specialising in multi product garment and graphic design including trend forecasting and analysis. Amy has over 15 years experience of working with high street / online retailers, brands and suppliers specialising in women's, men’s and childrenswear with a sound understanding of market dynamics and consumer wants, meaning her designs meet the needs and aspirations of her clients’ target markets.