Illustration by WNW Member Yifan Wu
“One quality I always look for when interviewing designers is the ability to get their concepts implemented in the final product as envisioned during the design phase. Basically, I want to know: did your ideas actually ship? I’ve noticed that designers who succeed share certain underlying skills and approaches.”
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Here are just five projects from Working Not Working Members that caught our eye this February.
Read MoreSince we’re lovestruck with top-caliber creative work, we figured we’d use this Valentine’s Day to spread the love. The Working Not Working team writes a polyamorous love letter to personal projects, musicals, campaigns, and chatbots, all coming from the global Working Not Working community.
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Here are seven projects from Working Not Working Members that caught our eye this January.
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For the New York-based Director, heroes are not simply for idolizing alone but for exchanging with others; such a transaction can be more valuable than the exchange of ideas. A proactive celebration of heroes can guarantee an endless reserve of fresh inspiration as well as deep connections with those around you.
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Illustration by WNW Member David McLeod
You've probably heard all of the advice there is on how to get a job in the creative industry. So I'm here to tell you what you need to do to not get a job. This advice is coming directly from a bunch of Creative Directors and Recruiters on WNW. They told me very specifically what annoys them, what makes them skip portfolios, and what nixes applicants right away.
Read MoreWe're real proud of our Webby-nominated WNW members & have already cast our votes for them. See their nominated work here and easily cast your votes. We're also very honored to be nominated for a Webby again this year. It's up to you, our fervent community, to help us win.
Read MoreMIKE O'DONNELL / EDITOR
WNW Member Jing Zhang has lived in London for over 10 years, and she doesn't play down its influence. "This city changes lots of people’s dreams and life paths, including mine." During her time in London, Jing has seen her career as an illustrator develop and flourish. In our interview below, Jing opens up about some of the challenges of pursuing a creative career, specifically in regards to pricing yourself and your work. She also shares her dream to have her work printed on a jumbo jet, references London's investment in creativity through the lens of the TFL, and predicts how the creative landscape may shift in the UK. "Despite the political uncertainty ahead, I think the future of the UK’s creative industry is actually shaped by the internet. The way clients and freelancers work will become more borderless; it will be less important where you’re based."
Tell us a bit about your creative background. Who is Jing and how did she get here?
I was born and raised in Southern China. I've been living in London since 10 years ago, where I now make it my home. This city changes lots of people’s dreams and life paths, including mine. In 2007 I took my first commission from Computer Arts to illustrate their cover when I was a student. This has paved my way to becoming an illustrator today.
How would you describe your creative style? Do you recognize a signature style that links most of your projects, or do you try to excuse yourself and approach each project as its own entity?
My illustration style is architectural, graphical, infographic. From project to project the style might differ. But the general theme is to give all my illustrations a big world in a small frame with lots of tiny people. They can be flat, isometric, 3D. I don't claim to own a certain style. But it is what I find very interesting at the moment and have been the most passionate about.
What do you see as the turning point in your creative development and career?
Perhaps it's the point when I left my full-time job which lasted for five whole years. In the latest 2 years of my full-time job, I started taking lots of "moonlight shifts." I got more and more commission work, so much that I started to lose my personal time and weekends. So I started my real career in 2014 concentrating on my illustrations. I don't even call myself a freelancer as I am selling my products rather than just my skills and time.
What were some of the challenges in launching your creative career?
The difficult part would be pricing myself in the market. Everyone is different, you simply can't apply someone else's experience and price card on your own. On top of that, my customers come from all over the world with different markets and different values for creative work. This added more complexity to my non-existing price card. I had my agents but honestly no one really knows your price better than yourself. And it takes years of experience to get to know that. No, I still don't have a price card.
Which of your projects are you proudest of and why?
The Imaginary Factory project got me started with my career as an illustrator;
The Recipe Card project kept me going.
The Heys Luggage is my first packaging project.
Legoland map is my first theme park map project.
My illustration for Dubai Expo went exhibiting around Dubai as a sculpture. It was my true honor to be a part of it.
What would be your dream project or job, or is it already on your resume?
In my mind, a typical dream job would be a well-established brand knocking on my door and saying, "Hey, here is some money and please do whatever you want." But my type of dream job would be having my work printed on a jumbo jet. I don’t have anything like that in my portfolio yet. I will tell you when I do although I don’t think I ever will. But I think about it every day. :)
Where are the best places to work in the UK?
Not sure if I'm stating the obvious. But it can't be anywhere else than London. It's such a great city encouraging all kinds of creative work.
How would you define the London creative scene?
It's fast-paced, open-minded, and diverse. To start with, TFL (Transport for London) is probably the best example of a London corporation that embraces creativity so well. London underground feels like a gallery for commuters and a battleground for all advertisers. TFL also fuels up the creative scene with their own vivid seasonal campaigns.
East London is also home to many brilliant creative studios and world-renowned artists. When you walk into a kebab shop in Dalston, it’s very likely you’ll see the art legends George and Gilbert having their meals next to you.
How do you see the creative landscape shifting in the UK & Europe?
Despite the political uncertainty ahead, I think the future of the UK’s creative industry is actually shaped by the internet. The way clients and freelancers work will become more borderless; it will be less important where you’re based.
In terms of creative style, Europeans keep a lot of local tradition whilst the British would very much like to try everything. e.g. the hand-drawn look has been popular for a long time in France whilst lots of Nordics will favor minimalism. British might just like them all.
If not here, where would you most like to live?
Porto, Amsterdam, Hanoi, Kyoto, just to name a few.
Who are your biggest creative influences?
My husband, WNW Member James Wignall. He’s a super talented animation director who brought me to the creative world.
What scares you most about making creativity your career?
I wracked my brain for an answer. But there really isn’t anything serious. If there needs to be one, I’d say that I’m constantly paranoid about “oh no, people don’t like my work anymore, because I have fewer likes from this project than the last one." It’s silly but we are sensitive.
One book, one album, one movie, one show. Go.
Sleep Tight (Rachel Abbot)
Innerworld (Electric Youth)
Spirited Away (I’ve watched it probably over 10 times)
Black Mirror
What is your most treasured possession?
Most of my plants. I have recently obtained a pilea peperomioides. Oh my gosh it is so beautiful.
What do you do when Not Working?
Having some time away is very important for me. I usually go away around 2 months a year. In the last year, I spent 4 months traveling around the world. It was very refreshing.
In my spare time, I just stare at my plants. I’m growing over 50+ species in my balcony, enough to keep me away from the computer every now and then.
What’s your motto?
"Keep your eyes on the prize."
What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard or received that all creatives should hear?
Stay inspired. Stay excited.
You should keep finding time for personal projects. The benefits of personal projects are so much more than you think, in your career, in bringing better clients, also in mental health.
What’s next for you? What are you working on now?
I’m working on my cocktail recipe project. It’s a project that connects the recipe with local culture. I learn a lot through the process. I’ve tried lots of new things outside of my skillsets (3D texturing and creative writing). It is my zen garden time after my commercial work.
Embracing your individuality and creativity and sharing it with the world requires a lot of courage, regardless of whether it comes easily to you or not. It means you're putting time into discovering yourself. We at WNW are always thrilled to see our members address not just the highs but especially the lows that come with the territory of self-discovery. Anxy Magazine is a prime example. Anxy's founder and Creative Director, WNW Member Indhira Rojas, tells us, "Anxy is intended to be a creative and artful exploration of mental health combined with powerful personal narratives. We are looking to create a publication that allows us to dive into our inner experiences and share what’s *really* going on in our lives. Our mission is to reduce the stigma around mental health conversations and make them an integral part of our daily lives."
Anxy aims to show that there's no longer a need to expend all of your energy on internalizing your struggle. And that the curtain we use to hide anxiety is really just a thin veil that distorts the realities of it: "We want to normalize these bad feelings and share how others have navigated or are still navigating those negative and dark moments... Each issue of Anxy uses a central theme—“loneliness” or “boundaries”—to build an original, insightful, and creative perspective through interviews, personal essays, reported features, visual stories, and recommendations for what to read, watch and download to round out the conversation." In our interview below, Indhira opens up about her own experiences with anxiety, expresses why a tactile magazine is the right medium to guide this conversation, and offers some insightful and generous tips on embracing your own anxiety.
Yesterday, Anxy was featured as the Project of the Day on Kickstarter. Head over to Kickstarter to back this mission. And if you are interested in the project and want to collaborate with the Anxy team, email them here: hello@anxymag.com. They'll be looking for writers, illustrators, photographers, you name it.
I’m the founder and creative director of Anxy Magazine, and principal at Redindhi Studio, a design practice focused on branding, editorial and interaction design. As a designer, I’m curious how the stories we tell each other shape our lives, influence our behavior and evoke our emotions. Most of my career I’ve been in the intersection of publishing and technology, developing visual strategies and identities that enable compelling narratives.
I’ve worked on a wide array of projects, from leading interaction and art direction at The Bold Italic, to launching the Once Magazine app and the Modern Farmer website, working on the re-branding of Atlas Obscura and designing Eric Ries' latest book The Leader’s Guide. Another transformative milestone in my career was working at Medium, where I lead the branding and creative art direction of some of our first publications such as Matter, Gone, Re:form and Backchannel.
Now, how I got here, here: I’m originally from the Dominican Republic—a Caribeña. I was fortunate to receive a scholarship that brought me to the US to complete a degree in Communication Design at Parsons School of Design in New York City. I later moved to San Francisco, CA to pursue a Masters in Design at California College of the Arts, which allowed me to transition into tech.
Anxy is intended to be a creative and artful exploration of mental health combined with powerful personal narratives. We are looking to create a publication that allows us to dive into our inner experiences and share what’s *really* going on in our lives. Our mission is to reduce the stigma around mental health conversations and make them an integral part of our daily lives.
I decided to start the magazine because I found myself in the middle of a rough time, dealing with a lot of grief and anger from doing my own therapy work and just feeling like — wait, I can’t be the only one. Why is it so hard to reach out to someone and say: “I’m feeling this huge void in my chest right now, and I know it’s sadness, and I don’t know what to do with it. Have you ever felt that way?” It’s like, unless there’s a death in the family, where there’s permission to grieve, we don’t allow ourselves to have those raw conversations and talk about some really dark feelings and experiences. We are all working so hard to make each other believe we have our shit together. Um. We don’t. Let’s get real.
I wanted to hear about other people’s experiences and how they have navigated them —what they do with the things that arise, how it has influenced their work, their everyday lives. I also wanted to bring together the psychology concepts that can bring language to what sometimes is so hard to describe and pinpoint.
For Anxy, we decided on a bi-annual publication, in which each issue is based on a theme, such as “loneliness” or “boundaries,” because we wanted to create a tactile collection of conversations. That way we can dive deep into a specific topic and create a complete volume of original, insightful, and creative perspectives. So much online content gets lost in the vortex. If you don’t click on the link from that email or feed—wooosshh—the story disappears forever (or until your Google it, if you ever do). And even when you do read it, even if you ‘save it’ … it still gets lost in some kind of digital archive.
We are looking to share these themes and stories through interviews with folks we admire, personal essays, reported features, and visual stories. We hope it will be content people can come back to for months to come, the way you do with a good book—you read it in stages and sometimes more than once.
The advantage of a serial publication, as opposed to a podcast or blog, is getting to experience content on a printed (tactile) page. It enables the juxtaposition of words and images in a way that connects to your senses differently. If done artfully and with an appreciation for beautiful design, Anxy can hopefully go beyond what’s currently in the market covering these topics.
I’m applying my experience in some ways that are a bit more obvious, mainly understanding our audience and the need we are looking to fill, and creating the conceptual framework and visual direction of the magazine — from the branding of the publication to the tone of our video, website, and all the promotional materials.
Other aspects that have really come in handy, which are less visible, are putting into practice the strategy and project management skills that I’ve learned through ‘shipping’ things. This is the first time I’ve created a Kickstarter campaign. There are a lot of pieces that have to come together—it’s been quite the journey.
For me, the most dangerous effects of anxiety, depression, and numerous other mental illnesses, is not wanting to be alive anymore. It can start with a devastating feeling of loneliness and grow to feeling totally invisible and misunderstood. Feeling that no one could ever understand how we feel, because how could they? They are not the ones in this body, with these experiences, dealing with these thoughts.
The misconception we want to tackle is not just that you are not alone, it’s also that trauma is so much more common than we care to admit to each other. We dare claim that it’s a rite of passage in life. At some point, we will experience something difficult in some form or another. Big or small, individual or collective, it’s probably going to happen. And it’s understandable that you may feel buried by it. We want to normalize these bad feelings and share how others have navigated or are still navigating those negative and dark moments.
I’m one of those folks who believes all humans are creative, not just us labelled ‘creative people’. But, putting that aside, us “creatives” generally tend to feel more comfortable in the realm of expression and making. It becomes the way we channel our inner experiences. When making is the channel, our emotions related to our anxiety and depression comes through and becomes more visible (both in the work and how we carry ourselves), especially if what we make is publicly consumed. For others, non-labelled creatives, anxiety and depression are probably just as prevalent, it’s just channelled in ways we are not as aware of.
The way my creativity has kept anxiety and depression at bay (which has been a sad revelation, even in its comfort) is that it’s a great tool for distraction, sometimes dissociation. I’ve noticed for me, I get into problem-solving mode or into a flow and then everything else disappears. At times it can feel very rewarding to feel connected and make. Other times, you realize that a busy mind, not being able to think about other things but the problem at hand, is really a mind that cannot think about negative or dark thoughts. Creativity can be that double-edged sword.
The aspect of creativity that can open the door for anxiety and depression is when we lose track of what we are making and start judging ourselves. We can sometimes be very harsh. Whether it’s ‘this is not good enough,’ which can turn into ‘I’m not good enough,’ or ‘why can’t I be this or that?’ It just opens the door for that inner critic and puts you in a real rut.
'Mathographics' poster. Design contribution to Anxy Kickstarter campaign by design visionary & WNW Member GMUNK.
Huge question. I will talk about things that have worked for me. But I don’t think it works for everyone. As we all manage things differently.
If you have become aware enough about your current state to realize something is off and you are tired of being tired, look for support: a professional therapist, a group, a friend who can really hold your experience. Talking to a professional therapist saved my life.
Meditation has been really helpful for me, mainly because it has helped me become an observer of my inner dialog and realize that thoughts are not reality, they are just thoughts—we just tend to believe everything we think. That can be un-learned.
For those who are close to someone who struggles with anxiety (and they are not in a state of self-harm), I would say, just be present for them when you are with them. Be a steady presence in their lives so that they can feel safe and supported when they are with you. Listen to them. Pay attention without judgement, and most importantly without trying to solve their problem (this is really really hard!).
Anxy Magazine Assistant Editor Katie MacBride (far left) with Founder Indhira Rojas in the studio with Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Maerz, and Editor-at-Large Bobbie Johnson (right). Photo by Michelle Le.
Anxy has been a labor of love for everyone involved. I feel so lucky to count on such an awesome team of talented folks. To be honest, pitching Anxy didn’t require heavy lifting. Everyone involved has dabbled with therapy in some way, and feels the same need I feel—a desire to connect with others around our issues and stop with all this pretending. We can see people are craving open discussions about coping with anxiety, depression, fear, anger, trauma, shame, and all those things can change the direction of our work and our lives.
Anxy Magazine Senior Editor Madison Kahnin the studio with Editor-at-Large Bobbie Johnson. Photo by Michelle Le.
Anxy Magazine Founder Indhira Rojas (left) at Redindhi Studio in conversation with design team. Photo by Michelle Le.
This is the right time to have this conversation. Other publishers are beginning to broach the topic, and many public figures have come forward with personal revelations about mental health. Actor Kristen Bell wrote about her struggles with depression and anxiety; comedian and podcaster Marc Maron has made a career out of talking about complex emotional issues with his creative peers.
We feel a real revolution taking place around normalizing mental health outside the medical arena. It felt like an opportunity ready for the taking and so they jumped on it with me. :)
Anxy Magazine Founder Indhira Rojas (center) at Redindhi Studio in conversation with design team. Photo by Michelle Le.
There are many ways to get involved in helping Anxy — the most urgent is supporting our Kickstarter so we can make this project a reality! The second best way, specially for WNW’s huge community of creative professionals, is to become a contributor. If you are interested in the project and want to collaborate with us, please reach out to us at: hello@anxymag.com. We will be looking for writers, illustrators, photographers, you name it!
Please join our community and help spread the word. We are slowly ramping up our social media, but we would love to have you follow along in your journey!
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
