Weeknotes S01 E02
I didn’t get round to doing these on Friday afternoon, so week two of weeknotes hasn’t got off to the best start, but I guess doing them Monday morning instead isn’t so bad.
This (last) week
Batman
I was social media Batman this week. I think we stole the concept from the dev team, but basically it means that whoever is Batman takes care of all the social media graphics going out that week. We rotate Batman duties between the three of us so it comes around fairly quickly.
It’s really helpful to organise ourselves this way, so for two weeks out of three, you can concentrate on longer projects without the distraction of multiple, quick deadlines.
One of us is also Robin, who is on hand to help out if there’s any overspill, e.g. when there’s lots of releases going out at the same time. Naturally the third person is Alfred, but they don’t have to do any butler tasks.
This week there weren’t too many releases, so I used some spare time to keep tinkering with the brand guidelines. I did make an animated line chart for a covid release, but thankfully there was a previous one Matt did that I could adapt, so it didn’t take too long. We’ve finally had the sensible idea to write some simple instructions down so it doesn’t involve lots of googling of how to do it each time, as none of us are really trained animators.
I also created a few illustrations for a thread promoting another covid-related article, this one looking at how people spent their time in March 2021, compared to a year before in the first lockdown. A washing machine wasn’t the most exciting thing to illustrate, but nice to draw something from scratch nonetheless. We’re trying to refine our illustration style and make it not feel too different to our icons, as we use both on social media.
Meeting new people
Matt and I did a quick presentation to some new team members in Digital Publishing, basically just saying what we do. I don’t think other people do whole google slides presentations for their intros, but as our work is so visual I don’t feel like too much of a nerd that we go to that extent. Their manager came along for a bit to check it was going ok, and it was nice to hear from her that she hadn’t realised how much we actually did. It made me think how valuable these sessions were, so I hope we do them more regularly — it’s a bit hit and miss at the moment who we do and don’t get introduced to.
I’ve started my second round of design buddy groups, something people in GDS have been organising to help designers across government get to know each other in small informal groups. I had missed the previous few weeks due to holidays and other stuff so it was nice to see them again. It’s reassuring to hear that others face similar challenges to us, and sharing knowledge wider than our organisation is so helpful. This session we focussed on technology — our computer setups, productivity tools and design software. They were surprised to learn we have to have both a Windows laptop and a Macbook and it resurfaced my annoyance that we do 😒. I think it will be more of an issue when we start working back in the office more regularly and have to cart them back and forth, so hopefully we can get some impetus to address it.
Outside of work — project for St John’s House
My dad volunteers for a charity in Bridgend that manages a historical building in Bridgend, St John’s House. They are trying to raise funds to buy the building and develop it into a cultural centre for everyone in the town to enjoy. For a couple of years I’ve been trying to advise on their signage and general branding. I’ve redesigned their logo, but it hasn’t been updated everywhere and I haven’t attempted to tackle their website yet 😬.
I spent a lot of my spare time last week designing some display material for their reopening on Saturday. It’s been a bit of a mammoth task as content has come in a bit haphazardly, I don’t currently have access to printer to test out colours or font sizes, and there’s no brand guidelines apart from ones I’m creating as I go along. I managed to get the first 11 boards done in English, and they printed them using their A3 printer, so it was a good test before getting them done properly on A1 boards. I still need to do the Welsh part, but some translations are missing so I’m waiting on that. As a previous translation project manager, the way it’s being managed gives me some anxiety 😅.
It already looks a million miles better in the house, as they’ve had a good tidy and rearrange of the rooms, bought some furniture to give the rooms more context, and my dad has done a lot of work on building displays for the shop and getting some nicer stock in. They even have internet and a card reader now, so it should be easier for visitors to donate. It’s encouraging to see the improvements, even if it has taken a long time to get there, as I’ve definitely been sucked into it and am invested now.
