16.01.21
New Year, New 'Grams
Perhaps we had more time on our hands to pay attention, but it did feel as though 2020 was the year independent social media platforms exploded. From BLM resources, to finding your feet in the creative industry, there's shed loads of incredible people doing incredible things — all using their phone, their fingers, and an Instagram account.
As a team we've pulled together a list of the main ones that have caught our eye over the last few months, and who we'll be keeping a close eye on in 2021. At first, my intention here was to keep this list focussed on the creative industry, but in the end it's impossible to leave some out. Enjoy!
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Not Only – But Also
Co-founded by strategist Maddi Hutchinson and developer Guy Munday, Not Only – But Also celebrates non-graphic design roles and plans to "open the conversation by exploring the other roles that exist, who does them and how to get there".
You can view their Instagram account here:
instagram.com/notonly___butalso/
And their website here:
notonlybutalso.org
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Out of Hours
A cracking platform that champions the art of the side hustle; across design sprints, events, and even a podcast.
"We exist to remove barriers in the way of starting and progressing a side project. We want to help everyone work on things they love out of hours, before they run out of hours.".
You can view their Instagram account here:
instagram.com/out.of.hours/
And their website here:
outofhours.org
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A Change of Brand
"Produced by Matchstic, this is a show about the world’s most loved consumer companies and their rebrand glory, drama, or disaster.", most recently with Jowey Roden of Studio Koto LA, on their famous Airbnb rebrand.
You can view their Instagram account here:
instagram.com/achangeofbrand/
And their website here:
achangeofbrand.com
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Fuse
It's been a huge topic in recent months. How can we make our industry more inclusive, and why has it taken so long?
At the forefront of that change is Fuse, a platform dedicated to championing under-represented talent in the creative industry. Supported by Craig Oldham, and founded by Manchester-based designer Jaheed Hussain, it's a must follow for 2021.
You can view their Instagram account here:
instagram.com/fusemanchester/
And their website here:
fusemcr.com
Our own interview with Jaheed from 2020:
represent.uk.com/blog/fuse-a-chat-on-inclusivity-with-founder-jaheed-hussain/
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The Arena
Founded in 2019 by University friends Dom Edwards and Ben Thornton, The Arena is a community that pushes every individual to reach their full creative potential – sharing successes, failures, guidance, and opportunities.
You can view their Instagram here:
instagram.com/thearenauk/
Their website here:
thearena.org.uk
And a recent interview they did with our own James McLearie here:
thearena.org.uk/in-the-arena-with/james-mclearie
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ThinkFoodBank
ThinkFoodBank is a crowd-funding campaign and sticker project created by designers Holly Kielty and Maisie Benson, aimed at urging shoppers to donate more items to food banks.
You can view their Instagram account here:
instagram.com/thinkfoodbank/
And their crowd-funding page here:
justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thinkfoodbank
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There's bags more we could add here too, including BLC* Directory, Service Abnormal & Brands In Motion, to name just a few, and thanks for your suggestions so far! Keep 'em coming.
Words: Joe Cooper