12th November 2021
This week has been insanely busy, yet very insightful. To say it was busy is a bit of an understatement, because I think it was more than busy. The bootcamp has just finished, and with the typical Friday afternoon feeling, I feel a tad bit lost (I’m not sure if that’s the word, but it’s something along those lines), like I’ve just had a really intense week (where I got to meet lots of interesting people, and learn lots of different things) and all of a sudden, I’ve been transported back to my room on a cold and rainy Friday afternoon, despite me being in my room the whole time, because the whole thing took place online. I’m not sure, I’m still processing it, frantically checking my notes, and seeing what I’ve actually done during the week since it all feels like a blur, where it’s just whizzed past.
To be honest, this week has felt like Welcome Week 2.0 since there were some sessions that were more like refreshers for me (but probably new to others), but most of it was new to me, especially when it comes to things such as finance and the like (I’m still trying to get my head around it, and hopefully, I manage to understand at least a slice of it, so that I know what I’m doing), as well as a few controversies (okay, maybe I’m just exaggerating) and a few tech hiccups, because, well, that’s what technology does to you sometimes.
Despite it all being online, I actually did not feel alone for once, and to be honest, it felt like I was in person, but I’m not sure if it’s because I’m now so used to doing everything online, or if it’s because of how the week went. I’m not entirely sure at this point, and I’m too afraid to ask. Maybe I might just be an extrovert in denial (well, maybe because I’ve had to become extroverted in order to make the most of this opportunity), and maybe I like being around others so that I can bounce off my ideas with them, but damn do I sometimes find it tiring, but then again, I find being on my own all the time extremely tiring as well, so everything in moderation, I suppose.
The controversies of the week (okay, it was literally just one thing) was the moonpig rebrand that I was exposed to in the branding workshop earlier on in the week, and let’s just say that the rebrand did not end well because I personally found it way too corporate and too bland (as well as a bit too gentrified to the point where it feels like anyone’s brand, but no one’s brand at the same time), because there’s nothing worse than having a company with a unique brand identity suddenly grow up and become corporate (and I wasn’t even aware of the rebrand until it was pointed out to me) to the point where you can’t even recognise it anymore since it looks like all the other ones out there (trust me, I do not give a damn about what the abstract circles are supposed to represent, which in this case, it’s the pig’s snout, because it feels too quiet for me), and I just hate this oversimplification trend in general because it ruins literally everything ever and strips the brand of its unique personality. I mean, I could literally write a whole essay about this, because the amount of blanding (basically where some minimalist designer gets a brief to rebrand a company, only for them to strip out all of the main elements that make up a brand’s identity) that’s been going on in the past couple of years is starting to get annoying, and I personally want to avoid that when it comes to creating my own business(es) since having very quiet branding is a tad bit too overrated to the point where you don’t even notice it. Yet these are the branding agencies that claim to stand out and be unique (just like everyone else, pfft).
I probably won’t bore you to death with the tech hiccups since they happen all the time anyway, and I guess it’s the equivalent of zoning out and daydreaming in a meeting, by trying to refocus and catching up on what you’ve missed out (how I miss and long for the days where things used to happen in person, instead of you sitting in your room all day, attending online things to the point where they end up feeling like YouTube videos).
Speaking of things happening in person, there’s a challenge going on next week (in the Hub) where you get to help out a small/local business, as well as having the chance to win a paid placement with them, and to be honest, it sounds like a great opportunity, but the only thing that’s holding me back is that it’s a 2 hour commute either way for me, so I’m debating about whether it’s really going to be worth it for me, since I’d have to catch a train at around 7am (at the latest) to be able to make it in time (not to mention having to do the hoopla with the trains somewhere in between, since I’d have to get off one and catch another) and getting home at around 8pm, basically it being a 12 hour shift (how much I hate those) all over again. I’m not sure how, but going to work at 6am seems completely normal and realistic for me to do, but catching a train at around 7am feels way too early for me. Weird how the mind works sometimes.
So, that’s the end of a pretty intense week, and next week might be another intense week (this time, including actually getting out of the house and going to an actual place to actually do something), as long as I can figure out what it is that I’m planning on doing next week, so that I’m not panicking right at the last minute. If not, then it’ll just be another plain old week, but I also don’t want to miss out on a really good opportunity over a 2 hour commute for just a couple of days (I feel sorry for the office workers that were a part of the rat race, especially in the Before Times, where their whole day just revolved around going to work, being at work, and then going back home). I’ll have to rethink my priorities just a little bit more, because that opportunity seems too good to pass up over something so trivial.