Every Cloud – Innovation and Inspiration in a Time of Crisis
With all the tragedy that’s occurring globally, now might seem like an unusual time to talk about anything related to staying positive.
Inescapable headlines run rampant and although we can’t (and definitely shouldn’t) ignore them, it’s important to know how many amazingly innovative things are occurring across the world.
Communities and businesses are banding together to fight the good fight and do their part. Incredibly, amidst the horror that unfolds daily, now is a time where we continue to be inspired by the truly wonderful things we see.
We know that staying positive in a time like now can be difficult but we believe in the power of creativity and how it can inspire us to do our part, stay connected and stay positive. We believe it’s a fundamental element of coping with a crisis.
So, to help keep our spirits high and the positive vibes afloat, we’ve pulled together ten great examples of creativity that are inspiring us (and hopefully you too) whilst we hang out at home and adapt to the very new normal.
Corona Simulator
The Washington Post’s graphics reporter, Harry Stevens’ created this amazing piece on how to ‘flatten the curve’ along with some very cool (and no less informative) data visualisation.
Cloud-clubbing
Party people across China have created the ultimate workaround for restricted social gatherings. ‘Cloud Clubbing’ sees live DJ sets on Douyin and TikTok while audience members react in realtime.
The Social Distancing Festival
This online artist’s community was made to celebrate and showcase the work of the many artists around the world who have been affected by the need for social distancing that has come about due to the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Wash your Lyrics
Putting the novel in the Novel Coronavirus, @neoncloth created this essential tool that generates custom hand-washing posters captioned with your favourite song lyrics. Yes!
Punk Sanitiser
To address the rising need for hand sanitizer, BrewDog decided to use its distillery to make Punk Sanitizer.
Firefly Digital Screens
Utilising the power of advertising, the digital media network Firefly is donating its vehicle-mounted displays to help provide public health messaging around COVID-19 to residents of all cities in which it operates.
Open source Ventilators
With the shortage of open source ventilators, this community-driven team are on a mission to develop an emergency-use version to aid COVID-19 patients.
Hack the Crisis Global Community
On 13-15 March, Garage48, AccelerateEstonia and the whole startup community in Estonia took action and put together an online hackathon to offer solutions on how to use tech for crisis response and deal with the post-crisis era.
Signature Brew: Pub in a Box
Signature Brew’s Taproom in Haggerston is launching a ’Pub in a Box’ for everyone who has been asked to self isolate. Even cooler, the packages are being hand-delivered by musicians who’ve had their tours cancelled (they will be paid London Living Wage).
CreativeMornings Belfast
Keeping with the theme of inspiring creativity during this time. Big Motive’s very own John Cranney will be hosting Belfast’s first ever CreativeMornings event via Google Meet on Friday 27th @ 08:30 am.
If like us, you’re interested in being inspired with some like-minded friendly faces, you can register your interest for the event here – a talk on the theme of Identity from local artist James Ashe.
As more of these stories appear online, we’ll continue to add them to this post so make sure to check back often.
Update: 31 March 2020
As we promised, we’re adding some more great examples of creativity that we have come across. From redesigning already established logos, to innovative ways of staying connected with each other, these latest stories are examples of truly innovative and inspiring work.
Mercado Libre Logo Change
Latin American e-commerce giant Mercado Libre has had a rethink about their logo to promote good hygiene. The mark, which was famous for displaying a handshake has been redesigned to promote bumping elbows.
School on TV
RTÉ has announced they will be broadcasting school on TV to support children whose schools have been closed and are now at home during the outbreak in Ireland.
An Post Postcards
Every household in Ireland is set to receive two free postcards from An Post in an effort to help people stay connected during this period of social distancing.
#ArtQuarantined.
ArtClassified has launched a social media initiative called #ArtQuarantined. The idea was simple: inspire peers and followers on social media to stay positive during this time of self-isolation – and create. Each day, ArtClass is issuing a new art-making challenge, featuring favourites on the @artclassified grid on Instagram.
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