View the VIBE Toronto
  • Cool Vibes
    • Cool Vibes
    • Gift Guides
    • Eats+Drinks
    • Travel+Hotels
    • Health+Fitness
    • Style+Beauty
    • Life+Culture
    • Dating+Relationships
    • Events+Nightlife
    • Cannabis
  • Best in The 6ix
    • Best in The 6ix
    • Restaurants
    • Hotels
    • Things to do
    • Coffee Shops
    • Spas + Beauty
    • Barbershops
    • Retail
  • City Life
    • City Life
    • Pride
    • #TTCLife
    • #BossLife
    • #DatingLife
    • Seen+Heard
    • COVID-19
    • Quarantine Chronicles
    • Submit a Q.C. Post
  • Going Down
    • Today
    • This Week
    • This Month
    • Submit an Event
SPACES Yorkville
Join In
6K Likes
12K Followers
22K Followers
150 Followers
  • Masthead
  • Send Us A Tip
  • Advertise
Subscribe
View the VIBE Toronto
View the VIBE Toronto View the VIBE Toronto
  • Cool Vibes
    • Cool Vibes
    • Gift Guides
    • Eats+Drinks
    • Travel+Hotels
    • Health+Fitness
    • Style+Beauty
    • Life+Culture
    • Dating+Relationships
    • Events+Nightlife
    • Cannabis
  • Best in The 6ix
    • Best in The 6ix
    • Restaurants
    • Hotels
    • Things to do
    • Coffee Shops
    • Spas + Beauty
    • Barbershops
    • Retail
  • City Life
    • City Life
    • Pride
    • #TTCLife
    • #BossLife
    • #DatingLife
    • Seen+Heard
    • COVID-19
    • Quarantine Chronicles
    • Submit a Q.C. Post
  • Going Down
    • Today
    • This Week
    • This Month
    • Submit an Event
  • City Life

Quarantine Chronicles: Creative Entrepreneur Speaks Up on Designing the Future

  • June 15, 2020
  • Guest Submission
Total
6
Shares
6
0
0
0
0
0

To say 2020 has been crazy, is an understatement. It’s been weird. And scary. And confusing. And challenging. And. And. And … I didn’t think things would roll out quite like this. Especially in such a futuristic sounding year. But here we are.

My experiential design and interactive media firm, Digital 55, has been very focused on storytelling and breaking down complex subject matter into accessible modular digital media and learning experiences. I’ve always leaned into futurism and designing for our future seems even more important now.

In those first weeks following the breaking news of a global pandemic and the introduction of physical distancing measures, like so many other entrepreneurs, I was busy trying to get a handle on navigating new workplace realities. With a heavy heart, I cancelled my long-anticipated travel plans to attend South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, settled into work-from-home routines, applied for available resources and funding, and joined a myriad of webinars for businesses and start-ups aimed at preparing us for what was to come  — all the while, still delivering on the pre-COVID projects I already had on the go. 

Photo: Digital 55

I was frustrated, overwhelmed, and saddened by the seemingly sudden turn the world had taken, and I wasn’t always certain about how to best move forward. But I was also motivated and inspired by the questions that came to light. Questions like: 

  • What does it mean to authentically connect and empathize with others in the context of physical distancing? 
  • What do innovation and creativity look like in the midst of such unprecedented times? 
  • What is the role of digital tech in building caring, resilient, and psychologically safe communities and workplaces, both for today and tomorrow?
  • How can empathy be practiced?
  • How can we support a new system of design that creates the change we need to see in the world?

This pandemic really highlights that we have to look at the systems that have gotten us here and break those apart. Normally, I would be focused on human-centered design, a design approach that takes the human perspective into account. But, presently, I have to think beyond that because humanity’s perspective is frayed. Humans are going through a lot, on a collective and individual level. There’s the pandemic, and then also the social disparities and injustices that are not new in the world but which have become even more amplified and intensified as a result. 

This has really moved me to use my quarantine period to work on projects that support people during these extraordinary times and set the foundation for systems of change in the future. 

Digital 55 even got to partner with PowerEd by Athabasca University to create Navigating Extraordinary Times, a free, self-directed online course that provides leaders with strategies and frameworks to successfully navigate current realities and support the transition to the next normal.

Photo: Digital 55

Right now, experience designers and content/media creators have this great opportunity to think disruptively and creatively. To examine all the different intersecting systems that shape our world, and re-design them for the next chapter. As society moves to a more digital model, we can re-think what that future looks like, and craft the world we wish to see  — from work, to health care, to social justice, to the environment. 

For me — through projects such as Filter on Cannabis Culture Explored, World of Work, and Digital EDU — the priority is to unify society by advocating for equity, the inclusion of multiple voices and perspectives as well as global access to knowledge and to start enacting some major change for the future. And btw, the future is now.

By Lauralee Sheehan
Founder + Chief Creative Officer (CCO) at
Digital 55

Total
6
Shares
Like 6
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Like 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • coronavirus
  • COVID-19
  • COVID19
  • Digital 55
  • Digital55
  • Quarantine Chronicles
Avatar
Guest Submission

Previous Article
  • People
  • Pride

Queens of The 6ix: 19 Questions Spilling the Tea with Miss Fiercalicious

  • June 12, 2020
  • Jessica Rodrigues
View Post
Next Article
entertaining kids
  • Life Tips

9 Exciting Activities to Keep Your Kids Entertained for Hours

  • June 15, 2020
  • VIBE Team
View Post
You May Also Like
Real estate
View Post
  • City Life

Everything You Need To Know About Buying Real Estate

  • James Milonas
  • April 20, 2021
Hadden Homes
View Post
  • City Life

Is a Market Self-Correction on the Way?

  • Heather Hadden
  • April 18, 2021
Bakit
View Post
  • City Life

Quarantine Chronicles: Baskit Inc. CEO Speaks out About the Need for Connection Throughout the Pandemic

  • Guest Submission
  • April 17, 2021
Galen Weston
View Post
  • #BossLife
  • People

Visionary Retail Magnate W. Galen Weston Lost at 80: Will Canadian Food & Retail Ever be the Same?

  • Phyllis Scully
  • April 17, 2021
Buying a Condo
View Post
  • City Life

What to Expect When Making an Offer

  • Heather Hadden
  • April 13, 2021
condos in hotels
View Post
  • City Life

Top 6 in the 6ix: Condos in Hotels

  • James Milonas
  • April 12, 2021
View Post
  • City Life

Homebuyers, Some Relief Is Coming

  • Heather Hadden
  • April 8, 2021
Toronto's Justin Wu Director and International Photographer View the VIBE
View Post
  • #BossLife
  • People

Justin Wu: Making His Mark in the Film Industry—One Scene at a Time

  • Steven Branco
  • April 6, 2021
APRIL FEATURE

Justin Wu: Making His Mark in the Film Industry—One Scene at a Time. #VIBEfeatures

about
READ NOW
Trending Posts
  • 1
    • Eats+Drinks
    Check Out Toronto’s New Year-Round Street Eats Market
    • Sydnee Condon
  • Toronto's Justin Wu Director and International Photographer View the VIBE 2
    • #BossLife
    • People
    Justin Wu: Making His Mark in the Film Industry—One Scene at a Time
    • Steven Branco
  • Bakit 3
    • City Life
    Quarantine Chronicles: Baskit Inc. CEO Speaks out About the Need for Connection Throughout the Pandemic
    • Guest Submission
  • Seven Points Cannabis Toronto 4
    • Cannabis
    Bloor West’s Newest Upscale Cannabis Shop–Now Delivering Legal Bud to Mississauga
    • Merrill Flynn
SPACES Yorkville
ADVERTISE WITH US
Learn about our
partnership opportunities.

Inquire Now

 

LATEST NEWS
SPACES Yorkville
GOING DOWN:
« April 2021 » loading...
M T W T F S S
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
2
Fri 23

Gaming conference by Aristocrat-slots.com

March 30 @ 8:00 am - June 1 @ 5:00 pm
Fri 23

Scotiabank Contact Photography Exhibition: “ALTERITY” BRENDAN MEADOWS

April 15 @ 12:00 pm - May 15 @ 6:00 pm
Fri 23

Learn Digital Painting and Color Workshop

April 23 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Subscribe to The Weekly VIBE Newsletter

View the VIBE
View the VIBE, partially owned, and operated by STAMINA Group Inc., launched in 2010 as a video restaurant and spa guide, later evolving into a recognized digital Toronto-lifestyle authority, producing fun, edgy and informational editorial content. Establishing itself as a voice for restaurant reviews, trending stories, and excellent vibe videos.
Learn More
Partner Network

Divine.ca, Canada’s Bilingual Online

Women’s Lifestyle Magazine.

WanderEater.com, leading those wandering aimlessly for food.

@ImagesofCanada, showcasing the beauty that Canada has to offer.

Part of the STAMINA Group
of brands.

Learn More

Navigation
  • Cool Vibes
    • Cool Vibes
    • Gift Guides
    • Eats+Drinks
    • Travel+Hotels
    • Health+Fitness
    • Style+Beauty
    • Life+Culture
    • Dating+Relationships
    • Events+Nightlife
    • Cannabis
  • Best in The 6ix
    • Best in The 6ix
    • Restaurants
    • Hotels
    • Things to do
    • Coffee Shops
    • Spas + Beauty
    • Barbershops
    • Retail
  • City Life
    • City Life
    • Pride
    • #TTCLife
    • #BossLife
    • #DatingLife
    • Seen+Heard
    • COVID-19
    • Quarantine Chronicles
    • Submit a Q.C. Post
  • Going Down
    • Today
    • This Week
    • This Month
    • Submit an Event
View the VIBE Toronto
  • Contact
  • Masthead
  • Subscribe
  • Send us a Tip
  • Legal
  • © 2020, STAMINA Group
The leading VIBE authority of The 6ix - Online Lifestyle Magazine

Input your search keywords and press Enter.