The beginning of an uncertain period of COVID changed us forever and made us adjust to a new normal. This new normal left an overwhelming effect globally while creative people were not able to go outside their homes freely to collaborate with other creative peers or in some cases affected the way they provided income for themselves and their families. Through crisis, constant bad news and feeling overall anxious and depleted, I noticed that I was not the only one feeling a lack of creative motivation.

THE PROBLEM 

In April 2020, the global state of a pandemic left creatives uncertain of when will be the next time they can link up with their favorite creatives or meet new creative people. Being quarantined and in a state of national emergency left some creatives feeling hopeless and less creative than ever before in the start of quarantine. At the same time, I noticed an opportunity to use social media as a way to connect with creatives world-wide and create a vast community of innovators all going through the rough season. Everyone craved human connection. 

Ideation 

I began to brainstorm ideas of how to solve this problem for myself and others and looked at trends to inform the solution to the need of connection

Clarified the Mission

To connect creatives, and close the social distance gap

Commission a pair of strangers to collaborate on a 24-hour challenge exploring the topic of what quarantine has taught them? 

Social media challenges and meetings were already a trend, Through Tik Tok, Zoom which had become highly popular by then, that people had buy-in and worth experimenting with this idea.

Researched different platforms and decided Instagram was the most robust platform to incorporate a community feel.

During the ideation phase I shared the idea and partnered with one of my best friends and amazing Creative Producers Jazmine Lawrence! 

Together we reviewed and iterated on the idea and process in achieving this goal and grew the brand to what it is today.

Prototype

Low fidelity prototypes / iterations of the name / logo 

Brand Identity 

Brand Colors (“Our Color Wheel”), including hex code for easy access 

Typeface selection - using one staple that includes extension features 

Logo design, variations formatted for Web/Social 

Test 

Sent out Registration form to match candidates of the 24 hour challenge 

Launched on Instagram to start 

Later added Facebook, Youtube and LinkedIn to further our reach 

Resulted 30 collaborators in our first round of collaborations and 22 in our second season.

Solution

Distant Connections, a social campaign turned into a growing sustainably-creative company  in which fostering connections world-wide and bridging the social distant gap is our mission. 

Our main pillars of Connection and Collaboration is rooted in empathy and our best practices are surrounded by three types of empathy: Cognitive, Emotional, & Compassionate empathy in order to have effective partnerships. We provide participants resources, worksheets and tools to complete a 24-hr collaboration with confidence and let the collaborators take charge from there. 

This led to a second season from September - December 2020 where we organically grew our reach through multi-channel promotion (i.e posting on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and Youtube).

Additionally, I co-host weekly virtual workshops, Circle session, led by our community members. IG Live series, Let’s Unpack where Jaz and I talk all about creativity, life and inspiration. As well as we’ve gotten notable press coverage through features on The Creative Block Podcast  and Think804 blog. 

WE HAVE ONLY THREE RULES TO ENTER: BE KIND, BE RESPECTFUL, AND BE OPEN!

If interested in learning more about how to get involved email create.distantconnections@gmail.com

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN & YOUTUBE  and stay updated on where we take the brand next! 

My role

Co-founder / Creative direction/Strategy /Design

OUr Current Offerings