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I have often worried that my design career has an expiry date due to age and, more importantly, the perception by clients that I am old and outdated. The Age of No Retirement initiative has made a profound impact on me this week. Their aim of creating an ageless world where age doesn't define us or the opportunities available to us is a mindset shift that society needs to adopt. "It is a mistake to regard age as a downhill grade towards dissolution. The reverse is true. As one grows older, one climbs with surprising strides". 

The starting point for any campaign is understanding what the problem is and pinpointing a solution. What is the campaign's ultimate aim or purpose, what change or impact do you want to achieve? You may have several objectives, but only one campaign aim should be concise, inspiring, targeted, impact-focused and easy to understand. Everything you do must contribute towards achieving the ultimate aim of your campaign. It is also essential to work out what is achievable given the resources available and the environment you are working in.

The impact and power designers and artists have demonstrated through various protest pieces in the resources presented this week have been inspiring. The simplicity of adding typography or a message to a photograph or image that brings awareness to, reshaping society's opinion or direction is simply astounding. 

Although publishing is shrinking, more money is being spent to justify a presence in the market. Print and production help you tell a story, and high quality, experimental printing, production, and materials create something people want to keep. An age of minimalism and technology has made books more revered, coveted and better looking.

To be an author today, you need to be an expert in your field, passionate and a little crazy. My interests lie in packaging design; however, I found the information on the publishing process insightful as I can translate it to marketing my business and online content. 

The research this week took me down very diverse paths. I began with the Tikoloshe,  a mischievous, gremlin-like creature from African mythology. I shelved this idea due to the perceptions of evil it represented and cultural controversy. Instead, I looked closer to home and the town where I grew up and found a hippopotamus name Huberta who inspired a nation. 

We are more visual today than ever before. We need cultural objects and tactility to offset an all-consuming digital world. <br />  <br /> The inspiration from researched case studies this week into print production has been awe-inspiring. I now see printing as an unexpected, tactile, sculptural and even experiential medium (Al-Zaidy, 2013).  

My view of design has been relatively insular to date. The more I delve into the research and case studies, the more aware I am of the sheer power of design to create a narrative to effect positive change or manipulate to serve an agenda. 

This week's lectures and research material provided a lightbulb moment in the power, influence, and impact infographics have at the moment of comprehension or realisation. The COVID-19 virus has turned the world economies upside down and still heavily dictates our life trajectory. There are many vastly contrasting views on the subject. Still, the image that came to mind concerning this weeks content was the COVID-19 infographic by Visual Capitalists released around the start of the outbreak.

All groundbreaking ideas and creative concepts carry both risk and reward. By analysing the success and failures of different agencies and campaigns, I can ascertain that it takes courage to leave a lasting impact on the world.

This week allowed me to explore the exceptional cultural heritage of Cape Town with my camera in hand. It helped me tell a story of the history, lifestyles, and people of the mother city in many ways.

The ‘out of the box’, disrupted, forward-thinking of this week’s material and tasks had me reminiscing about all the Science fiction movies that imagine and illustrate possible futures for our entertainment. Sci-fi is known for predicted future technologies and social phenomena. The real value may not lie in the predictive aptitude, but rather a creatives ability to inspire the future.