If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is that we in the design industry have led something of a charmed life until now. As the world goes into lockdown, it now seems an extraordinary luxury to be thinking about anything apart from the unfolding horror of 24/7 news feeds, let alone the value of beauty and colour.

Yet, as we face up to uncertainty, fear and inevitable feelings of isolation, we believe that there is much comfort to be found in using enforced time away from others to think, research, plan for the future and be creative.

 

 

Issue 59 of MIX Magazine was written before the breakneck spread of coronavirus really took hold. Yet our two design stories now feel highly prescient. In Web we look at the fear of Black Swan events, those unexpected disasters that are impossible to predict. And with Cloister, the urge to cocoon and protect ourselves comes very much to the fore, returning to what really matters when faced with truly existential threat.

 

 

Colour Hive hopes that this issue will provide you with a welcome distraction and a chance to use this time in stasis as productively as possible. In the meantime, we will be working hard on the Issue 60 and some new ways to keep in touch with you all. We trust that all will prove useful and insightful.  Most of all, we hope that all our readers stay safe and sane in this most difficult time.

With best wishes from,

Anna, Daniel, Hannah, Marie, Sam, Samantha, Tamsin & Yvonne