Welcome to The Design Loft (#55)
It’s that ‘back to school’ season in many parts of the world. It certainly is for me.
Even though my September’s are usually about preparing courses instead of taking them, the feeling that I had from when I was a child and continued all through adulthood when I was a student always is felt fondly.
It’s not just that it’s the sign that autumn, my favourite season, is on it’s way. It’s partly because it’s this time of year that adds to autumn’s appeal. It’s much more than a pumpkin-spiced moment of sweet indulgence that follows a period punctuated by vacations (for us or others), patios, beach/deck reads, camping, BBQs and picnics or just an abundance of vitamin D. Autumn — and back-to-school — brings a focus back to the work at hand with the vigour that comes from a summer of a slower pace. (or at least it feels this way).
With that, I wanted to use this issue to share some plans for…sharing.
If you’re a regular Substack user, you might know that it’s evolved into a platform for more than just newsletters. While not a replacement for, or copy of, the platform has features that are similar to others. Did you know you can post short stories like on X/Twitter called Notes? Authors can have live subscriber chats like Slack? The platform enables podcasting and short videos like on YouTube, too.
I’ve been exploring these. And while I am not sure whether all of them are appropriate for you, I’m going to let you have a say. (Andi Bitay has an entire Substack devoted to all that the platform does and is planning for if you’re interested.)
What’s Coming
Over the coming weeks and months, look for more opportunities to engage with content, learn, and develop your design perspective using these tools.
The thing that I like about what this platform is seeking to do is that — at present — there’s no need to use everything. If you are enjoying the newsletter and aren’t into video, podcasts or chat, then you’ll continue to get the value you came for. There’s no need to sign up for more. But if you want to get small bites or different media formats, this is a chance for us to employ some design thinking and experimentation to see how we can make the most of the platform’s tools to become better designers.
Here’s what you’ll see in the coming months:
Notes will be the most prominent vehicle for sharing articles, other Substack posts, and news.
Chat isn’t on just yet, but we’ll see. If you’re interested in it, let me know.
The Censemaking Innovation podcast has been on hiatus, however, new stories are in development and it is possible we’ll convert some of these to Substack.
You will see video shorts to complement what’s shared on Notes. The main reason is not just for new media, but to offer some expanded forms for people to access the original content and learn from.
Yet, as the image above suggests, the main mechanism will continue to be writing. We will continue to do AI-free, original, and practical writing on design for health.
Thank you for reading and learning with me. See you on the Substack app, web, or wherever you access The Design Loft.
Photo by Benjamin Chambon on Unsplash