Heads-Up For Design: The Stay-At-Home Edition

Last updated on April 19, 2020.

As we’re cooped indoors in an effort to combat COVID-19, the creative community in India and around the world is creating an active, thriving space of interactions and inspiration online. We will continue to populate this list in the coming weeks, while this isolation lasts. Check back regularly, or follow us on Instagram, for updates.

Nicer Tuesdays

Nicer Tuesdays is an event that’s regularly organised by It’s Nice That where they bring together four speakers from the creative world to give a ten-minute talk on a recent project. This time, the event’s happening online, via Zoom, and the line-up includes Jean Jullien, Richard Turley, Liz Johnson Artur and Ruohan Wang. 10.45pm, Tuesday, April 28, 2020. Details here.

Virtual Design Festival

Organised by Dezeen, the Virtual Design Festival is a platform to celebrate the culture and commerce of the architecture and design world, and explore how the industry can adapt and respond to extraordinary circumstances. Expect online talks, lectures, movies, product launches and more. The online festival will run from Wednesday April 15 to Saturday June 20, 2020. Schedule here.

The Design Plateau

This online seminar comprises talks by a number of leading architects such as Hafeez Contractor, Alan Abraham, and Nandini Somaya Sampat, and many more. The online talks will take place all through late April. Details here.

Watch Workplace by Gary Hustwit

Filmmaker Gary Hustwit is making his films on design available for all, for free — one every week. This week, it’s Workplace, his 2016 film about the past, present, and future of the office. It’ll be available for free until Tuesday, April 21, 2020. Watch it here.

The Brave New World of Design

A day of design talks on Design Milk’s IGTV, in which experts will discuss how life might be different after COVID-19 with regard to design, architecture, creativity and business. Tuesday, April 21, 2020, 8.30pm onwards. Line-up and other details here.

Design Fights Covid

Art and design platform Art&Found has brought together graphic designers and visual artists in an effort to raise funds for non-profits and NGOs in India who might not have access to the power of design. Details here.

Watch Rams by Gary Hustwit

Filmmaker Gary Hustwit is making his films on design available for all, for free — one every week. This week, it’s Rams, a documentary on iconic designer Dieter Rams. It’ll be available for free until Tuesday, April 14, 2020. Watch it here.

Stay Sane, Stay Safe

Poster platform Stay Sane, Stay Safe was launched recently by two designers and a copywriter based in The Netherlands. It’s a space for positivity, to encourage people to stay home, and emerged out of a need for uplifting posters for a local hospital. The platform is crowdsourcing posters, which are free to download and share for all. Details here.

How is COVID-19 Impacting the Future of Design?

Design editors and experts will discuss how this pandemic is changing how we live and the future of home design, how this unprecedented crisis has changed the business of design, and how the design community can be part of the solution. Wednesday, April 8, 2020, 12.30pm. Register on Zoom here.

Watch Videos from the Brand New Conference

Brand New Conference is a leading event on corporate and brand identity that takes place in various cities across the USA each year. This year’s edition stands postponed, but videos from past editions — which are generally under a paywall — are free right now. Use discount code ‘covid19sucks’ while checking out. (Also: Kawal Oberoi, who writes regularly for Paper Planes, spoke at last year’s conference.) Watch here.

Watch Urbanized by Gary Hustwit

Filmmaker Gary Hustwit is making his films on design available for all, for free — one every week. This week, it’s Urbanized, a feature-length documentary about the design of cities. It’ll be available for free until Tuesday, April 7, 2020. Watch it here.

Watch & Listen with Fabrica

Italy-based Fabrica Research Centre has released a number of videos, short films, music, and lectures on their Vimeo channel “to enjoy these long days at home”. The collection includes a talk about the importance of failure by Erik Kessels, artist and founder of the communication agency Kesselskramer; and a virtual tour of Fabrica, built by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Watch here.

Watch Objectified by Gary Hustwit

Filmmaker Gary Hustwit is making his films on design available for all, for free — one every week. This week, it’s Objectified, a documentary about product design, featuring designers like Paola Antonelli, Tim Brown, and Dieter Rams. It’ll be available for free until Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Watch it here.

#DrawTogether with Wendy Macnaughton

Acclaimed illustrator Wendy Macnaughton is conducting daily drawing classes for kids (of all ages). She goes live on her Instagram for half an hour each weekday.

Activity Pages by Adam J Kurtz

Artist and author Adam J Kurtz, whose work you may be familiar with via Instagram — he’s made many GIF stickers on Instagram — has compiled 42 activity pages “in case an indoor distraction helps you (or your kids).” Get the printable PDF here.

Canceled Con

As a result of the number of conferences and gatherings being cancelled or postponed, this is a live-streamed digital conference for the design community. Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5, 2020. Details here.

Adobe Summit

This year’s Las Vegas edition of the Adobe Summit, an event oriented towards marketers, advertisers, data analysts, designers, and executives, has been turned into a free, digital experience. Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Register here.

Adobe 99u Conference 2020

Slated to take place this June in New York City, the 99u conference is also now a free-for-all, digital event. Their in-person event had a prestigious line-up of creative thinkers. Updates about the online event are expected, read more here.

Watch Helvetica by Gary Hustwit

Filmmaker Gary Hustwit is making his films available for all, for free — one every week. This week, it’s Helvetica, a documentary about the world’s most popular font. It’ll be available for free until Tuesday, March 24, 2020. Watch it here.

Tune in to the Alipore Post Online

The Alipore Post, known for its poetry and art newsletters, is going live on its Instagram all day with various creators. There’s a lot packed in — look out for sessions on textile as art, live clay character making, meditative live drawing, zine-making, legal advice for creatives, and live lettering. Saturday, March 21, 2020.

Stay at Home Story Time with Oliver Jeffers

The childrens’ book author and illustrator is going live on his Instagram every weekday, reading a different storybook and talking about what went into making it. And if you miss the Instagram Live, he’s uploading all the videos here.

Tune in to Live!

This brand-new series of live talks on Instagram, curated by Italian graphic designer Gianluca Alla, will feature sessions by designers from across the world. Details here.

Read Tinkle Comics and Amar Chitra Katha

The folks at Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha are giving readers free month-long access to their comic apps for free. Download and subscribe before Tuesday, March 31, 2020.

For Students: At-Home Access to Adobe Creative Cloud

In an effort to aid distance learning across the world, Adobe is making its Creative Cloud tools available for free for students whose campuses have been closed through Sunday, May 31, 2020. Details here.