According to Victor Papanek, design is the underlying matrix of life. This short essay inspired by a Ma-kin sense chat discusses how sameness is gatecrashing a design matrix and questions how our experiences of the pandemic have revealed problems to solve.

As the pressure to ease lockdown across the UK was happening on the 17th June, we discussed the meaning and impact of the word ‘easing’ in a makin-sense conversation which we materialised as an advert for a new drink.

As part of Ma-kin sense conversation we talked about Black Lives Matter. We couldn’t not talk about it. To archive this conversation, we did not want to perform our interpretations, but amplify voices in the black community and stand up against racism.

At Kin, we discuss intangible things sometimes. But this week we wanted to both capture the visual representation of the public mood and break down the parts of what determines a word, in this case, reasonable.

Navigating uncertainty comes with its challenges but what if we showed the workings out when we arrive at solutions - making meaning through design.

Through-out our whole lives we have been training for this moment – waiting. Here are The Top 7 Accoutrements of Waiting, for the full benefit we recommend listening to the soundtrack provided.

Most relationships are difficult and hard to articulate. As our world becomes more connected so do the levels of trust but with that comes challenges. This week’s Ma-kin Sense article we break-up with Trust to discover what it means.

Surveillance and tracking are common topics surrounding managing COVID-19. In this week’s Ma-kin sense chat we poked around the term surveillance and the mixed feelings of what it means to us.

A short piece about yoga, a pen, something good to eat and why it matters to how we innovate.

An exit strategy has as much to do with making an entrance as to how one leaves. In a Ma-kin sense chat we share 50 exits for exit strategies.

To care is the process of protecting or to think that something is important. As we start to make sense of this word, it feels essential that at times of crisis we shift from matters of concern to matters of care and how it is materializing into our social.

As we consider of the word flouting, almost an outing, but not quite as the world has to stay in – for now. In our collective poem we arrive at the word from context. Exercising our right to discuss how it manifests from judgement into physical action, but do we even know when we are flouting? Remembering, that the story and reality are not always the same.

What is the “un” in un-precedented? Unknown. Undoing. Unseen. How do we take action into a space that is unprecedented? With this action emerges a catch-22, to freeze or move. The ability to see, think and ask questions we can act, show up and not ride the rollercoaster we are all living, but one can step off, watch and take the position as the observer.

As the world practices social distancing we notice that we do not have language for what we are experiencing. It is hard to express because it doesn’t exist – yet.

Social distancing embarks the new wellbeing retreat.
At a distance with our lives we glimpse closer at ourselves.