Lecture in Progress has relaunched as Creative Lives in Progress–here’s what’s new
We’re relaunching with additional offerings for emerging creatives, as well as a new name and a new look. Here we explain why 2020 made these updates feel more urgent, and the ways you can get involved.
After nearly four years of running Lecture in Progress, today marks the biggest change in our short history so far… Not only are we updating our name to Creative Lives in Progress, but we’re also launching a new look, as well as some changes to the way we work.
In many ways, the events of 2020 made these changes unavoidable. The world looks very different now, and it was time to move in response to some of the monumental shifts we’ve seen across the industry, economy, wellbeing, attitudes and culture.
A tougher outlook for entry-level creatives
The need for action became clear as we observed the effects that the pandemic was having on entry-level talent. Early on came the news of coronavirus’ impact on the economy, as companies raced to balance their financial losses with staff cuts.
This saw young people aged 16 to 25 twice as likely to lose their jobs, as some predicted that one in five junior-level jobs were set to be lost, in addition to the fact that many graduate placements, internships and access schemes were put on hold (see a full report here).
Lockdown also triggered the cancellation of student final shows, and for many, this signalled the loss of an unparalleled opportunity to connect with industry. And it only added insult to injury when, in October, Rishi Sunak suggested that creatives look to retrain and find jobs in other industries.
It’s really important that all of us bear this in mind when we talk about helping emerging creatives right now. It’s a tough start to say the least. Now, more than ever, those of us with the power to lend a hand and offer support, advice and opportunities to the next generation need to step up and stand in solidarity.
Becoming Creative Lives in Progress
Over the course of 2020, as we shifted workshops and portfolio reviews online and endeavoured to share as much useful information as we could find, we also treated this time as a period of self-reflection. Any desires we’d had to optimise what we do were crystallised and thrown into fast-forward. This began with setting the aim of becoming the most inclusive and proactive version of ourselves, in order to promote positive change and tangible impact across the industry.
We wanted to ensure that our name and look embraced the idea that there is no set path to a dream creative career. As a result, we were keen to shed the formality of ‘Lecture’ and its associations with academia (fun fact: the original name was inspired by a sign outside a university lecture theatre). This is because we know that the more traditional, university-education route is just one of a myriad of ways to get into creative work.
One of our key missions is to improve the pipeline for talent coming in from a huge range of access points, so to reflect that, we’re replacing ‘Lecture’ with ‘Creative Lives’ to become Creative Lives in Progress.
Creative Lives is the name of the interview series that has become the beating heart of what we do since we launched. The series has seen us profile over 500 people in well over 100 different creative roles — from project managers and sound engineers to data illustrators. The creatives we’ve featured have captured the generosity, diversity, openness and transparency we see as the future of the industry, so it felt like a natural fit for our new name.
A new look
This update is also accompanied by a rebrand, completed by our sister company Anyways, which draws inspiration from this same idea that no two routes into a creative career are the same. Incorporating various typefaces, shapes and colours that reflect and celebrating the uniqueness of each of our featured creatives, the identity sees us moving into a vibrant new phase.
Plus, we also have a fresh new website — designed to make the past few years’ content easier to navigate, as well as refining our current editorial offering. Additional features include more in-depth guides, something that kicks off later this week — delivering advice on the topics we have identified as being the most essential in getting ahead in a creative career.
Monthly portfolio reviews and talks
We also reviewed where we feel we can have the most impact at this time, and while this will be an ongoing assessment, one of the first changes is to make our free portfolio reviews available online each month. From past events, we’ve seen the brilliant impact these events have had, from confidence-building and lasting connections with leading industry figures, to paid work.
These will see us welcome a great many people through the year, prioritising those from underrepresented backgrounds. And by keeping the event online, we hope to remain as inclusive as possible to those based outside of London, or with accessibility requirements.
We’ve also seen a great response to our live event series Pep Talk, which will also be taking a monthly slot on our Instagram, as we invite guests to share tangible, actionable advice with our audience, and respond to their most pressing questions.
Broadening our network
Moving forward, we want to make sure that our opportunities are put in front of young people and emerging creatives who are most in need of our support. We have seen time and time again that the industry can be exclusive in its practices, which is particularly true for creatives from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds; as well as those from low-income households, and creatives with disabilities.
For this reason, we will be putting greater focus on connecting with communities outside of our current networks, and to help us with this work, we have added a dedicated community and project manager to the team. Part of this role is to ensure that we are prioritising groups who are currently underrepresented and have been historically under-served in the industry.
Growing our Opportunities Board
We are also happy to say we’ll be putting more energy into growing our Opportunities Board — ensuring it remains full of incredible initiatives for entry-level talent. We will continue to check these posts for fairness before publishing, so that we feel confident in promoting them far and wide.
Introducing our new company partners
As part of these changes, we are proud to introduce 20 new companies to our network of partners — all of whom share our goal of supporting the next generation with advice, opportunities and fair working practices.
In addition to our existing and faithful partners Paul Smith’s Foundation, Google and Dropbox Design, we are welcoming: DixonBaxi, WeTransfer, Zendesk, MediaCom, WIX, Wieden+Kennedy, Sony Music, The Academy, ManvsMachine, Koto, Land of Plenty, Wolff Olins, Amplify, Animade, Zag, Moving Brands, Art&Graft, Builders Club, Lovers and Human After All.
We are so excited to be able to collaborate with this range of creative companies and facilitate new connections with emerging talent. Each of these partners now also has their own dedicated profile page, to ensure our readers can access easy-to-digest information about them, as well as opportunities they currently have available.
Get involved
Beyond this being an introduction to how we’re adapting and changing, we wanted to take this opportunity to call upon anyone in a position to help, to offer their support to the next generation — in any way you can.
Support can range from responding to requests for advice, to offering help or mentoring. It might mean connecting with universities or grassroots organisations to see where you can lend a hand; or looking at where your workplace has the power to open up paid, entry-level opportunities or access schemes, and taking action.
To make the above easier for companies, you can also partner with us. We are always keen to hear from people who share the same goals as us, and to see how we can work together. As a small team with big ambitions, we are massively grateful for the support, as it helps us keep our services free, as well as becoming a much bigger force for change.
This is a challenging time for emerging creatives to be taking their first steps into industry, but collectively, we can all be part of the solution. We really hope you’ll join us in our mission to transform the way young talent access, understand and connect with the working world, as we continue to champion the many Creative Lives in Progress!
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P.S. We are always open to feedback and love hearing from you, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch! hello@creativelivesinprogress.com
