Hi there!

I’m D.J. Trischler, and this is Process Out Loud, the monthly newsletter of Trischler Design Co. Each month I send an update about a recent project and a few things I find fascinating in connection to living the creative process. You likely signed up on my website or were added because we collaborated on a project. If you’d like to unsubscribe, click the link in the footer. No hard feelings, I promise.

Short Stories from Long Lives

How do you respond to the pandemic? My instinct is to do something. No. A lot of things. That may, or may not, be my chosen method of distraction. Some binge-watch. I tinker. That is not to say that one is better than the other. It is more like they’re opposite sides of a coin. Ideally, there is a balance somewhere between frantic action and idleness. I’m moving toward a better balance, one day at a time. Today, I took a mid-day 15-minute nap.

That having been said, I am excited to share a project I launched recently (as a result of my excess energy). You may recall me sharing a class project last month that connected older and younger generations through storytelling. It was a dream back then (seems so long ago). However, I was motivated by our current moment to make the concept a reality since so many older folks are couped up inside, often alone, with their tremendous wisdom.

The project is called Short Stories from Lives, and it is a collection of audio, video, and text that share little moments from the lives of our elders (each three minutes or less). The site is still a work-in-progress. You will see that I used my grandparents as guinea pigs. If you would like to submit a short story, contact me.

Living the Creative Process

I've benefited from spending time reflecting on the following thoughts and matter, and I think you will too:

A Message To My Capstone Students
My seniors are mourning the loss of their final semester, which includes their graduation and closing gallery show. On top of that, jobs are becoming a lot harder to find. I wrote this note to encourage them to keep going. Within the post, I included a link to each of their class blogs. If you have a moment, take a look, write them something encouraging if you feel inclined.

Bigger More Thoughtful Loops
There is a lot of notifications right now. They are coming from all directions. The inbox, Zoom, Marco Polo, texts, Messenger, LinkedIn, Slack, etc. Everyone is on call, right now I wrote this piece pre-pandemic. It is a call for longer loops. IE. More space between our digital interactions. It is a good reminder to remember to turn off our phones, maybe write a letter, and, overall, pause, just a little, before posting and responding. 

Branding In A Time of COVID
I am hesitant to share this piece because it could look like I am making light of our moment. That is not the intention. Instead, it shows how branding can inflate an idea, mainly when it is applied to the surface of an organization or company. In a time of essential and non-essential, I (continue to) question branding as problem-solving.

On Reading Poetry
I promise this one has nothing to do with our current events. I promise it is worth the click. Let us leave it at that.

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