If “art is what you can get away with”, then this is true of Franca Sozzani’s visual language. Franca was the editor of Vogue Italia who revolutionised fashion imagery through the decades with her “extravagant, experimental, innovative” and highly stylised editorials. She gave the magazine a stylistic prose, turning fashion into journalistic commentary.

I tend to be a bit wordy when it comes to writing copy; a teacher once said my copy in an essay was ‘too flowery’. I’m always going to be about those word flowers and the heady fragrance they create when you read them. Swoon! But one thing I’m loving about this year’s client work is that the briefs are calling for short, punchy copy. I’m learning about restraint, tightening copy for specific brand tones and going for impact with clear call-to-actions. There’s no time for messing about with long, decorative story in 2020; but that doesn’t mean it can’t be interesting and atmospheric. It just takes a little extra thought to keep it short. 🥊

I’d like to introduce you to my new friend - and my scrappy handwriting - the new friend is the bell. In a blog wormhole a couple of weeks ago, I came across an anecdote about a writer whose husband bought her a desk bell to ping whenever she had achieved her 1500 word-count for the day. A clever reward - notice, no calories in sight? So I made a mental note to find me a bell of my own, while also wondering, where the hell I would find such a thing?

I get the quickening every time I read about the Chelsea Hotel. I fell in love with it, its creative chaos and controversy, whilst reading Patti Smith’s Just Kids. The infamous ‘artists in residence’ hotel has been under construction since 2011 and only 50 of the 300 rooms are filled. Amanda Chemeche lives here with her elderly artist father, who moved in back in the 70’s! Due to Covid19 and the need to self-isolate, they hardly see each other and communicate by email between rooms.

I’ve been collecting words of all kinds for a long time; quotes, passages, articles, stories, introspective thoughts and insightful gems that I just can’t leave behind. They run the spectrum of the writer’s mind, the human condition and the creative process. They explore novel artefacts, indulge dark humour and linger in philosophical thoughts. They brazenly peek under the skirt of contemporary culture. Just words and things that catch my mind’s-eye each day.

We're over halfway through the year that wasn't, or was it? Or is it still the year that could be? So many questions. I'm slowly unfurling after taking an opportunity to rest and recover; while some have pivoted, adapted and changed tack, this has been a great time to take a step back and allow what is, or isn't, to be just what I needed. Here are a few things I've been upto over the past few months:

I grew up an absolute magazine junkie. As a tween in the 90’s I discovered Smash Hits, Top of the Pop’s and NME Magazines through my friend, Mary Chen. Her mother travelled regularly between Johannesburg and Taiwan, bringing her piles of music magazines and Spice Girl-inspired fashion on return trips. Yes, including an imitation pair of those infamous Union Jack platform boots. We took turns teetering around her house, we flipped through eye-opening pop music goss, we drooled and imagined this wild world out beyond the pages.

This is a little mantra I’ve been carrying around for years - it’s actually a summary of one of my favourite quotes. I write it down in notebooks and put it in places where it can surprise me and remind me to have the courage - bravery - or chutzpah, if you like your red on the sweet-side on Fridays, to be bold in this life. And so, it was curious to uncover a storm in a teacup about this exact quote a bunch of years back.

We’ve suddenly got more time on our hands then we ever knew what to unexpectedly do with. What are you doing with yours?

Once you’ve eaten everything in your fridge (twice), and rolled with your dog on the carpet (at least 3 times a day) and taken a selfie of yourselfie in the bath, wearing a face mask while swishing your bright purple mug in a donut of dissipating foam (please god, only once), it’s time to think of some more productive things to do with yourself.

Words are a paradise for the mind. Words create depth, meaning and story. Words give you space to breathe and think, to expand your views and see life, and the world around you, from changing perspectives.

They open back doors to reveal a tangle of thoughts you didn't know it was possible to think. Words ground you in simple observation, they connect you with others in common sense. They linger at the right moment; a rush of euphoria, and plunge you into a thicket the next.

It has been a while in the making but the new decade makes it official. aitch communication has undergone a small evolution; one that solidifies it’s creative copywriting and strategic offering, with a name tweak to bring it home… Hello aitch create!

Five years ago aitch was started with a dream - that partly involved doing a wide step around anything to do with corporate communications - and mostly involved pursuing and creating an independent and sustainable communications business.

One rooted in authenticity. One that encouraged working with a heart-on-sleeve approach and invited voice and imagination without reservation. One that allowed artfulness and thoughtfulness as a guiding principle over mindless mass communication...

Before you freak out, no, I’m not having a 33.3333333 life crisis. At least, I think I’m not, but I can’t quite be sure just yet. I’m talking about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, apparently it’s a thing and I currently have it. Well, I have it in that self-diagnosed way; when you tell a friend you have this symptom and they suggest it might be this thing and so you Google it — and now life as you’ve known it, is over. Well, it simply must be?

Don’t mind me while I celebrate the end of the most admin-filled period of my life: changing my last name. It was a rigorous mission, but I was determined to do it in record time, or at the very least, by the time the clock struck one year of being a wifey. Because the longer you leave it, the more daunting it gets. And it is a rather daunting and uninspiring process to complete…

Welcome to the final leg of the journey; from engagement to marriage and so-called happily ever after; this is the part that nobody talks about, and the final jolt back to reality post wedded bliss: changing your last name in every place you exist.

It’s late and I’m supposed to be doing research on competitors for a new client launching a protein shake — that old chestnut — and I would be deep inside the pro’s of whey protein powders, but I can’t concentrate. Because I’m a little bit excited about what’s happening tomorrow: I’m one of 30 female participants who have been selected to attend the Django Girls Coding Workshop in Cape Town.