<div class="lexxy-content lightbox-container"> <p>We're a pretty unlikely team. It's like that sweet ingredient in Pixar films. Nobody could've predicted this combination. It's worked out incredibly so far, each one of us adding a dimension, experience &amp; flavor to the project I never knew it needed. Here's part 2 of 2 posts around how we came togather as a team for the 10 weeks of the Sony Talent League. Here is a slice of history from Amsterdam to London and back, with Marie-Claire who I recruited as our UX star and researcher for the project.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/209/content_MC02.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/209/content_MC02.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/206/content_MC03.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/206/content_MC03.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>MC and I go back. We go way back to 2011 in fact, back to the International School of Amsterdam where we chose all the same classes for the International Baccalaureate. Our joint love of art and music bonded us over many all-nighters and after schools and here we are, still going at it. I mean, she was founder of <a href="https://www.mcspringham.com/project04">Scrapbags</a> at 16 or something, and busking at local food markets AND doing the IB diploma program. Really in awe of THIS level of multi-talent since day 1 of knowing her. Neither of us could've known we would graduate twice together once in high school in 2013, and another time in 2018 in London, from Central Saint Martins. Taking gap years at different times, we caught up to each other. Another thing we couldn't have predicted was her being interviewed in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRc_jqXlSOU&amp;t=1s">Good Morning Britain</a>, about her incredible final project for university  "Will &amp; Way" tackling an exciting (!) question: What if Dads could breastfeed?</p> <p> </p> <p>I don't want to write out our history TOO much because emotional pieces are not our cup of tea ;) One thing I will say is, and this is crucial in why I immediately thought to bring her into my project. Whenever I've had an idea I needed support to implement and I've vocalized it, she's always been there pushing it on and enriching its thought process, deepening the research and its reach/horizons. When we lost our sweet, loving friend Xorya back in 2012, she stepped in immediately and suggested we organize a fundraiser together. We made it and raised 6,000 euros for Save the Children selling around 100 works made by students! (see our glee below)</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"> <div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/205/content_MC04.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/205/content_MC04.jpg"></a></div></div> <br><p> Anyway, the story here is MC's my go to for human centered design. This is why she's part of Togather.</p> </div> <p> </p> <p>From May to December 2018, MC led art and design basics workshops every Thursday at the <a href="https://www.mcspringham.com/project06">Drover's Day Centre</a> for elderly people in London. This started as a research project when her then client was BUPA and the task was to redefine 'healthy aging'. Any chance she gets MC will insert herself right into an environment she has 0 experience in to do her research right, to understand our users. She did exactly that with Drover's day centre and carried on volunteering there because it was fun :') "Cheered me on through my post job applications." I was even invited as a guest artist once! Can you guess what I picked for our art workshop? Gathering twigs and making art with it.</p> <p> </p> <p>Below you'll find the wonderful results of the Drover's Day Centre's artists, togather-ing, from 2018.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/207/content_MC05.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/207/content_MC05.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/203/content_MC06.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/203/content_MC06.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/202/content_MC07.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/202/content_MC07.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/208/content_MC08.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/208/content_MC08.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/204/content_MC09.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/204/content_MC09.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>I take my hat off to MC for inspiring me to continue being myself, always being there and always having the toast, tea AND the tunes. Thank you for all your Wednesdays and more these past weeks, setting up Airtable and working away at making tweaks on the website, as well as boiling down our diverse group of future Togather users and how they can enjoy and contribute to this platform. Our creatives, nature experts and our browsers! We're not done yet! I'm thrilled that you're still around and that you continue to let me put out dilly's twig reports into the world even though we both know how you feel about spring simply doing its thing to branches.</p> <p> </p> <p>PS. this logbook post was powered by MC's playlist <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ZhxQFnaK4IqZb8gzkscXP?si=5c09eed9793947ea">Curated Cave</a></p> <p> </p> </div>

<div class="lexxy-content lightbox-container"> <p><strong>Dilruba:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Enabling connections between people! I like to think that I've got mycelial superpowers ;) I get an absolute kick out of making 2 people who I know, meet and find out that they've been hanging out/staying in contact even without me.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Marie-Claire:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>My superpower is the ability to fall asleep anytime, anywhere. Although other answers might be more glamorous it has been a gift when travelling, couch surfing and working late at a computer.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/193/content_Togather_MC_Superpower.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/193/content_Togather_MC_Superpower.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p><strong>Ruben:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Creating stuff of out nothing. Or not nothing, but turning an idea into something tangible/visually very quickly.</p> <p> </p> <p>I was 10 years old when we got a computer in our house, I was getting to know it every free minute I had. Technology has since then become an extension of my body, allowing me to express my mind. Superfast!</p> <p> </p> <p>The speed in which I can work in Illustrator and Photoshop has been noticed over the years by the various people I’ve worked with. ‘Give Ruben ten minutes, and he’ll have learned a whole new program’ is what my previous employers used to say.</p> <p> </p> <p>Personally I never realised that I was very fast, I just get super excited about an idea and I NEED to give it shape a soon as quick as possible. In my experience it can never be fast enough, so I push myself to find new shortcuts and remember them for the next time.</p> <p> </p> <p>So a real superpower I don't know. As a kid I always dreamt of flying. Never picked that up in my waking life.. But I sure fly around my MacBook Pro.</p> <p> </p> </div>

<div class="lexxy-content lightbox-container"> <p>This week was chock full of mentor meetings and great advice! </p> <p> </p> <p>We started off strong, with Kim Jung Gi, with whom we talked about weapons and the dangers of overthinking designs, especially when they are not the principal focus. He sent us in the direction of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/">District 9</a> (now this is research we can get behind) to check out their unconventional approach to weaponry (Soundwave guns? Count us in). </p> <p> </p> <p>He was quite enthusiastic about our fighting scenes, and a big fan of the forced perspective that we implemented (it really makes everything pop!). He gave us a few more ideas to try out, and encouraged us to play around by making our own references. So it’s time to film some fight scenes! </p> <p> </p> <p>Next up was our last official meeting with Craig Berry! This insane session had him go over our whole comic and provide feedback on each page, pointing out what we could change and what worked. The key takeaway was to always pay attention to the flow of the panels, and use everything in your arsenal to guide the eye of the viewer through the story. To that end it’s also important to set a compositional expectation, and only break away from it on purpose to throw off expectations. </p> <p> </p> <p>We also quickly realised that many things obvious to us were maybe not clear to the audience (placement of ships for instance) and how necessary it was to sometimes take a step back and slow the action down to really lay out the scene. </p> <p> </p> <p>Our meeting with Scot had him go over the scoring in detail with Chrisna, and talk musical theory! We can’t wait to show him the final product with implemented timing, and ambient sounds by our latest team member, Bartek. Our soundtrack now also sports an ingenious piece by Chrisna where he melded the ship’s alarm (which might have gotten triggered by some pirates…) with the music itself. It’s super rad you guys, and we definitely recommend you give it a listen. We will also stay in contact with Scot regarding the potential addition of voice acting to the comic! </p> <p> </p> <p>Lastly, it was time for some group Pitch Sessions with Vani, joined by Tabi, Lydia and Dilly!</p> <p> </p> <p>We each went through our pitches and gave feedback, and chatted about our mutual experiences of the Sony Talent League. It’s always a joy to talk about this incredible shared adventure, and in those moments we’re reminded that this truly is the most welcoming of communities. </p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/211/content_Dhulga_FacialExpressionsBlender_copy.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/211/content_Dhulga_FacialExpressionsBlender_copy.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/212/content_Captain_FacialExpressions_Blender_copy.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/212/content_Captain_FacialExpressions_Blender_copy.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <h3>Here’s our picks for this week’s recommended pieces of media!</h3> <p> </p> <p><strong>For Stephan:</strong> For some crazy fight choreography, check out Rocketboi and MartialClubOfficial on Instagram!</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Something a little more serious from Alex: </strong><br> This time I wanted to highlight a bit more the environmental aspect of our project, so go check out: </p> <p> </p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_Uhfh2NcZg">An Inconvenient Sequel by Al Gore </a></li> <li>Any documentary by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yann_Arthus-Bertrand">Yann Arthus-Bertrand </a> </li> <li> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Attenborough:_A_Life_on_Our_Planet">A Life on Our Planet</a>, by David Attenborough</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>And to end on a lighter note: </p> <p> </p> <ul> <li> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPw8C1fID80">An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth</a>, by Chris Hadfield <ul> <li>You might know him from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo">his video singing Space Oddity on the International Space Station</a>!</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <p> </p> </div>