A Hybrid Future
How to face the future of work with solid foundations? How can creatives ensure that their skills and competencies do not become outdated during their careers? What kind of skills and safety nets will creatives need to stay ahead of the game?
My answer is: hybrid professionalism. Modern worklife craves people who are not only proficient in one area, but who can also work across other sectors to help create more integrated end-results. Communication, empathy, teamwork and flexibility are key.
And I should know, since I’m a hybrid myself.
Originally, I’m both a graphic designer and a fashion designer. Quite early on, I realized that these professions will not fulfill my ambitions and all the demands of modern worklife. I started to look for new opportunities and found futures studies. Futures studies seeks to understand which trends are likely to continue and which could plausibly change. In my Master’s degree, I combined my knowledge of these three fields into one by creating a fashion trend guide, complete with my own graphic designs.
After graduation, I got out into the real world and worked for a design agency. Since my clients and projects changed all the time, adapting to constantly shifting attitudes was of the utmost importance. However, the most interesting cases were about championing collaboration and promoting equality, sustainability and ethics. This inspired me, and I wanted to learn more.
That’s when art education came into the picture. Looking back, it truly was the missing piece in my set of skills.
Art education stands for constant learning, from others and with others. The art educator takes a step back and observes the different strengths of a group. They then figure out ways to activate these strengths with the aid of empathy, openness, curiosity, awareness, respect, and appreciation. A good art educator can create an environment in which the introvert has space and time to express themselves and the extrovert, in turn, stops and listens to others. Art provides the platform for coming together as equals.
That’s why art education has the potential to open us to deeper learning, drive greater clarity of thinking, and inspire engagement with the world. It contributes to each person’s individual growth as well as improving our ability to co-work in a group. And we all know that when a team works well together, the opportunities are innumerable.
I believe that my art education skills are central to my hybrid career as a designer, artist and trend specialist.
In the future, an empathic, flexible and collaborative mindset will be the foundation for innovation as well as good decision-making and truly sustainable results.
Leena Fredriksson
Leena Fredriksson is a Helsinki based artist, designer, trend specialist and art educator who received her MA from the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 2005. Leena is currently studying art education at Aalto University.
Leena works as a designer and trend specialist at Kuudes, an insight-driven design consultancy. She is also the creator of Momolu, an original, design-led character brand, which is being represented worldwide by and developed in collaboration with Ferly.
