Community of Practice

Calling all creatives, BYO cake and tea!

Creative direction and photography by Lauren Peters of Me&MyGirl for The Zingy Studio, 2023

When I sit down to write a new post for my creative newsletter here on Substack, I often feel like I am speaking to a void of nothingness. Then an email arrives from one of my subscribers (thank you!) replying to one of my posts to let me know how much the topic of discussion resonated with them. I value this response even more than the external front-facing validation of post likes and follows, because you have taken the time to talk to me in this busy and noisy digital world we are consumed by each day.

I have spent well over a decade teaching in vocational education and now focusing on learning design leadership, always juggling family, study, and work commitments. Now, I am building my educational design and art offerings to share how much I value ‘good’¹ design with beautiful aesthetics to match. The learning framework and content is where the important stuff is fleshed out first, cute and on trend templates will only get you so far not to mention over-used and recognisable stock imagery, Exhibit A (no offence).

Exhibit A

So, what’s the plan then for this creative newsletter you ask? My dream is that it will grow into a Community of Practice (CoP), featuring creative ideas and projects that you, my dear audience can share with us on a regular basis. I would like to host some live sessions online for arts-based workshops and meetups that will be useful and hopefully inspiring.

What will I bring?

• Guidance for developing beautiful and compelling content for learning on any platform (not just for those in formal education environments)

• Discussions on visual culture and art history, theory and how to embed greater meaning into your content

• Artful creations and objects

• Facilitate creative connections and professional development.

How do you get involved?

Subscribe to my newsletter if you are not connected yet, and if you can support my work with a paid subscription, why not join with a friend to always receive a discount. I appreciate your time and precious resources. I understand not everyone might be in this position and always happy to support those who would like to join and offer bursary places (email me hello@thezingystudio.com).

I have been running a private chat for paid subscribers where you can connect, ask questions, show up and share your work. Personally, I find it easier to use the Substack app to read and comment on posts, but I get that we have a lot on our devices already! Move how you wish.

Creative call out

Now, the fun part! Alongside the How Do They Create interview series (more arriving soon), I would like to start featuring your work and thoughts regularly. That’s a call to you my creative friends. Let me know if you would like to feature your work here, may include creative projects, insights, a poem, you decide, and I will curate these submissions over next two months. For your efforts and joining our community, I will create a special artsy gift just for you and you will get a 1-year subscription (which includes a private mentoring chat with me) for free to say thanks.

Bring your preferred hot bevvy, something sweet and let’s chat soon!

Miranda

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1. I started a discussion on my Instagram last week about ‘good’ design and will expand on my work in this space here over the coming months.