We're Having a Party
Song on my mind: We're Having a Party by Sam Cooke, or, under the same name, by Toots and the Maytals
A reflection on pressure and expectation; on being lost, and relief of finding yourself in due time; on the realisation that all this uni work means as much to you as you want it to; and, on the final push to celebrate it all. This one's called, We're Having a Party, because, we're having a party.
Well, to my own surprise, we’re having a party. Well, not a party per se – I’m calling it a launch event. ‘Oooh, a launch event for what?’ you are most definitely asking. A launch event for my clothing brand – The Social Change Collective.​
...get it right now, or let your academic peak be a 2nd year wonder. The agony.
​Putting all the pretence aside for one moment, it is just my final year project. Work towards a sheet of paper they call a degree. To be submitted and buried in box of overwhelming stress, anxiety, despair and lost sleep, labelled the fourth year experience, never to be looked at again. Buried not even in my back garden, but somewhere I find on a drunken night so not to ever remember where I left it. I could rant, and not likely rave, about the past year for the rest of this post. It was horrible in so many ways, and that’s from someone entering the year knowing what the cards would
be. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to design for – that is socio-political engagement towards hope, and something I was very passionate about. And yet, the pressure to find the idea, never subsided – a slow cooking of that stress, anxiety and despair just mentioned. For it doesn’t matter how good your previous work is, this is the only year that counts to the school of design gods – get it right now, or let your academic peak be a 2nd year wonder. The agony.
To use a basketball analogy (I love basketball of course), Paige Bueckers just won a National Championship for UCONN a few weeks back. A fairytale ending to an amazing story, if you ask just about anyone in the know. You see, Beuckers has been incredible since, well, since forever pretty much. Head and shoulders above her competition at every stage (I want to preface this analogy, by making it clear that I do not consider myself to be anything like the greatness of Beuckers within the realm of design, or in any facet of life, so just bear with me). After dominating in high school, she decides to go to the University of Connecticut, one of the most winningest women’s basketball programs in the country. Four years in, she was terrific, surely meeting expectations, and some, overcoming an ACL tear and bouncing right back. However, despite making it to the Final Four each year (and year in the National Championship) she had yet to win it all. So in her 5th year, the last one before entering the draft, it all came down to this one. To cement yourself, not only as a college legend, but a basketball legend, you need the championship, and after doing so well in her previous 3 playing seasons, she had to go out on top – it’s how she even predicted her college career to go down. Long story short, she won of course, in dominating fashion. Gets picked no.1 in the WNBA draft, after her best all round season to date. I use this story, not simply to rave about an amazing season, but to demonstrate the pressure and reward of having your final year be your best. It’s got to be, right?
I was throwing just about anything at the wall and not a damn thing was sticking.
Perhaps the pressure got to me, or maybe it was just about the most complicated project I’ve taken on, or maybe it was a combination of the two, but the first half of the year was not one to remember. Between soapboxes, pulped gnomes, and energy generating see-saws, I was throwing just about anything at the wall and not a damn thing was sticking. Some real terrible ideas I can confidently say now. In a cruel twist of fate, I encountered a meme a couple of days after I submitted first semester work with the caption, ‘my body is a machine that turns the dumbest fucking ideas into this
project investigates…’ Worst of all, I actually thought some of these ideas were halfway decent at the time. Maybe some of them were, but nonetheless, the overwhelming anguish that was first semester tarnishes my memory of that time, and they are ideas that will never see the light of day (aside from Shot of Hope which was actually first intended as a research project, but ended up being the most successful response to the challenge of generating constructive optimism in response to socio-political disengagement).
‘When the time is right’ tends to be when something good comes along so that past misfortunes don’t seem to matter anymore. That is what I’ve got with the Social Change Collective.
Too much of raking over past misfortunes is what I call indulging in pity fuelled narcissism, and boy, I’ve done enough of that. I read a book over the summer called the Sportswriter, by the legendary Richard Ford (author of Independence day of course). Whether it was to mask a developing breakdown, by downplaying the past (of which was no doubt traumatic for him, losing his son and being divorced from his wife), or something more innocent, the narrator Frank Bascombe is a strong advocate for not necessarily letting go of the past, but simply accepting it and moving on with life. As another Jersey native, Bruce Springsteen writes, some day, you just ‘cut it loose, cut it loose or let it drag (you) down.’ For me, you can only use the past as a mitigator for so long, and when the time is right, you don’t need it to explain the way things are anymore. It drifts to the reserves, only to be brought up again in reflective moments like this, every now and then, but never taken to be anything more than a fleeting moment in your life. ‘When the time is
right’ tends to be when something good comes along so that past misfortunes don’t seem to matter anymore. That is what I’ve got with the Social Change Collective.
The idea arrived when I learned to take a big step back from my project. First semester consumed all your energy and focus, so being tasked with looking at your project as a whole, with fresh eyes (as fresh as Christmas spent on dissertation writing will allow), proved to be the turning point in this very mundane story. Fundamentally, my project was (and still is) about designing engagement, in order to feel more optimistic about politics. A big reason for disengagement, especially amongst young people is the lack of education regarding politics, and the resulting anxiety. Thus, inspired by toolbelts, and workwear in general, I wanted to design a jacket that would house the tools for people to engage in politics; that would educate people, and remove the anxiety of engaging by having resources in a central, accessible, and convenient spot. Something that was more low key than typical modern ways of engagement (i.e. big, grand protests). Fast forward to today, and the premise of my project has not changed. You’ll be able to read the ins and outs of it when I publish the project on the ‘project’ page, in the coming weeks. But so you know, that is what the Social Change Collective is – a concept for a clothing brand, however, what we’re selling is not so much the clothes, but an alternative to engagement – a convenient, accessible, inclusive, and reliable source of engagement, dressed in a jacket possessing the same characteristics.
And so it was, the idea that stuck to that damned wall. The pressure was lifted, and though semester two has been still incredibly stressful, and even more tiring (post 3am sewing, and the guilt of late starts have become rite of passage), what’s different from first semester, is the excitement. A consistent butterfly flutters in my stomach when I make a jacket, or when I’m complimented by friends about such jacket, or when, your favourite record shop offers their space to host a launch event for the brand. All of a sudden, when these things happen, I catch glimpses of the real deal. That this is not just for a certificate, and it’s not just for the validation of tutors. It's
That this is not just for a certificate, and it’s not just for the validation of tutors. It’s not just for a Paige Bueckers ending. For so long, it had to be those things, and when I didn’t think it was happening, it was demoralising.
not just for a Paige Bueckers ending. For so long, it had to be those things, and when I didn’t think it was happening, it was demoralising. I remember having to phone my best friend in the peak of stress, not even for him to tell me my work was good but simply for the recognition that I was trying. I wasn’t getting that anywhere else, and that recognition mattered. I’d be lying if I told you I don’t need that anymore, but I certainly don’t need it to anywhere near the same extent. Why? I’m much more self-assured; I know what I’ve got is good, and who gives a fuck if it’s not technically what some tutor wants? There’s a deep feeling of pride in my work, and most of all, real people like what I’ve produced, and that is most rewarding. The term real people seems very provocative, but being confined to the walls of the design studio has developed the perhaps unhealthy perspective that the views and opinions of likeminded designers, are not the real deal, because they are somewhat in the know. Real people, are the people that exist outside the studio. It’s those people we design for of course.
I mentioned that record shop – Umbrella Vinyl. Home of the best cuts of funk, soul, reggae, jazz, world, you could ask for, right at your doorstep. One day, they said I could use their shop to promote my jacket. I thought they were joking of course – that sounded too much like the real deal to me. Too much outside the realm of possibility for a design student. It turns out, they weren’t joking. They are actually really excited to host something (there goes that butterfly again). So I’ve taken them up on their offer, and The Social Change Collective is getting its very own launch event, in… 9 days. It's a brilliant opportunity, not only to celebrate the work I’ve put in, but to get the views and opinions, of – here it comes again – real people. Beyond that as well, this collaboration really captures a big element of The Social Change Collective – the ground up, community orientated element of the brand. The hope is, Umbrella will provide me with the opportunity to spread the good word of the brand, and in doing so, I can spread the good word of the best record shop in Edinburgh. There is something in the co-support of local brands that is really exciting to me. With that excitement however, comes the stress, and pressure of delivering. There’s a lot I need to do, and right now, I’m trying to decide which is worse – the prospect of making four jackets in the same number of days, or having to post on social media. Both prospects are terrifying, and I dread having to do either. But I must do them both, focusing on the end result to pull me through. It’ll get done, because its got to get done… right?Anyway, this is all to say, in the words of Sam Cooke, we’re having a party, and everybody will (hopefully) be swinging. Drinks provided to anyone who comes of course, but only in the return of useful comments and feedback that I can use in my submission… because it’s only for a sheet of paper we call a degree, after all.
See you all there,
Nathan
20/04/25