You would be forgiven for thinking that the whirr of electric drills and the clang of hammers as the final touches are put on Protein’s new HQ are the reason we’ve decided to look at work for this issue’s report.
Well, OK, it played a part. Work, and in particular what makes an ideal workspace, tends to play on the mind when you move into a big, new blank canvas of an office. But we also chose the topic because, late last year, we conducted a piece of research on the current work attitudes of today’s 20 and 30-somethings.
The findings were enlightening. We discovered that, rather than sulk over an impossibly dire job market, many of this generation are rejecting traditional career paths in order to invent their own jobs – the kinds of jobs where success means improved personal development rather than improved income. We introduce this determined attitude, and some of the workers behind it, in our Generation Risk story.
Work also means the equally challenging and rewarding task of collaboration – something that set designer Es Devlin, our cover star, teaches us a thing or two about in our profile of her. (Bringing the house down at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony and the particular tastes of Kanye West are a couple of examples.)
Elsewhere we explain how people are rejecting unfinishable stories in their online media diet, why more travellers are seeking adventurous thrills, and we argue that, with a smartwatch by Apple rumoured, wearable technology will need to look better if its designers expect anyone to actually wear it. And, as always, we monitor the most significant cultural news of the previous quarter in our Feed section. All of which is best read over a coffee during a few precious moments away from your desk ...
