Micro Interview with Alvin Tjitrowirjo by Design Pier

At the moment most of us in Indonesia have switched our studios into survival mode. Many of us now have to use our business helmet to try to figure out the best way to ration our decreasing income while at the same time trying to adapt to the remote working system. Very sadly we also have lost several design friends to this virus. The media and the government hasn’t been very transparent and informative towards the situation which I call a new-age media terrorism. All in all it's a bit of a mess here.

Personally I have been enjoying this moment of self-isolation. This pandemic has turned most people to be more human towards each other. There’s a decent amount of “good” in the air more than ever before, and plus we’ve been having lots of blue skies in Jakarta which I hope triggers people to also be more kind towards the environment.

The sense of fragility makes life more meaningful and has made me rethink about the real meaning of my work and also the impact that I want to give to society and the world.

While most people are concerned and worried about their businesses and income, I’m quite pleased that the world slows down a little bit. Most people know how to make money without understanding themselves and the long term impacts they bring. Now is the time to have a better understanding of ourselves, and I suppose humanity itself.

What will be coming after?

I hope that people will value things differently, more quality and less of the “disposable culture”, more long term value rather than short term hype. I think this pandemic will place a small percentage of permanent fear / trauma into many lives and combined with the growing level of anxiety, it can either make the future even more full of meaningless distractions or calmer and more fulfilling. I'm looking forward to a society that is kind towards each other, an economy that is more friendly to the environment, governance that is more thoughtful towards its citizens and products that are more meaningful.