Review of the Year 2021: Top 25 Features

Over the past year, we’ve zigzagged topics and themes across our long reads. We’ve delved into the silly, the serious and everything in between to get you thinking about the creative industry from different perspectives. Some have been penned by our in-house team, while others are the work of new writers; all feature the most innovative, exciting and compelling voices from across the creative world.

Our long-form stories come in all shapes and sizes too. Some articles were thematic and looked at a subject from multiple viewpoints, like a piece we published back in February that asked whether graphic design is simply too trendy (spoiler: the jury is still out). This was also the case for an article titled Why creatives should care about NFTs: a primer, which does exactly what it says on the tin, surveying one of the most hotly debated topics of the past year. Other pieces responded to world events, like a comic created by Vanilla Chi in reaction to the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, or a collection of images contributed by ten photographers to mark one year since the UK first went into lockdown.

We also drew on the rich history of creativity, again and again, telling the story of the Pink Triangle, for example – how it turned from a symbol of Nazi persecution to one of queer resistance and power. We also celebrated the legacy of Kamekura Yusaku’s iconic Tokyo 1964 Olympics identity and spoke to photographer Chantal Regnault about her time documenting the Harlem ball scene’s rise to fame. Finally, we got to chat one-on-one to some of the most established names in the creative industries in our ongoing series In Conversation: Grayson Perry, Carlota Guerrero, Geoff McFetridge, and Mette and Rolf Hay, alongside many more.

Have a dig through some of our 2021 highlights from the Features tab below – you’re sure to wind up feeling inspired.