Jaanika Peerna, Cultural Affairs Coordinator at the Estonian Consulate General in New York interviews designer Anni Jürgenson:

Jaanika Peerna: What are you up to?

Anni Jürgenson: I design jewelry in Brooklyn for the Ana Luisa brand.

JP: How has your life and daily routine changed due to the current lockdown?

AJ: Usually I go to my office 5 days a week where I work with our team of 13 people. About four weeks ago I started working from home. I always work mostly on my computer, so the transition went very smoothly. What I miss most is the daily in-person communication, but we try keep alive all the traditions we have— for example around 1 PM we have lunch together via FaceTime or do shared coffee pauses.

My home office is very minimal: laptop and paper notebook. Turns out not everything needs to be printed out and instead of a scanner, a cell phone photo works as well. I have saved a lot of paper during the past weeks for sure. Zoom and Slack are my daily companions; they help with all the meetings and solving problems as they come up. The current situation has made me approach my tasks very creatively, and surprisingly we have managed to realize most of the smaller and bigger plans we had.

For example, just this week we started a big coronavirus crisis charity campaign. For that I designed a unisex bracelet with the slogan Stronger Together. 100% of sales income goes to those in need via the CDC Foundation's Emergency Response Fund.

For this project, everything from idea, product development, package design, and sample photos was made by various team members from home.

We hope that the product reaches many people so we can give significant support to help the people in New York and in the whole country.

Anni Jürgenson and her home office in Brooklyn.