Break the Flow.

every now and then, do something that has nothing to do with the day job.

Most of my weeks run on rails. Board packs, pipeline, KPIs, the next call, the next problem. That rhythm gets things done, but it's also a trap. When every day flows into the next one, your thinking starts running in the same grooves, and you stop noticing things.

So every now and then I try to force a break in the flow. Not a holiday, not a day off. Just a couple of hours doing something completely different, something inspiring enough to take over your thoughts so there's no room left for the to-do list.

Last Thursday, a few hours before a gig in Soho, that was Es Devlin: Other Worlds at the Design Museum.

What's there.

If you don't know the name, you've almost certainly seen her work: stage sets for some of the biggest tours and ceremonies of the last twenty years. This is her first retrospective, thirty years of it, and it runs until April.

It moves from a replica of her London studio, through her sketchbooks and a long curved desk of models and maquettes, to the Infinite Library: more than 2,000 books arranged by colour, turning slowly above a mirror.

It was beautiful.

Look closer.

It's easy to stand in front of the big moving pieces, take the photo and move on. But look beyond the spinning boxes and there's a tremendous level of intricacy in all of it. The models, the drawings, the small hand-made details you'd never see from the back of a stadium.

There's a fragility to it too, and it's personified in Es' own voice, which runs through the whole exhibition. Almost whispered, as if she's letting you in on something.

Why it matters.

I came out with my head somewhere else entirely, and that's the point. You don't need a gallery to do it. It could be a gig, a walk somewhere new, a talk on something you know nothing about. It just has to be different enough, and good enough, to take over your thoughts for a couple of hours.

The day job will still be there when you get back. You'll just see it a bit more clearly.

And yes, I bought the little square book.

Es Devlin: Other Worlds is at the Design Museum, Kensington High Street, until 4 April 2027.