Experiences that made me Pip Burkett

In this series, we ask Imagination talent all about the experiences that have made them who they are. This month we spoke to Pip Burkett, Junior Front End Developer at Imagination UK.

A bit about me…

I use they/them pronouns. I play the accordion and recently, I’ve been cherishing walks with my mum and her scruffy dog, the buzz at arsenal women's footie games and making bang-up dinners for a gaggle of friends. I’ll always want to know if you have any book recommendations, your favourite walks around London and your thoughts on co-creation and inclusive design.

The creative experience that’s influenced me the most…

In 2017 I wrote a book in Polari (a 1960s gay slang) with fellow artist George Reiner called ‘cruising for lavs’. With funding from Goldsmiths University, we talked to queer elders about what it was like speaking Polari and ran workshops where we invited people to learn and make up their own new words. It was a helluva experience! We ended up performing from our book at the British Library with Paul Baker, Ida Barr and Sister Belladonna of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. After the talk we went to the old Boot pub where we stayed until the wee hours talking about belonging, identity and gender. The long slog and many late nights of writing a book, the humbling experience of listening to queer elders talk about the AIDS crisis and feeling connected to queer history are experiences that I’ll never forget. It often reminds me of the importance of listening, digging into the power of words and that the most cracking ideas are borne out of working collectively.

My industry hero is…

Xiaowei R. Wang for organising, Phoenix Perry for coding and Sasha Costanza-Chock for designing!

The piece of work I’m most proud of…

I’ve been working on the ‘Beneath the Surface’ internal diversity project for our labs programme. We’ve been exploring how diversity at Imagination is more complex than just what meets the eye by talking to some of the amazing folks on Imagination London’s DE&I board and asking them to share their thoughts on diversity. It’s been amazing to hold co-creation at the heart of this. As the Beneath the Surface team spans copywriting, designing and developing, this way of working has been a generative multidisciplinary collaboration. Translating stories from Imagineers into interactive and engaging visuals highlights the real work being done by the DE&I board to champion change at Imagination.

The piece of work that makes me cringe…

I think the worst project is the one that comes to you in the shower, on the tube, whilst you’re doing the dishes and you don’t make a note of it so it just slips away. You can’t beat SNL’s scathing take on the 2017 Kendal Jenner’s Pepsi commercial, though.

The experience I wish I had created…

Earlier this month, I found something called Magic UX by a studio called Special Projects. They created an augmented reality app that allows you to ‘pin’ apps to a physical location, the idea being that you can arrange your digital workflow like you would tools on your desk. It allows you to intuitively use physical space to navigate the digital world, utilising technology to reduce cognitive load and create balance - brilliant!

Advice to my 18-year-old self…

Keep asking questions about everything! The habit of wanting to know the why behind things that seem inane at 18 is actually one of your greatest assets - your curiosity.

What’s next?

At the moment, I’m having fun with Three.js at work (a very cool 3D software for the browser) and I’ve got an idea brewing about a project with Arduino (a very, very cool physical computing kit). I think a lot about how tech can be orientated towards care, so I’m excited to see how accessibility can shape these projects.