Accordion Guidelines

It’s May, 2020.

If memory serves, we were in “wash your bag of pretzels when you get home from the grocery store” phase of total pandemic lockdown.

My wife was 5 months pregnant with our first child. We were both fortunate enough to continue working remotely. When we weren’t dwelling on the state of the world we were bringing a child into, or playing Quiplash with friends over Zoom, we walked.

On one such walk, we heard an accordion. A man was sitting on balcony facing the street, accordion in hand, playing a free show for anyone within a socially-distanced ear shot.

As we stopped to listen, we spotted a young girl, possibly a neighbor, possibly his daughter, rush outside to dance.

It was delightful.

People finding ways to share joy with one another from a distance.

It was also odd.

Like we were witnessing a ritual from a different planet, one where the air isn’t safe to breathe and outdoor recreation requires mandatory protective gear.

The start of the pandemic also marked the start of my self-guided journey into Adobe Illustrator. So armed with a loose understanding of how the pen tool works and a feeling, I made him an astronaut.

The rest I considered unfinished until the exported work-in-progress PNG file on my laptop started to grow on me. And because it was something I made for me, I can confidently pretend like that was how that tree was supposed to look the whole time.

The original moment captured below.

Thank you Accordion Man, whoever you are. I hope you’re making people dance up close and personal these days.