OPINION | How the Analogue Movement is reviving creativity in 2026
Dr Lize Barclay is a Senior Lecturer in Futures Studies and Systems Thinking at Stellenbosch Business School.
Image: Supplied
Dr Lize Barclay
Are you someone who reaches for your phone the minute you wake up only to be pulled into doom scrolling, bad news and someone else’s exhausting morning routines?
You are not alone. Around 50% of smartphone users pick up their phone within five minutes of waking up, and 80% do so within 15 minutes, predominantly to access social media. The day flies by, and you end your day the same way. As people saw their 2025 being swallowed in by time behind screens, a rebellion took hold and declared 2026 “the year of analogue”.
The movement
The Analogue Movement wants to go beyond the occasional digital detox, but aims to embed physical, sensory and tactile alternatives as an intentional lifestyle. It is a passionate cultural response to digital burnout, AI fatigue and the loss of agency and authenticity that our digital lifestyles brought on.
It is not a radical anti-technology movement, but the purposeful use of social media is done to access like-minded communities, get inspiration and share ideas in a well-curated fashion within a ring-fenced timeframe.
Being chronically online has even been declared a low-status, old-fashioned and gauche. Social media usage peaked around 2022 and has been gradually declining since, with avoidance becoming a deliberate practice. Millennials have been accused of killing casual dining, breakfast cereal, department stores, gyms, beer and diamonds; Gen Z is aiming at the internet.
The return
A return to physical media has defied the relentless move of our digital world before. The hipsters of the early 2000s, with their iconic moustaches, Polaroid cameras, artisanal everything, vinyl record stores and fixie bicycles, have also deliberately focused on physical, niche, low-tech and vintage cultural experiences. It was a rebellion against capitalism, mainstream culture, big technology companies and consumerism. Free expression, art, culture and creativity were at the core of the movement, but their rebellion became a gentrification norm, and by the 2020 lockdowns, it faded in relevance as everybody moved indoors and online.
It is now a new generation picking up the thread the hipsters dropped, and Gen Z are driving the analogue trend with bags and baskets stocked with physical books, puzzles, yarn, crossword puzzles, fountain pens and journals, as well as physical film cameras. Kodak, the company every tech-bro has in its arsenal about missed opportunities, has found renewed relevance in 2026.
The shift
There is also scientific evidence for the shift. Writing by hand is supported by neuroscience research to strengthen the brain’s ability to retain information, enhance understanding and enable increased creativity and authenticity of expression. It brings forth advanced levels of critical thinking and better memory. Furthermore, it encourages deeper reflection, focus and enables emotional processing.
In addition, people are rebelling against being known by a big tech company, milked for engagement and farmed for data. They are taking their thoughts out of apps to physical journaling, exchanging their smartphone’s camera for physical photography and their toxic online debates for hobby clubs and creative events.
Whether it is silent reading in a park, junk journal evenings at a coffee shop, joining a Mahjong event or building a ‘cyberdeck’, people are getting together in person.
It turns out that the message by technology companies and the World Economic Forum that “You’ll own nothing and be happy” was rejected. Global vinyl sales reached 2,42 billion USD and are in their 19th consecutive year of growth.
The slowdown
Physical books are around 85% of all book sales globally with new bookstores opening worldwide as people prefer the sensory experience associated with reading or collecting physical books. Colouring books, activity books and puzzle books for adults have become increasingly popular as people want to exercise their brains and creativity.
Morning Pages, bullet journaling and ‘commonplacing’, supported by various pens, pencils, stickers, and other paraphernalia, has driven innovation in places like Germany and Japan. This has led to what is labelled as “The Rise of Stationerycore”.
The deliberate pursuit of boredom and imperfection that slowing down to write, cook, journal, develop film, draw or build a puzzle brings gives your brain space to solve problems and be creative. It might have a bit of digital time and a hint of consumerism, but it is entirely intentional and brings back the human in all our messiness and abundance of ideas expressed in ink, yarn or grainy film.
Hobbies are not just for kids. They bring innovation, creativity and experimentation, allowing us to feel alive and human. In fact, Nobel prize-winning scientists are nearly three times more likely to have artistic or creative hobbies compared to the average scientist, for example.
With 2026 being the Year of Analogue, here are 10 things you could do to spark your creativity:
- Find your stack of discarded pretty notebooks, take one and write, draw or add stick in labels and leaves. Let your creativity and thoughts flow from heart, soul and mind to the paper.
- Build something with your hands. It could be a house of cards, paperclip chain, birdhouse, cyberdeck or clay pot. Let your mind wander and enjoy the moments of imperfection.
- Drop a needle on a vinyl record and listen to the whole side, dance or stare into the distance.
- Plant some winter vegetables, herbs, annuals or bulbs, tend to it and enjoy the creative freedom gardening allows.
- Wander through a library or bookstore and pick up a book on creativity, such as The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, The Creative Act by Rick Rubin, The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp and Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon.
- Attend or arrange a craft evening, such as a ‘Sip and Paint’, bag charm, pottery, junk journaling, embroidery or knitting.
- Cook or bake something entirely from scratch, from an old, hand-me-down or thrifted cookbook.
- Begin a small collection with intention, such as postcards, pens, stones, dried flowers, stamps or imperfect ceramic cups. This is not a call for excessive consumption of whatever is trending, but something to tether you to reality, physicality and history.
- Repair something instead of replacing it. Restore, patch, mend and paint to give items a second life.
- Design your own analogue rituals and routines, which promote stillness, intentionality, fresh air, thinking and tinkering.
*Barclay is a Senior Lecturer in Futures Studies and Systems Thinking at Stellenbosch Business School