Apple's Accessibility Ad, a Brilliant Library, Rudolph's Origin Story

Hey all,

Before we jump into the final stories of the year I wanted to point you towards a new Substack we’ve just launched. is a newsletter about audience behaviour. Our mission is to help your content get the attention it deserves. We’ll be writing about the latest research into audience attention and behaviours. There will be a mixture of long reads, short reads and report summaries.

We’re kicking it off with the findings of research we’ve done. Scroll Stoppers: six ways hybrid work is changing our attention will be released weekly on . It’s a fascinating piece of research that we are looking forward to sharing.

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OK. This week’s newsletter is a little different. We’re sharing a selection of links that have brought joy to some of the Storythings team members in 2022. Thank you all for subscribing and reading the newsletter every week. Have the most wonderful holiday and we’ll be back early in the new year.

Hugh

Anjali Ramachandran’s Links

Apple’s Accessibility Ad (2 min watch)

Salary Transparent Street (Series of shorts)

Patricia Yaker Ekall’s Links 

Gapminder (Website)

Introducing the Next Generation of Choreographers (3 min watch)Hugh Garry’s Links

A Terrible Hotel With a Brilliant Tone of Voice (6 min read)Moonage Daydream (2 min watch)

The Inspirational Story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (3 min read)

Emma Greengrass’ Links

How Sign Language Innovators Are Bringing Music to the Deaf (7 min watch)

Artists Share Their Designs in Solidarity With Women in Iran (2 min read)Darren Garrett’s Links

The Greatest Library You’ve Never Heard Of: ‘The Visual Telling Of Stories’ (9 min read)

Natural Habitat Shorts (Multiple short videos)Franck Bohbot Captures People's Passion For Gaming in Stunning Arcade Photos (4 min read)

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Storythings is a strategy and production company based in Brighton and London. We'd love to help you with some creative and bold ideas. Here are 3 reasons to get in touch. 

1. You want to talk to us about content production: podcasts, videos, animations, illustrations, editorial. 2. You want to talk to us about audience research, content strategy or format development.3. You want to create a brand or an identity that makes it easier to communicate your message.We do other things too. We're very friendly and always enjoy meeting people, so get in touch. 

Anjali Ramachandran’s Links

Apple’s Accessibility AdIn a world where people with different abilities are still not given their due, the way in which this was done was powerful, coming from Apple. It made me tear up in a happy way.(2 min watch)

Salary Transparent StreetA fantastic TikTok series where young people are asked their salaries - and sometimes their parents' too, and they actually answer. Traditionally, salary has been such a taboo topic for people to discuss so I am super happy that the younger generation is being open about this and I wish more people make it less hidden, because where salaries are known, there is less chance for discrimination.(Series of shorts)

Patricia Yaker Ekall’s Links 

GapminderFactfulness (the book) and this website uplifts my soul. Rosling’s work demonstrates the importance of using accurate data when it comes to forming (and sharing) narratives about the state of mankind.(Website)

Introducing the Next Generation of ChoreographersThe pandemic forced the lofty and closed-off arts world to open up through digital experiences. Post-pandemic, sharing performance via video was no longer a means to an end but a necessary tool in the field’s arsenal. This is one of my favourites.(3 min watch)

Hugh Garry’s LinksA Terrible Hotel With a Brilliant Tone of VoiceThis year, Nick Parker’s Tone Knob has been an absolute joy to read. This case study made me laugh, out loud, on at least three occasions. The Hans Brinker Budget Hotel has gloriously embraced its shitness, producing posters and videos that make you instantly want to share, book a room and tell the story of your visit. (6 min read)Moonage DaydreamWhen the trailer for Moonage Daydream dropped my first thought was “Do we need another Bowie doc?” There have been enough made already to please true fans, so what can this bring? Moonage Daydream didn’t disappoint. The film’s Julian Temple-like direction was visually pleasing and using live and alternative versions of tracks, rather than the ones we know too well, was really smart. (2 min read)The Inspirational Story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed ReindeerI love a good origin story and this festive tale has a surprising beginning. The lesson I took from this is that maybe all childrens’ stories should have a theme sung by a singing cowboy. (3 min read)

Emma Greengrass’ Links

How Sign Language Innovators Are Bringing Music to the DeafIn this YouTube video, Amber Galloway Gallego shows her passionate work with ASL (American Sign Language). She doesn't just sign the lyrics, she becomes the song. She uses her entire body to perform the lyrics, different instruments and rhythms and transforms all of this into a holistic experience of the song. She is one of a growing number of ASL interpreters and specialises in the performing arts, specifically music.(7 min watch)Artists Share Their Designs in Solidarity With Women in IranArtists and designers around the world share work in solidarity. Powerful images that go straight to the heart of it all.(2 min read)

Darren Garrett’s LinksThe Greatest Library You’ve Never Heard Of: ‘The Visual Telling Of Stories’An article on Chris Mullens Visual Telling of Stories archive and his archive of Fortune magazine, its designers and illustrators. Unrepentantly vast, this collection of images and writing has been growing since 1989. Prepare to lose yourself down a hundred rabbit holes.(9 min read)Natural Habitat ShortsFun playful short form animation with great animal facts! Fun fact: Raccoons have communal bathrooms called latrines and all go in the same place.(Multiple short videos)

Franck Bohbot Captures People's Passion For Gaming in Stunning Arcade PhotosFranck Bohbot captures people's passion for gaming in stunning arcade photos.(4 min read)

We hope you've enjoyed this week's newsletter. I'm sure some of your friends would love to read it. Sharing it would be really appreciated. If you've received this from a friend you can subscribe here and get it direct to your inbox every Friday.

Thanks for reading. We’ll see you all next week.

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the whole team at Storythings.