Bad Brand Storytelling, Social Contagion, Eno on Art

Hey all,

This week we have a few things from our friends that I think may be of interest to you. We’ve been working with the lovely Sulaiman R. Khan who runs This Ability, which works to amplify disabled creativity across the world. I wanted to point you in the direction of his Radical Questions and Discovery series of events. As Sulaiman says “These events are for bold, wild, fearless, liberatory, interdependent, joyful, grieving, and radical conversations.” You always strike me as a bold, wild and fearless bunch. Check out the events.

Former Storythings-er Rifa Thorpe-Tracey is going to be running a 4 week course Refigure: Creating Abundance. If you’re a creative or freelancer and want to learn about pricing and clear your money mindset, this is for you. Sign up now!

Finally, our friends over at WeTransfer have just released their annual Ideas Report. Thousands of creatives from all over the world share how they feel about their work and the future. It’s an interesting read and beautiful to look at, as ever.

OK. That’s it. Tell us what you’re all up to. We’d love to share it.

Enjoy the links and have the best weekend, ever!

Hugh

Brian Eno Reveals the Hidden Purpose of All Art (15 min read)

The Surprising Reason Why Your Brand Sucks at Storytelling (6 min read)How Did We Get So Obsessed with Streaks? (20 min read)Matthew Syed on Social Contagion (28 min listen)How Comics Can Tell Difficult and Complex Stories Effectively (3 min read)‘The Crown’: The Story of Mohamed Al-Fayed and His Valet (6 min read)The Fascinating Story of Khipu, the Ancient Inka Accounting System (8 min read)In Praise of Subtle Acting (14 min watch)An Email From Steve Jobs to Steve Jobs (1 min read)

Are You a Parent of a Toddler or Assistant to a Male CEO of a Tech Startup? (2 min read)

How can we help you?

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. 

Brian Eno Reveals the Hidden Purpose of All Art This is one of my favourite reads of the week or even the month. Eno is always interesting and in this wide-ranging interview with the New York Times he talks about why we’re drawn to certain pieces of culture or people, the importance of uncertainty in the creative process, and the time he urinated on a Duchamp. If you don’t have time now, bookmark this and read it over the weekend. (15 min read)

The Surprising Reason Why Your Brand Sucks at StorytellingAnother excellent piece of writing from Steve Bryant that helps you understand what you can do about your storytelling problem. A lot of brands are selfish and are not great at awareness. Steve points to what you can learn from the magazine industry and how an audience-first approach to your storytelling structure can really make a difference. He also links to a bunch of articles like this that he’s written over the years. (12 min read)How Did We Get So Obsessed with Streaks?Anne Helen Peterson talks to Adrian Hon, a friend of Storythings and author of You've Been Played: How Corporations, Governments, and Schools Use Games to Control Us All. Adrian has always been brilliant when talking about what makes people come back time and time again (he spoke at an event we ran about his game Zombies Run) and highlighting the difference between good and bad gamification. It’s a great interview that anyone interested in bringing game mechanics into other areas of work/life should read. (20 min read)Matthew Syed on Social ContagionIn this episode of the wonderful Sideways, Matthew Syed tells a story that made headline news in 2015. You may remember it. Ambulance crews treated 40 pupils at a school in Yorkshire after several collapsed during an assembly. It was Armistice Day and the school was close to a military barracks. It was also two years after fusilier Lee Rigby was attacked and killed outside his barracks. Fire engines were called as theories of it being some form of terrorist attack grew. The truth was a lot less sinister. (28 min listen)How Comics Can Tell Difficult and Complex Stories EffectivelyAs the World Cup kicks off this weekend, Qatar is going to be all over your TV and in your newspapers. Accompanying the football there will be a lot of attempts to explain why awarding the tournament to Qatar was so wrong. I wanted to highlight this comic from David Squires in the Guardian. It takes no more than a couple of minutes to read but delivers the point perfectly. (3 min read)‘The Crown’: The Story of Mohamed Al-Fayed and His ValetThis contains spoilers for fans of the show. For non-fans, perhaps this New York Times piece might convert you. I was struggling with the first two episodes of the new season then along comes this superb story. It brings so much context to the relationship between the royals and Al-Fayed before Diana and Dodi Fayed got together. Interestingly, the piece reveals how little of the episode was added for drama. (6 min read)The Fascinating Story of Khipu, the Ancient Inka Accounting SystemLong before Excel, accountants of the Inka Empire used knotted strings called khipu, or quipu, to record taxes and stock. Each khipu is essentially an Excel spreadsheet, with each string an individual cell. About 1,400 khipus have survived to this day, and scientists are still decoding the data they hold. This story is part of a publication we produce for ADP. Get in touch of you’d like to talk about telling fascinating stories like this for your brand or organisation.(7 min read)In Praise of Subtle ActingBig, intense performances are the ones that get a lot of recognition and praise. Often the Oscar goes to the most acting and not best acting. This video uses clips from a range of films to highlight the power of some of these subtler moments of performance and acknowledges that talent is about much more than intensity.(14 min watch)An Email From Steve Jobs to Steve JobsI’m really looking forward to seeing how this Steve Jobs Archive develops. Recently launched and with Bobbie Johnson (ex-Guardian/Medium/Anxy) as Editorial Director it should be very interesting. It promises programs, fellowships, collections, and partnerships that reflect Steve’s values and carry his sense of possibility forward.(1 min read)

Are You a Parent of a Toddler or Assistant to a Male CEO of a Tech Startup?The good people at McSweeny’s have produced this quiz to help you find the answer. (2 min read)

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

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