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Are you wondering how to optimise your content in the face of changing audience behaviours? We can help. Our Content Audit analyses what content works for your audience and provides a detailed overview of your current content: how it’s performing, why, as well as identifying gaps and improvements. We will help you understand what to save, erase, or revise. Hit the button below if you’d like to find out more.

Enjoy the stories below and have a great weekend!

Chloe

One man’s rubbish… discover the wonderful creative world of Glastonbury’s painted bins (photographs, 8-min read)

Market Forces and Malpractice: The Housing Crisis (45-min read)

Drawing the Tory era: 14 years of austerity in cartoons (video, 7-min watch)

Caffs not cafes (Instagram account)

Palestinian life under Israeli occupation: An illustrated guide (interactive, 5-min read)

Behind the scenes with The Guardian creative team making all its election artwork by hand (9-min read)

‘Fraught with danger’: Wild honey gathering in Nepal (photographs)

FLOAT3RS (video, 4-min watch)

Hard and Round: an essay on not-knowing and a recipe for kala chana (7-min read)

How a Bulgarian Village Dances Evil Spirits Away (video, 9-min watch)

How we can help you

Storythings is the content marketing agency of choice for some of the world’s most forward-thinking B2B brands and organisations. Here are 2 reasons to get in touch. 

1. “I don’t know what to do” – You’ve been creating content but it’s not having the impact you need. Talk to us about our Content Audit Workshop.

2. “I need something making” – You know what you want to make but need an agency to make it. We can help make your podcast, video, publication, animation and newsletter.We do other things too. Get in touch for a FREE 30 minute consultation. 

One man’s rubbish… discover the wonderful creative world of Glastonbury’s painted bins (photographs, 8-min read)
With Glastonbury in full swing, it seems fitting to celebrate one of the many reasons why the festival is unlike any other in the world – via its 17,000 hand-painted rubbish bins. “There is a disposable nature to this art – it’ll be gone and painted over next year. This creates a freedom of expression; as artists we are completely in the moment, before we move on to the next bin.”

Market Forces and Malpractice: The Housing Crisis (45-min read)
The housing crisis should be high on the agenda in this election, and this LRB piece goes a long way to explaining the nuances of how we got where we are and what we ought to do to fix it. Writer James Meek talks to real people – tenant activists, housing managers, and those stuck on social housing waiting lists – to paint a thoroughly researched picture of the state of the UK housing crisis, from Grenfell and “sink estates” to Serco leases.

Drawing the Tory era: 14 years of austerity in cartoons (video, 7-min watch)
Cartoonist Ben Jennings has been capturing UK politics in his satirical illustrations for more than a decade. In this short doc, Jennings talks through his process in his studio, where he talks about the importance of satire in political life. A great insight into the creative process.

Caffs not cafes (Instagram account)
One cliche we need to get rid of is “hidden gem”. And leaning out of cliches around ‘discovery’ is something this Instagram account does to great effect. It shines a light on local food spots across London – the sort of places you won’t see celebrated in mainstream food journalism – but without the veil of romanticism. These are places that carry their own legacy. Freelance writer Isaac Rangaswai first created the page to spotlight caffs – think £5 fry ups and vinegary chips – but has since broadened his ambit to include places with a similar spirit, like canteens and family-run restaurants. What makes this account so special is the in-caption reviews that pay as much attention to the smells, sensations and decor of the eateries as they do to the food.

Palestinian life under Israeli occupation: An illustrated guide (interactive, 5-min read)
This recent interactive does a lot to prove that a complex history can be made digestible through a careful, diligent, and thoughtful format. Eight forms of Israeli control targeting Palestinians are explained through illustration, photography, and simple infographics. This kind of journalism couldn’t be more necessary and urgent right now – its simplicity effectively cuts through the noise. 

Behind the scenes with The Guardian creative team making all its election artwork by hand (9-min read)
Paper cuttings and collage: the imagery that sits alongside The Guardian’s election coverage is lo-fi and crafty. I love this design for its purposefully imperfect intent and its chaotic urgency. The editorial design team is creating all of its election imagery by hand, in-house, and out of paper – and not even glueing the finished pieces down. “Glueing these finished pieces down would go against the speed and dynamism of how we’re creating them. Wrongly casting them as finished pieces to admire rather than just documenting part of the journey as they’re intended.”

‘Fraught with danger’: wild honey gathering in Nepal (photographs)
For centuries, the Gurung community has been scouring the cliffs of the Himalayan foothills for wild honey. The villagers risk their lives in the harvest, using ancient techniques handed down through generations. These photographs capture their incredible story.

FLOAT3RS (video, 4-min watch)
“FLOAT3RS is a wry look at Artificial Intelligence that is so advanced, it’s no longer that intelligent. This time we join three floating warheads as they discover that there may be a bug or two in their latest operating system update.”

Hard and Round: an essay on not-knowing and a recipe for kala chana (7-min read)
This piece comes from Vittles magazine’s Cooking From Life, a strand of personal essays on cooking and eating at home everyday. Noreen Masud mixes deeply evocative childhood memories from Lahore with her present day via gorgeous descriptions of kala chana – proving how leading with the senses can make the most personal of writing enticing and enveloping. “It was the third recipe that worked, sort of. It’s still not right, but the black cardamom and star anise open up a deep door at the back of the flavour. The door goes all the way down, to the place where memory should be.”

How a Bulgarian Village Dances Evil Spirits Away (video, 9-min watch)
Folk documentary done right. “Once a year, the Bulgarian tradition of Kukeri unites a small village as residents wear intricate masks and costumes and dance at night.”

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

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