Hi Ian – thanks for your thoughts. For me, a story has two audiences and they can be expressed through one narrative or in slight variations. There is the story that the market hears – and then there is the story that is told internally. The external story explains what the brand intends and why buyers should choose it, and the story it is telling, over other stories. There is also the internal story – the story that a culture tells itself in order to bring the story to life and to help the brand realise its goals. The key, as Liz pointed out above, is that the story is told with personality, singularity and zest.

So in a sense it all begins with understanding personality or what defines oneself or a brand, What is its purpose? What are the conflicts it has had to overcome? What is the brand story?

Then one must have the ability to tell that story with compelling words and visuals and in a tone that is uniquely its own. Language is our only tool to get what’s inside our head out to the rest of the world.

That’s the key isn’t it? Not language alone in most communications – but how language works with design to create powerful combinations of visual and verbal message. Thanks for your comment.