A presentation at Orbit 1 · Product Storytelling in February 2020 in Belfast, UK by Mr Murphy
Our journey starts with a workshop focussed on you, what you make, and why. This sits at the heart of what makes your work uniquely yours and should underpin your product storytelling.
Understanding your why and your who will impact opon everything you do, from pricing to grant applications to your marketing and social media.
Once upon a time…
There was a graphic designer called Ben who was frustrated with his job. He decided to change career direction and pursue a long held passion creating beautifully crafted knives: Blok Knives was born.
Whether they’re physical or digital, how you describe your products matters. Crafting stories, to paint a picture of your products in potential customers’ minds, builds deeper and richer connections.
Storytelling, especially online, is essential.
In a world saturated with mass market products, often created in conditions that aren’t ethical, customers are crying out for authentic stories. There is a hunger for brands with stories and a deeply held conviction.
Share your products’ backstory. You might think your workshop or studio needs a tidy, but in that untidiness, customers will find wonder.
Austin Kleon writes about this in his excellent book: Show Your Work! 10 Things Nobody Told You About Getting Discovered. Get it. It’s a great book!
Rather than hide away the often-hidden details, celebrate them.
In an era of cheaply manufactured goods, customers are eager to know the provenance of your product. Share that provenance.
A spot of housekeeping…
I’m @fehler on Twitter.
I might swear. (Sorry.) It’s just because I’m passionate about design and helping others to succeed.
Be receptive. Approach everything – even if you’ve heard it before – with an open mind. Do that and you’ll learn.
I believe you need these three elements to create a successful product (whether that product is analogue or digital). We’ll be focusing on stories today. We’ll return to this theme in the fifth workshop where we explore marketing.
These workshops are a part of the Orbit programme, which – if there is demand – we may run annually.
The programme is supported by Craft NI and designtrack.
The programme will cover:
There’s offline content (monthly) at Ormeau Baths. There’s also online content. Sign up now for free supporting content and exclusive early bird designtrack subscriber discounts.
I’m also sharing content using Notion. If you take a lot of notes I strongly suggest looking at Notion.
It’s free to get started and it’s lovely for keeping a track of notes.
I’ll also be giving you copies of the books I’ve written. I just need your email address, which you can supply via this page.
Here’s what I’ll be covering…
We’ll kick off by getting to know each other.
It’s time for some introductions.
I’ve been working as a designer for 25+ years and as an educator for two decades.
I’ve worked with clients all over the world, including everyone from companies of one to multinationals with thousands of employees. Here are a handful…
Some of the clients I’ve worked with.
Here are some selected projects.
Once upon a time we sent letters using Her Majesty’s postal system. I designed Northern Ireland’s stamps for the Royal Mail (2001).
I ran Fällt, an independent record label with international distributors (and a lot of storytelling).
We featured our mission statement, front and centre at the site’s home page.
Working under the alias Fehler, I created sound installations as a sound artist, exhibiting in Montreal, Toronto, Lisbon, Brussels, Naples….
In 2009, following the publication of my first book, I formed a speaking partnership called The Standardistas. This partnership that took me all over the world.
I got an ‘E’ in my A Level English, so it’s never too late to learn. I’ve written for magazines all over the world.
I co-founded Get Invited, the startup that did the ticketing for this event.
In January, 2016 I launched Tiny Books as a publishing company to sell my books. This was a giant fscking mistake, which I will happily explore in our third workshop on pricing and positioning. (There are lessons in mistakes.)
I’m currently working on designtrack, a new startup that focuses on design education.
Exercise: Just who are you, exactly?
In pairs.
Listen to each other, ~two minutes each. In a few minutes, you’ll ‘be the other person’.
Over to you…
Be the other person. Tell us what do they do? (And what would they like to do?)
Your story may be unclear (in my experience, it usually is). If it is unclear, you have to fix that. We’ll work on that next.
Exercise: Twitter Bios
This exercise isn’t about Twitter per se, it’s about the distillation of your brand messaging.
Before we launch into the exercise, who uses these platforms?
It’s important to be on some of these platforms: 1. To market your work; and 2. To discover opportunities.
Cara Murphy: “I use social media as a networking tool and ‘discovery engine’. It enables me to connect to makers, collectors and galleries, allowing me to find out about exhibitions, competitions and awards. Twitter is filled with opportunity.”
Let’s look at some individuals and their Twitter bios.
Jessica Hische is an internationally respected letterer.
Brendan Dawes is an artist working at the intersection of analogue and digital.
Giovanni Corvaja is a goldsmith who is, “in love with gold.”
Let’s look at some businesses and their Twitter bios.
Hiut Denim are focused on ‘doing one thing well’.
Kano is a kids’ education platform with an emphasis on making technology accessible.
I far preferred Sugru’s old bio: “…the mouldable glue that makes fixing and making easy and fun.”
Feedback. I’ll help you over the break if needs be.
This isn’t easy. It takes time.
Let’s explore Cara Murphy’s.
This is a piece of Cara’s work, it’s on the desk of the Prime Minister in Downing Street.
Cara’s work is inspired by the landscape.
Here’s here bio: “Acclaimed contemporary Irish silversmith, Murphy’s tableware creates a silver landscape for the dining table.”
—@silverlandscape
Let’s explore mine.
This was a first attempt at a rethink (in ~2018). The emoji tells you all you need to know. This process – finding the right bio – took me weeks (months, actually).
The word ‘recovering’ has too many negative connotations.
This is the first point at which I mentioned the fact that I am a teacher.
This is getting closer.
Here’s where I settled, for a while.
This is an organic process, it takes time and lots of thought.
I keep a file of all my Twitter bios, which I can then use for speaking engagements.
This is v3 or v4 of my bio, since I undertook a significant career shift in 2018.
Once you find a form of words you’re comfortable with, consistency is key. Update it across all of your bios.
GitHub
You carry this elevator pitch everywhere.
This short statement acts as a conversation starter, particularly at networking events.
“A landscape of silver tableware… that sounds really interesting. What is it that you do, exactly?”
First Up: Start With Why
This is best explained in this video: www.j.mp/startwithwhy
“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.”
—Simon Sinek
Some companies (and individuals) work from the outside in.
Some companies (and individuals) work from the inside out. (As Sinek notes, this is a better approach.)
I think Sinek’s model misses one important point.
?
Everything starts with a who. The who drives the why. Your ‘Why’ will be driven by your values and your story.
Sinek’s Whys are all strong personalities: Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King, the Wright Brothers.
I believe a strong business is built on a strong foundation of deeply held core values. The beliefs that make you you.
I wrote about this in my book ‘Start! Stop Procrastinating and Pursue Your Passion’
What’s your who?
Once you’ve teased out what you stand for and pinpointed what you believe in, this message needs to be amplified.
You don’t need to be a conglomerate to be a brand. There are many ‘brands of one’.
I believe a business built around core values has more chance of success, because it ties back to its founders’ deep sense of purpose.
I’m working on this just now, on the Propel programme, for my new startup designtrack. This vision is underpinned by a deep and strong sense of purpose.
What are your values?
These are just a handful of core values. Google ‘core values’ and you’ll find hundreds. Here’s one.
Here are three (a former student, called Marianne).
Here are three others (a former student, called Lee).
Neither of these individuals is better (or worse), they’re just driven by different values.
Values are everywhere…
Here is Offscreen in 2014.
And here it is in 2020. The design may have changed – and ‘Guiding Values’ is now ‘Purpose’ – but the content is the same.
Here’s one example of Offscreen’s value / purpose.
Here is how it manifests itself in the magazine.
As Kai Brach, Offscreen’s editor, puts it: “Not a week goes by without receiving an email about the way I present sponsors in the magazine.”
Offscreen’s sponsors are supporters. They passionately believe in – and support – Kai’s values and purpose.
What are your core values?
Exercise: Core Values
Here are a handful of values to choose from (there are others, as I’ve noted above).
Exercise: Core Values
The path to success is paved with SMART goals.
Product DNA is a method I use with my students and the businesses an individuals I mentor to help them identify their future direction.
We all have heroes, Product DNA explores what we can learn from our heroes.
Who are your heroes?
When I established my record label Fällt, I looked to other record labels for inspiration.
I looked at three labels: 12k, Touch and Mego.
12k released its CDs in editions. I liked this idea, it positioned the releases as a form of artistic statement.
Touch didn’t limit itself to audio releases – vinyl, cassettes, CDs… – it also released printed materials (booklets, magazines, books).
Mego embraced MP3s, at the time a relatively new digital audio format.
I looked to each of these labels’ unique characteristics for inspiration. Look at what the heroes you identify are doing and learn from that. Look at the outside.
There isn’t much to be learned here (they are all record labels, which I knew before the exercise).
Here’s one of my Masters students’ Product DNA.
Exercise: Product DNA
Just a handful.
With the Product DNA exercise undertaken, the next thing I suggest is to undertake a Content Audit.
You really had to be at the workshop to understand this, sorry!
I undertook a Product DNA exercise again, recently, because my career is evolving.
In addition to the Product DNA exercise I undertook a Content Audit, looking at the kind of content each individual was publishing, how their websites were structured and what kind of tone of voice they used. The three individuals I explored were:
Alan Moore
I explored the navigation and structure of Moore’s site to see if there was anything I could learn or identify any aspects of my new site that I may have overlooked.
It’s important to spend some time identifying your Voice and Tone. Research will help with this.
I looked for phrases that resonated with me.
Mark Shayler
The, “big companies think small and small companies think big,” idea stuck with me. That’s what I do, so I stole this from Mark. (Thanks, Mark!)
Seth Godin
Reading this, “Seth Godin is an author, entrepreneur and most of all, a teacher,” I realised that – above all – I’m a teacher, and I hadn’t been mentioning this.
Exercise: Product DNA
Just a handful.
A brand dictionary helps you to clearly and consistently communicate your brand. Spend some time identifying the words that resonate with you and which capture you and your product story.
Here’s an example.
smart describe their car as: Agile, Expressive, Dynamic, Fun and Friendly.
Here’s another example. This is still a car, but it’s positioned differently.
Mercedes describe their car as: Precision, Luxury, Stylish, Engineered and Efficient.
The language differentiates the brands.
Spend some time identifying the words that make up the backbone of your brand dictionary.
Listen to the language in this video. The use of Apple’s key words – incredible, amazing, awesome… – isn’t by accident, it’s by design.
What’s your: Remarkable, Simple, Beautiful…?
The following 15 slides – which I shared in the workshop – are for one of my clients. I was happy to share them in a workshop context (with permission), but I’m not comfortable sharing them online. Sorry.
Exercise: Brand Dictionary
What words you use for your brand dictionary?
What language fits?
Just a handful.
I hope you found this workshop useful. You can do anything if you put your mind to it. I hope what we’ve covered helps you to succeed.
Ask me anything.
