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I believe that the story is the way that people connect with each other. I tell you a story about me, you learn something — there’s a possible magnetic link between us; we’ve made some opening range of a connection. And from there…what, where might it go? I’m thinking that, at the very least, the connection that I have with you, the nexus that we have together, is something that can be built upon. And likely it shall. For I might tell a story about your inquiry, and you might tell a story about my response — and so it goes, rippling outwardly.

Communication, commerce and community all have some sense of affinity; there’s certain alignments, known or unknown, etymological or merely auditory. But commerce never happens without communication. People don’t buy something without dialogue. And communication, and community — well, these words are just as integrally connected as the words of cult and culture. A place of habitation — something to live in. Cult, from cultos, is about having a place to be — and culture, one would suppose, is just about that. So being someone that has worked for a long time as a designer, I’ve really learned to listen and to sense people, to get more to the heart of what they are saying. Not, perhaps, which is the most obvious, what quickly meets the eye, but what lies beneath. And when you find that energy and character, then you know more.

So when I work for a company, helping them, I do look for the story that is at the heart of the premise — what is the story of the promise? What are you going to tell me, and what, in the end, are you going to tell another? And what happens when that sharing happens? It’s about that. Finding the story, looking to create a way for it to be told, and then looking for the right visualization to tell it. That is the working space that you are entering.

You’d asked, then — what story would you like to illustrate? Well, what story would you like to tell? I savor telling stories, about companies, that are about people. And people doing good things. I like that.

But you should really know what illustrate means. It’s about making things bright. It’s about making something lustrous and shining. That means, the idea comes through — and because you’ve polished this idea, this form, you’ve created something special; you’ve lustrated it. You’ve brought it out. And it’s being seen by someone in a new way.

That’s about love. Loving something, loving the craft of the work in a way that the process of bringing out that light, that shining, is a way of helping other people see things, learn things, explore things. Differently.

You teach them in a way, to listen to stories — to experience stories, in a manner that will be unforgettable for them. And doing that, will be unforgettable for you.

Listen closely for what’s not there. Seen what is not being seen. Find what’s not been found. And bring to the light.

What I do is who I am. What’s influenced me the most?
C u r i o s i t y.

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