How to Be Influenced, Letters of Note Unpacked and the Evolution of the Attention Economy

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10 stories we've enjoyed this week

Titled "Little Tiger Witch in the Bamboo Grove", the colourful illustration depicts a character, who is wearing the skin of a tiger, looking down at a flame being produced by a tiger paw. The character is surrounded by green shoots of bamboo.

Illustration by Yiyi Shao – work with Yiyi

Hi All,
We've been working with UK Parliament Education on their new podcast, How We Got Here. Each episode tells the story of the people that turn big ideas into laws that shape society. In episode one, we tell the story of how a donkey in a courtroom helped changed how society treats animals. Future episodes look at how women got rights in marriage, how we got access to the countryside and how our vote went from being public to private. We'd love it if you gave it a listen and subscribe.

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Enjoy today's stories and have a wonderful weekend.
Hugh

The Short Story

How To Be Influenced
(12 min read)

These NOT/BUT Comic Strips Are Useful Tools For Creatives
(multiple comic strips)

Formats Unpacked: Letters of Note
(6 min read)

For Creators, Community Is the New Follower Count
(5 min read)

Warc Podcast: The Evolution of the Attention Economy
(47 min listen)

What's the Deal With Water Bottles and Comedians?
(3 min read)

An Interesting Set of Questions
(10 min read)

Why the 80s Was the Golden Era of Cereal Adverts
(3 min read)

Lessons in Creativity From a Builder
(3 min read)

Artist Reconceptualises the New York Times Cover Daily
(5 min read)

A great poster is creased and tatty. The words How We Got Here project upwards from the bottom left corner. The letters are pink and the trail they leave is purple. In the top right is a portcullis (is a heavy vertically-closing gate typically found in medieval forts)..

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Storythings is a strategy and content company based in Brighton and London. We'd love to help you with some creative and bold ideas.

Here's 3 reasons to get in touch.

1. You want to talk to us about content production: podcasts, videos, animations, illustrations, editorial.

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We do other things too. We're very friendly and always enjoy meeting people, so get in touch.

The Full Story

How To Be Influenced
I really enjoyed Ian Leslie's piece on taking control of your influences. We live in an age where opinion is everywhere and thinking for yourself is becoming increasingly difficult. Ian looks to great artists who don't passively absorb influence like many of us do. They choose their influences and choose how to be influenced by them. He finishes the piece with five principles for influence-taking that we can learn from artists.
(12 min read)

These NOT/BUT Comic Strips Are Useful Tools For Creatives
This lovely little discovery came via Austin Kleon's excellent newsletter. We've all been there, right? Sometimes the best tool in a creative's kit is perspective and knowing when to change it.
(Multiple comic strips)

Formats Unpacked: Letters of Note
This week we take a close look at a letter format that taps into our voyeuristic nature and does something similar formats can't: "The written letter is like a time capsule. It’s a simple device that can unlock a fascinating stream of stories from history. But unlike similar formats that view history through objects (A House Through Time, Repair Shop, etc.) letters contain something quite unique. They are a pure expression of our internal narratives."
(6 min read)

For Creators, Community Is the New Follower Count
In the last three months Facebook parent company Meta has seen revenue fall for the first time ever and profit shrink for the third straight quarter. This week the head of Instagram put out a tone-deaf video about the platform's current changes. Things aren't going well for a whole bunch of reasons. A lot of the creators he mentioned have just had enough. For nearly a decade, social media has been dominated by broadcast-based social platforms where creators blast out a steady stream of content for followers to watch and comment on, often with no response. But now they're turning to chat apps, like Geneva, Discord and Telegram, where they can connect privately and directly with people they know are listening.
(5 min read)

Warc Podcast: The Evolution of the Attention Economy
If you're interested in attention and how the way it is measured impacts what is made, then you'll really enjoy this. Our very own Matt Locke chats to Faris Yakob about the attention economy, how it has evolved in the digital age, and how marketers can attract attention. Matt is joined in conversation by Zoe Scaman, founder of integrated strategy studio Bodacious, and Tony Haile, senior director of product at Twitter.
(47 min read)

What's the Deal With Water Bottles and Comedians?
Along with a microphone stand and a stool, the bottle of water has become an iconic image in the world of standup-up comedy. The New York Times takes a closer look at the role the humble bottle plays.
(3 min read)

An Interesting Set of Questions
I can't remember how I stumbled upon this set of questions from Stripe co-founder Patrick Collinson, but I found the list fascinating. As a format, a list of questions without answers can be really interesting depending on who the questions come from.
(10 min read)

Why the 80s Was the Golden Era of Cereal Adverts
The ever-reliable Why Is This Interesting looks at the influence Ronald Reagan has on cereal adverts, GI Joe and Transformers toys, and proto branded content.
(3 min read)

Lessons in Creativity From a Builder
Dave Trott has been in advertising for a long time and has written many books on creativity. When his wooden conservatory needed replacing, a builder provided a lesson in conventional wisdom.
(3 min read)

Artist Reconceptualises the New York Times Cover Daily
Artist Sho Shibuya has a ritual. Every morning he would buy a copy of the New York Times, read it, then paint the sunrise over the front cover. Over time he decided to reconceptualise the cover in incredibly creative ways. Check out his Instagram account, too.
(6 min read)

We hope you've enjoyed this week's newsletter. I'm sure some of your friends would love to read it. Sharing it would be really appreciated. If you've received this from a friend you can subscribe here and get it direct to your inbox every Friday.

Thanks for reading and see you all next week,

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the team at Storythings

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How to Be Influenced, Letters of Note Unpacked and the Evolution of the Attention Economy

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