act3 is a communication strategy and design firm that specializes in telling stories.

This blog is our story laboratory, a way to poke, prod, and take a closer look at the stories we see, the stories we tell, and our own assumptions and knowledge about why stories work (or don't). The goal is to better understand what makes a story connect with people, and how to tell better stories.

Like any blog, it's an evolving concept. We hope you'll follow along.

February 6

Coffee: A love story

Christoph Niemann’s Abstract City Blog post from Monday, I LEGO N.Y., was the most emailed story on the New York Times website early this week. Using only LEGOs and a few scribbled words and labels to identify the sculptures, Niemann cleverly captured images of New York City in a few simple plastic blocks. My favorite is this one:

Paper Cups

Speaking of coffee, Niemann’s previous blog post, Coffee, is an even better illustration of the potential for delight, playfulness, and connection in visual storytelling.

In a series of drawings — done mostly in coffee on cocktail napkins — Niemann tells the story of his personal relationship with coffee, from his accidental exposure to coffee ice cream at age 5 …

Coffee Ice Cream

… to his adventures with a home espresso machine …

Espresso

… to his success in becoming enough of a regular that the guy behind the counter would start making his order without his having to say a word.

Regular

Hearing somebody’s coffee life story might not sound like the way you’d choose to spend the next 5 minutes of your life. But in Niemann’s hands, the time is as enjoyable as a much-needed coffee break, and the way the story is told is as endearing and genuine as the story itself.

:: Posted by Eric Ratinoff ::