Even I don't remember where this came from, I have heard of this many time in people's lectures: nobody loves homilies, but everybody enjoys stories. So it's a nice way to get people into your context through a piece of story when delivering your own works.
Since then I have been thinking of how can a product tell stories of itself. At this moment, I mean literately the moment when I am typing this blog, I think of the shoes. I am a big sneakerhead and I have a big collection of supercool basketball shoes. The top brands like NIKE and ADIDAS, they used to make shoes with leather and textiles. Some may not like leather trainers because folds will appear on the leather surface once you wear them on. In 2009, NIKE launched the KOBE V basketball shoe made of a whole new material called the "FLYWIRE". First thing first, they look so cool, what's more amazing is that no more folds on these. I bought one pair myself, in two years time even when the outsoles were worn out, the upper parts still look like brand new.
However, later when looking at the Kobe shoes again, I had feeling that something was missing. It seems that the connection between me and the shoes are gone because they look so new, no more folds. "THEY ARE TOO NEW TO TELL THE PAST OF OUR TIME" That was what appeared in my mind. Think about the scratches, the defects, all of the marks left on the shoe, actually they are all witnesses to your journey, sometime will remind me of the ball games that I've played with them. That's a kind of very special feeling that the object grows up with you, and then it becomes a special storyteller of you.
In UK especially, I have found that many people have the preference of old things like wood furniture, old cars, vintages. I think part of the reason is that they tell beautiful stories of the past.
We all love new things, but not always. The shine may fade, the paint may peel off, objects can't always be new, but they can be storytellers.
