Farmer's with pitchforks, pissing against the wind.

The Irish are notorious storytellers. It goes back to our days sitting around a fireplace with a Seanachaí, recalling tales of giants, a magic salmon, swan children and Tír na nÓg. (IT’S A HORSE TAYTO, IT’S A HORSE). Growing up I remember begging my father to tell us stories of his youth; of the time he went fishing with his older brothers and ended up with the hook stuck in his nose. Miraculously he survived to tell the story bearing absolutely no scars (proof) whatsoever.

Everyone who calls Ireland home has the gift of the gab when it comes to storytelling, even those who don’t think they do. The Guinness drinking auld lad at the local pub rambling on about the time he chased the black and tans out of his farmyard with a pitchfork, the giggling teenage girls in the school canteen talking about all the boys they’ve been kissing “but you wouldn’t know them, it was on holidays”, the speeches at our weddings go on for an eternity, even the local priest enjoys a good yarn at the alter every Sunday. A good story never lets the truth get in the way.

In our class this week we discussed storytelling and its role in design. How companies like Innocent smoothies, Nordic Comfort Products, have used story telling in their products. The NCP S-1500 chair looks like any ordinary chair that you would find in a classroom, not something that you would spend money. When we were first shown this chair in class and asked if we would purchase it, most said that they wouldn’t. However, when told it is made from 100% recycled materials a lot more of us agreed that we would be more interested in buying it. This may be a reflection of green washing and using the eco-friendly stamp to market a product, but it is also a reflection of the story behind a product and how that is an important design tool. Innocent smoothies have an annual campaign to get a group of volunteer knitters every year to make hats for their smoothies and for every smoothie sold, 30c is donated to Age action a charity for older people affected by the cold. The story behind this simple idea is what sells the product. It engages an emotion in the consumer. We can all think of an elderly relative or friend that we would want to protect from the cold and this project engages us. The simple idea of buying a product with a cute little hat on it that goes towards worthy cause’ is somehow more appealing than just throwing some spare change into a bucket.

We also participated in various storytelling exercises. My group was tasked with passing a sheet of paper around the group and writing the story one line at a time, one author at a time. The game was mentally stimulating and enjoyable to participate in. it was interesting to see what each person could come up with. Our individual personalities were distinguishable in what we wrote and how it flowed in sequence with the previous sentences.