The Importance of Stories

Hey guys,

Came across the Howies’ Hand-me-Downs range during research for a project I’m doing.

I’m taking a different direction, so I think its OK to talk about. Besides, I’m not going to say anything that isn’t common knowledge, just making a note of something that I think is important.

Anyway, whatever you think of the clothes themselves, the label in the image above sums up why I think this is interesting. Objects rarely have stories associated with them anymore., and despite seeming, at first, quite simplistic and possibly a little naive, I actually think they’ve come up with a nice approach.

Although this line of thinking is nothing new, they have addressed something that I think is extremely important- the story behind the object. Although such things already exist in the form of blogs, wiki’s, review sites and forums, something about this just feels a little more subtle and a little more personal, despite being less ‘useful’. Possibly because the stories are implied rather than explicit. There’s room for your memory to do it’s thing and to indulge in a bit of reminiscence on your own terms.

I love the idea that the lable in the jacket has space for the names of three different owners, they’re reminders not descriptions, lines with plenty of reading space between them.

How does this affect your obligations towards the garment? Imagine if those previous owners were, say a parent and grandparent; how does that affect how you treat the artefact? Maybe you’d be happy to repair it rather that replace it. The process of making, using and remaking something collaboratively over generations is nothing new either, but it has faded into obscurity somewhat.

Stories are important and, in my opinion, finding ways of enabling the opportunity for the creation of stories around an object is a worthy area for investigation, but there’s also something very enticing about the slowness encouraged by these things.

There are some more interesting thoughts on this in Russel Davies’ post ‘From Product to Project’, the title of which sums it up perfectly.