What Is Great Writing, And Where Do Great Design Ideas Come From?

Writing and design—these are the core skills that propel the communications industry forward. Without excellence in writing and design, we would have no great books, films, or architecture, and our advertising would be a complete waste of time and money.

Thankfully, there’s a universe of talented writers and designers and many are willing to work in corporate communications. In May, One Club put together a video series (see the playlist on YouTube) that “offers digestible glimpses into the minds of many noted industry professionals, in their own words.”

“Great Writing Is Great Love”

A Creative Perspective from One Club features a perfect video on writing from novelist and copywriter, Kathy Hepinstall Parks.

She packs this short video with treasures. Witness, “Great writing is great love—something the Internet can’t offer. Great writing is love at its finest—generous, considerate, humble, focused on the reader.”

Also, “It’s the writer’s job to be anonymous in the story. The goal is not for the reader to say, ‘this writer sure knows how to describe bats flying around a cave.’ The reader should be busy covering their face.”

For a story to captivate, the reader must let go and immerse, or “get lost” in the story, whatever form the story takes. Hepinstall Parks is saying talented writers must make room for the reader by disappearing into the story.

One of my favorite poets and songwriters of all time is Robert Hunter. This is how he expressed the truth reaffirmed by Hepinstall Parks:

The storyteller makes no choice
soon you will not hear his voice
his job is to shed light
and not to master

First, Design Your Mind

Maya Kopytman is a partner at C&G Partners in Manhattan. She is one of the world’s best designers. In this video, she describes the ways in which we stimulate our brains, with music, for instance, and how these inputs activate design ideas that lead to heightened design outputs.

She describes the need to make connections and how when our brains are awake but at rest, we open a door to creative thoughts. She also describes rest in scientific terms: Random Episodic Silent Thought.

Kopytman suggests that by relaxing your brain and stimulating the brain with music, you allow the connections to occur that make new thoughts and thought patterns happen.

“When I listen to live music and track with my eyes the way music is produced, ideas take the shapes of logos, posters, installations,” she says. “The level of focus I achieve during live performances brings my best ideas. I cover the concert programs with doodles.”