Stephanie Griggs on how Wallace & Gromit and the Mr. Men benefit from storytelling through design

Thanks for making time – I know Billy Langsworthy usually interviews you! You said something in a recent chat that made me curious, though… That storytelling is a “golden thread that runs consistently” through your work. We’ll link to that here. But tell me: why is storytelling so important?
I think it’s because storytelling, for me, is a visual translation of ‘the why.’ From a brand point of view, it relates back to the strategy; to why we’re doing creative in the first place. In turn, that relates to the feeling you want your audience to get when they see or interact with a product. So, for me storytelling is, for want of a more poetic description, a tool to unlock the emotional feeling of a brand. Why do people relate to certain brands? Why do people buy certain things? Why do people love certain characters? For me, the golden thread is storytelling. Humans respond to stories!

And I get the sense this is a little bit art and a little bit science with you. Do you have a process to speak of?
With everything I do, my process is always very strategy based. In a way, I’m as obsessed with the strategy and the commercial thinking behind creative decisions as I am the outcome. And I think storytelling is a succinct way of saying all that, and a beautiful way to box in so many different things. You can story tell through pictures, through theatre, through words… Storytelling has been a staple part of human nature for thousands of years. That’s not changed, and I don’t see why it ever would.

And looking at that in practical terms, Stephanie, what are some of the specific things you keep in mind as you use storytelling in design?
There are a number of things… Nostalgia comes to mind as one way. Colour is another. In fact, colour is a huge way of tapping into emotion and feeling. Simple contrast, tones, dark, cool, warm: they’re all tools… Colours are often associated with mood too, of course. Then there’s verbiage, tone of voice and word choice. I also believe that you shouldn’t throw the kitchen sink at a brand when telling a story through design… So if a brand has 10 core themes, say, don’t try to cram them all in one design. It’s usually better to pick one thing; tell one story really well.

Dare I ask for an example of that?
If it’s Roald Dahl, say, and you’re telling the story of Matilda, you’re not necessarily going to want all the story elements on one product. It’d be way too much. Instead, you might choose for it to be a product around Miss Trunchbull, say… In which case, you’d tell a part of her story using artwork choice and colour. She’s angry, so maybe we’d use red. Then we’d choose a quote that relates to her meanness, perhaps. So you’re putting the story together using a kit of parts that prompts an emotional response and tells a story, but you’re not saying so much that it dilutes the whole thing. The most successful designs turn feeling into action. There’s a quote by Otl Aicher that I love as it says that much better: “Good art inspires. Good design motivates.”

Oh, I love that! That’s great… You’re reminding me of the toy photographer Mitchel Wu – you’re both effectively trying to tell stories in snapshots. People can read Mitch’s interviews on our sister site here and here… The upshot being that you’re boiling it down to a few elements.
Yes, in one moment – a glance – you have to tell the story. For me, this is a combination of research and insights, a lot of gut feeling and that sense of what you want people to feel when they see the design. And the clearest way of doing that is to remember that less is more. Another thing I should mention is hierarchy… Because your eye goes to certain things in a certain order. So you can use things like size, placement and colour to help tell your story.

How important is communication in all this, Stephanie?
Oh, massively! Over the years, I’ve had to give a lot of feedback to designers, partners, product developers, licensees and whatever. The thing I’ve realised is that being a creative director means you have to give a crystal-clear reason why you’re asking someone to start something or to make changes. It’s not enough to say, “Can we make this background red instead of blue?” It has to be, “Can we make this background red instead of blue? Because that’s going to show Miss Trunchbull’s anger more tangibly…” Or “Can we change this quote? Because this one doesn’t correlate with what the picture says. It’s confusing the story.”

Got it! You’re explaining your interest alongside the position.
And this is really, I think, what’s led me to be so clear on – and fascinated in – the beauty of storytelling through design.

Wow. I’m just loving this, Stephanie. No wonder Billy doesn’t share his interviews with you! And zeroing in on consumer’s experiencing emotions when they see a product… How do you get a feel for what’s going to work?
Much of that depends on the brand – the equity it’s had over the years for example. It helps if the IP has a heritage so that you can track what’s kept the brand relevant. There’s often a golden thread – core brand values which don’t change – even if the cultural nuances around it do. But in that regard, it’s about knowing what those cultural nuances are, digging into what your audience is relating to in your brand today – not relying on what that was ten years ago. Shifting with the times but keeping the core values at heart.

So it’s about investing in the insights to understand your community. Are they on a particular platform? Is there a leading theme? A certain angle or character that particularly resonates? These insights help give answers as to where you go with strategy and creative. I think getting to the DNA of the brand, and using that along with the cultural insight, can be a really effective tool.

Fantastic. And you have, of course, worked with a couple of those heritage brands: Mr. Men is 50, Wallace and Gromit can’t be far off 40…
It’s 40 in 2029.

Perfect! So I’m curious about what you said there about investing in insights… How do you actually do that?
That also depends on the brand because there’s often a global perspective. I think having boots on the ground always helps, though… Gone are the days of having one central HQ and presuming that your audiences all over the world are interested in the same brand aspect. Cultural nuance is a huge consideration if you’re a global brand.

That’s where having different agents, consultants or partners in key markets helps… Someone who can really dig into what’s key to translating the brand most effectively there. There are, of course, brilliant insight agencies to help with this – but internally, discovering what people are saying about your brand on social media is a great starting point!

Doing a bit of sleuthing!
Doing a bit of sleuthing; a bit of community research. Community is a big word in the insights world, and especially so for brands. As much as you can understand those communities with widespread insights and joining the dots…

But it could be as simple as reading fan threads and discovering that one particular character keeps coming up over and over and over? Feathers McGraw just popped into my head!
Great example! Making sure you serve as many parts of your fandom as possible and knowing there’s something for everyone. So you’d be wise to hedge your bets and not put everything into Feathers because you’re still going to have fans that specifically love seeing Wallace and Gromit together… For the East Asian market, for example, Gromit is the brand’s cornerstone! So one of the Wallace and Gromit theme packs I’ve just worked on with Aardman – It’s a Dog’s Life – was almost all around Gromit to serve that part of the brand’s audience.

So Wallace is there, but the focus is on Gromit?
Exactly. Wallace was represented of course; he’s there in the background – but it was Gromit’s time to shine! Gromit has a beautiful way of mirroring human emotions through his actions & activities because, obviously, he can’t talk. So that was a theme, if you like; an angle of the brand that really served a certain part of the audience.

It feels to me it’s almost like cooking: you can use more of the ingredients, or fewer of them to emphasise certain flavours…
Absolutely, yes! And that’s ultimately what helps keep brands relevant! Knowing what’s right for that audience at that time, then pivoting every so often and shifting the creative a little. That might be about bringing out new content, coming back to what the brand strategy is and whether it still feels right and checking the creative is delivering against that.

Similarly, I suppose, you helped steer a couple of the new Mr. Men characters. The tone of those books has to stay within set parameters while bringing something new to it. That strikes me as a bit of a challenge…
The magic with the Mr. Men and Little Miss is that there’re over 90 characters now! And they all embody aspects of people’s personalities… So most of us can clearly see ourselves in one character, or maybe see ourselves as being made up from a palette of characters…

Oh, yes?! Anything you want to tell me?!
Ha! Well… I definitely relate to Mr. Messy and Little Miss Curious!

Ha! I’m tempted to say the same! I hadn’t really thought about it, but yes – everyone can zero in on two or three of those characters that relate to them!
Yes, because those characteristics are pretty timeless in humans, aren’t they? I think that’s why the Mr. Men and Little Miss brand endures: Mr. Happy resonates the same way today as he did 50 years ago. So developing new characters starts with assessing what’s missing from that collection and what the writer, Adam Hargreaves, feels is relevant today.

By way of example, there’s a great situation in Mr. Fib’s book: he’s being interviewed like a politician… Lots of journalists putting microphones in his face and so on – and he’s sweating because he’s such a fibber! Most people can relate to that very human quality. Also, alongside the humour relating to human nature, there’s a literal timelessness to it… You can’t pinpoint exactly where they are, or what era they’re in! It’s very similar with Roald Dahl’s books: they’re outside of time so they’re inherently multigenerational.

Oh, you know what? I hadn’t given that any thought, but yes! They exist in a nebulous, I suppose, which makes them timeless…
And that’s especially true with things like technology. The less technology you put in your content, the more likely it is to stand the test of time. I mean, there are things like a landline telephone that I’m sure – eventually – kids won’t even be able to guess what it is! But that’s where you still have a magic with the adult reader, and you don’t have to be deliberately vague. You just wouldn’t have a Mr. Men book where the character has a smartphone.

How fascinating. Gosh, there’s so much going on in your head! Thanks for making time for this, Stephanie. I love the theory you bring to bear on projects so that was one of the most enjoyable conversations I’ve had all year.