The Power of Narrative How writing is changing the process of design Historically, design firms haven't placed a lot of focus on writing about their work. Interior designers and architects often rely on image-based portfolios and PowerPoints to present projects, which makes sense: designers are visual creatures, and nothing elicits a "wow" from a client like an awe-inspiring image. But pictures alone can't convey the story behind a design: why it looks the way it does, how project challenges were resolved, what approaches were explored and decided against. Nor can they reveal all of the larger themes of a designer's work, the evolution of a style or approach, how new ways of working were honed. To do that, designers need to utilize the medium many have long shirked: words. Being able to clearly articulate how they work and why they approach problems a certain way is becoming more than good practice, but a competitive necessity. 44