Talk about a dream brief. To compose a poetic stream-of-consciousness about the urge to write. That's what
Alan Aboud asked me to produce for the launch of
Story, a new men's fragrance by
Paul Smith. The words, painstakingly retyped on one of Paul's ancient Olivetti machines, were overlayered on to photographs of a bespectacled young man, representing 'the writer' and his thoughts. I drew on my own personal experiences and referenced the
George Orwell essay 'Why I Write', adopting an expressionistic, free-flowing style. The words will appear on advertising, POS and carrier bags when the fragrance - which comes in a book-shaped bottle - launches next month. You'll only be able to read snatches of my work on these items because the words have been artfully laid over each other - unless, that is, you visit
www.paulsmithstory.com, where they have been reproduced in full.
