Stories inspire action
People are 22 times more likely to remember a fact or statistic if it's part of a story.
Great storytelling has also been proven to boost conversion rates by 30%.
For organization's looking to grow their audiences and marketing ROI,
good storytelling isn't a luxury, it's a necessity.
Story research
For an article on Detroit's home equity theft crisis, I jumped into a deep-dive research project gathering hundreds of pages of archived news reports, census data, and legal filings, and conducted multiple interviews with local experts, to create an in-depth timeline and feature script-style outline on Detroit's home equity theft system.
Timeline of home equity theft in Detroit
Screenplay-style beat sheet outline for article
Using this research, I wrote a feature nonfiction narrative article about Detroit's home equity theft system and its economic and political history through the lens of a local tech entrepreneur main character.
Writing
 The Saxophone PlayerJacque Williams was a homeless saxophone player in Chicago's loop. His friendship with a commodities trader (my father) was as unlikely as it was special. |  Notes of the MindI interviewed world-renowned opera singer Renée Flemming and leaders of the Lyric Opera to develop a narrative about the power of music and music education programs for people young and old. |  The SetupWilliam Warley was a Black journalist and entrepreneur in Louisville during Jim Crow who devised a plan to challenge the city's segregated zoning laws in court, and invent public interest law in the process. |
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Art Direction
The Culture Issue
This issue of Sword&Scales explored the impacts that modern culture had on policy and politics, and vice versa. To accomplish this thematic goal, the visuals needed to reflect modern-day culture, including art and music, in a way that was accessible to readers of all ages and backgrounds. Implementing collage style illustrations with original graphic designs from award-winning artists allowed us to present a visually beautiful and intellectually stimulating issue.
Capitalism & Socialism
This special double-issue explored the philosophical, political, and societal histories of capitalism and socialism. To depict these elements visually, the designs reflected the abundance of capitalism and the starkness of socialism. The capitalism visuals took inspiration from Andy Warhol's art while the socialism issue's design was derived from the color palette and style of the socialist magazine Jacobin.