Hi, I’m Monojoy
visual storyteller
@ arty type
I’m Monojoy — visual storyteller.
Which is a fancy way of saying that I take complex ideas and simplify them for your audience, with a little help from the most primal method of communication: pictures.
Given that you're on this page, there can only be 2 possible reasons why.
You have no idea why the almighty algorithms—in their infinite wisdom—decided to deposit you in this confusing corner of the interwebs, and you’re frantically floundering to find a way out.
Try the back button.
Top left (typically).
For some unfathomable reason you want to find out about this funny fella called Monojoy who floats about in the series of tubes some call the Internet, jauntily juggling words and images, and generally having a jolly good time.
OK, now that you have experienced my intriguing yet exasperating sides, let's get down to the boring bits.
I am a writer, through and through.
I’ve been writing since dusty ‘ol dial-up modems—with their signature “melody”—were the hottest things in tech, and AI was the stuff of science fiction fantasies.
Long story short, I’ve been writing for a long, long time.
And some people even like it.
A bit of a bother that I can’t name names for the last one, but this particular government tends to be a tad reticent about their officials being quoted willy nilly.
But hey, it also happens to be my favorite client testimonial … so I found a way to use it without (fingers crossed) inviting the wrath of the little red dot.
Talking of clients, when you’ve been writing for as long as I have, you tend to cover a lot of ground. I’ve spent over a couple of decades in the twin worlds of media and marketing.
From global corporations to government institutions, national brands to local businesses, news media to adtech firms, I’ve worked with a range of clients who are the who’s who in their respective industries.
After almost 2 decades working with various leading brands like Heinz, Motorola, Star TV, IIM(C) and the Singapore Government, I came onboard as the Editor of Sovrn’s digital publishing magazine, growing it over 10x before its eventual acquisition.
Right about then, AI burst onto the scene, and the “rules of engagement” changed forever.
Words were my stock-in-trade, and suddenly AI was churning out words like the printing presses in Fort Worth on a high-octane drip.
Billions of words, every day.
Day after day.
When waves of words are just a prompt away in ChatGPT and friends, not only is the reader inundated in a medley of mass-produced malapropisms, we too are plunged into a new reality where, suddenly and paradoxically …
… words are not enough!
In the BC era (Before ChatGPT) readers could be reasonably confident that, through the stream of alphabets and letters, they were in communication with another human being.
At a certain level, a primal need for human connection was being met, through the medium of words.
That certainty is now slipping away.
And every day, the mountain of machine-made words grows by the billions.
What happens at the end of this slippery slope?
Glazed eyes and brain fog.
Cratering engagement.
Plummeting interest.
This is not conjecture.
It's already happening.
Renowned copywriter and marketer Alen Sultanic recently posted:
What I'm finding is after reading/looking at enormous amounts of data on a ton of offers across dozens and dozens of niches is that there is a growing resistance to reading copy. Copy consumption is decreasing.
Fortunately, all is not lost.
New challenges throw up new opportunities.
We just have to dig a little deeper to reconnect with our audiences.
While machines have shown themselves quite adept at stringing together words, they have yet to master the interplay of emotions, write with flair and passion, and infuse personality in their work.
The human soul craves uniqueness.
We yearn for connection.
And while a few well designed prompts can help generate some pretty intriguing pics, machines can’t yet put them all together in a persuasive package that flows logically, appeals emotionally and engages visually.
In other words, AI sucks at visual storytelling.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is your secret superpower …
… to punch your way through weary walls of words, across insipidity and indifference, around overwhelm and boredom, and reconnect with your audience in a fast, fun and fascinating manner.
When words are strategically paired with pictures, it doesn't just make the package look prettier, it also brings back the certainty and comforting trust of human connection.
It surprises, and delights.
By infusing art into communication that has traditionally been textual, we add a touch of levity in the forbidding walls of gray.
Primal, visual storytelling communicates ideas in a way that’s both speedy and memorable. And fun, to boot.
Processed in milliseconds
Significantly more memorable
Emotionally engaging
Visual storytelling is as old as time ... or at least 36,000 years.
In comparison, the earliest examples of human writing date back only 3,400 years.
We are hardwired to respond to visual content.
It’s how we naturally communicate.
So if it’s higher engagement, genuine connection, all garnished with a dash of wit and humor is what you’re looking for, do get in touch.
We’re going to get some business done.
It's also going to be lots of fun.
"Fun is a serious business tool."
~ Richard Branson
