I remember when it became almost impossible to convince clients to use black and white. It's so "old fashioned" they'd say. "People don't like it / can't relate to it / don't see themselves in it." "It's not," they'd say as if it was the most damning characteristic of all, "realistic." I begged to differ then, and I still do today.

Surrounded by mirrors of realism and hyper-realism (internet, TV, news) we are steeped in a reality that has far outstayed its 15 minutes of fame. It's over-rated, verging on boring. Isn't the point, when we are trying to make a difference in a world of parity, to imbue surface reality with an underlying feeling, rather than flogging another high-definition, full-color product? Isn't it our job to give people something else?

I predict a return to the world of nuance, abstraction, narrative and mystery—the black and white realm where connecting your own dots is far more powerful than having everything spelled out for you. Where feeling and emotion are valued above the marketer's cynical view that a human's greatest accomplishment is purchase.

We talk about building relationships and telling stories, but we do it with a technicolor toolbox of very common assumptions. Reality is numbing. Let's take it someplace more true, and less real.