Journeys of discovery

Archetype: Explorer

Rasa: Kāruṇyam

Explorer stories tend to emphasize personal freedom and the breaking of conventional boundaries. In this month’s list listen to Forest Swords's song "Crow," where haunting soundscapes evoke the thrill of the unknown. Look at Aaron Siskind’s "Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation," capturing the emotional duality of exploration through powerful imagery. Think about Ian Bremmer's inspiring speech, "Don't Drink the Poison," urging graduates to embrace uncertainty with courage and curiosity. Discover Satisfy's "Equipment for our World" campaign, showcasing gear designed for adventurous spirits. Finally, be inspired by Van Neistat’s series "The Spirited Man," celebrating creative living and the relentless quest for new experiences.

Listen to…

• Forest Swords's song "Crow" parallels the explorer archetype through its atmospheric and haunting soundscape that evokes a sense of mystery and discovery. The song's evolving layers and experimental structure reflect the explorer’s journey into the unknown, embracing uncertainty and seeking new experiences. The music creates a mood that evokes mystery and introspection, often associated with the journey of an explorer.

Look at…

• Aaron Siskind, an influential American photographer known for his abstract expressionist images, captures the essence of the explorer archetype in his series "Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation." The tension between pleasure and terror in the images reflects the emotional duality faced by explorers as they navigate uncharted territories, experiencing both the thrill of discovery and the anxiety of uncertainty. 

Think about…

• In his commencement speech to the 2024 graduating class at Columbia University; titled "Don't Drink the Poison," Ian Bremmer emphasizes the importance of resilience, adaptability, and the courage to navigate an unpredictable world—qualities central to the explorer archetype. Bremmer urges them to approach challenges with curiosity and an open mind, akin to an explorer's adventurous spirit. He highlights the necessity of forging one's path and embracing the unknown, paralleling the explorer's journey of self-discovery and transformation. 

Products and services

• The "Equipment for our World" campaign by Satisfy, a business known for its lifestyle and high-performance running gear, is an example of a commercial story channelling the explorer archetype. This campaign emphasizes the idea of venturing into the great outdoors equipped with gear designed for resilience and adaptability. The campaign's imagery and messaging reflect a spirit of curiosity and adventure. By highlighting the balance between performance and the unknown, Satisfy captures the emotional duality of the explorer's experience. The transformative nature of exploration is often leveraged to signify personal growth and self-discovery.

Lifestyle and inspiration

• Van Neistat, an acclaimed filmmaker and storyteller, embodies the explorer archetype in his series "The Spirited Man." Through this series, Neistat delves into the art of living with creativity, resilience, and a relentless curiosity for the world. The episodes highlight his journey of self-discovery and the pursuit of unconventional paths, mirroring the explorer's quest for new experiences and knowledge. Neistat’s storytelling captures the essence of independence and the courage to challenge the status quo, encouraging viewers to embrace the unknown and transform their lives. The series resonates with the explorer's spirit of adventure and growth, showcasing how confronting and navigating life's uncertainties can lead to profound personal transformation and a deeper understanding of oneself.

The call to adventure; a short guide to the Explorer archetype

The desire to explore and put curiosity into action is one of the traits that have shaped our civilization. It's a mindset that pushes us to discover and get to know this universe better. It’s this call for adventure that led us to traverse oceans, map continents, pursue scientific inquiry into unchartered territories, and venture into space. It connects us as a global community, breaking down barriers and fostering understanding between people from different places. This call to adventure is universal; but, it’s more deeply ingrained in some people, leading it to be considered a personality archetype in Jungian psychology. Called ‘the Explorer’, we use this archetype in storytelling for businesses. 

The Explorer archetype embodies the spirit of adventure, curiosity, and a thirst for the unknown. It resonates with businesses and people who are eager to discover new horizons, both externally and internally. The Explorer seeks personal growth, freedom, and authentic experiences beyond the ordinary. The Explorer is one of the twelve archetypes of the universally recognized patterns of the human psyche as theorized by Carl Jung—the Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology. We use them for commercial story design. We created a more detailed guide to understand archetypes; it’s recommended as a supporting read to understand why Jungian archetypes provide a great framework to typify business personas.

In this short guide focusing on the Explorer archetype, we cover:

• Explorer businesses

• The Explorer in stories

• Why many businesses relate to the Explorer right now

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Explorer businesses

From our work, we’ve seen certain types of businesses that naturally lend themselves to the Explorer archetype. Businesses in travel, adventure, historical and cultural tourism—like tour operators, museums, heritage locations, and adventure experience companies—are a natural fit for the Explorer archetype. They cater to customers seeking new experiences and the thrill of travel, inviting audiences to explore the richness of the natural world, history, and human heritages. Another closely related business sector is outdoor and sporting gear and wear. With their offer of apparel or equipment giving solutions to outdoor enthusiasts and adventurers, these companies also embody the spirit of adventure and exploration with ease.

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But, the explorer goes beyond these mentioned natural fits. If your business values freedom, authenticity, and adventure, it can successfully project the Explorer archetype in stories and identity. We use a Brand Articulation Framework to identify your business persona, with archetypes being one of the major tools we use.

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Exploration and adventure is an idea that transcends traversing the physical world; it applies to ideas and thinking too. We’ve seen a fair share of businesses that involve scientific, tech or innovation to embody the Explorer archetype in terms of uncovering new possibilities, pushing boundaries, and encouraging curiosity. Other natural projectors of the Explorer archetype are, environmental and conservation organizations dedicated to exploring and protecting the natural world, culinary businesses—such as food tour companies or restaurants offering a variety of international cuisines catering to food explorers seeking authentic taste experiences and travelling retail and pop-up shops including concept stores with a sense of wonder, enticing customers to follow or explore something beyond the ordinary.

1904, The ruined cities of Ceylon. Cave, Henry. Hutchinson & co., London. See the Explorer postcard pairing and story we created from this using PD rights.

The Explorer in stories

When we work with clients that have a prominent Explorer archetype, we often create stories that revolve around adventure, self-discovery, and the quest for the unknown. 

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The classic story arc of adventure where a protagonist embarks on a quest, gains an extraordinary experience, and returns transformed—whether it's a guest experiencing a resort, a yoga retreat, or a dish or beverage that transports them—are great stories for Explorer businesses. For many of our Explorer clients in adventure travel or recreation, we create stories that focus on explorers venturing into uncharted territories; like jungle trails, surf expeditions, lesser-known histories, or navigating major changes through symbolic journeys. 

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When we work with clients who are healers, fitness gurus, or yogis, Explorer narratives centered on an individual's inner journey of self-discovery and personal growth leaving one's comfort zone to explore new aspects of themselves, become particularly useful. Narratives involving journeys through time to explore different past eras or learn about historical figures are particularly effective for Explorer brands that connect to historical locations, resorts and holiday homes.

When we work with artists, musicians, or design studios that embody the Explorer in their brand persona, we often make stories that share their creative processes, staying true to themselves, and seeking inspiration. There are many story arcs and narratives that resonate with the Explorer archetype by capturing curiosity, adventure, and the pursuit of new horizons—whether external, internal or symbolic. They often inspire audiences to embrace their journeys of exploration and growth.

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It’s interesting to create stories that speak to the Explorer archetype in the audience too; we once created a series of written and visual stories for a merchandise collection designed specifically to help travellers take back the memories of the places they experienced in Sri Lanka; see this collection in our client’s store, and read this story about how we created the city story series. Another time, we created a story series as a series of postcards that considered the traveller audience of a hospitality business with a dominant Explorer archetype.

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Why many businesses relate to the Explorer right now

In our work, the Explorer is one of the most popular archetypes that we encounter among businesses. The Explorer has always held the fascination of the collective psyche; the volumes of pop culture and media, films, books, television shows, and documentaries with exploratory themes, adventure, and self-discovery through the ages tell us that the Explorer has been a beloved facet of the human mind for a very long time. 

However, after 2022, there’s a notable and significant resonance with this archetype among businesses—particularly, new ones. We think this Explorer archetype's relevance in the general business mindset has much to do with the start-up culture and entrepreneurial mindset of the time. Most decision-makers, particularly entrepreneurs, are Explorers themselves. It’s natural for business founders’ and custodians' personalities to influence the brand, allowing their desire for personal growth, fascination with diverse cultures, and a longing for adventure and discovery to seep into the business persona as well. There is also a renewed interest in travel and a desire to explore beyond one's immediate surroundings in contemporary culture; particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic which prompted reflection on the importance of rich life experiences. Societal shifts toward embracing diversity and inclusivity encourage people to explore and appreciate different cultures while growing awareness of climate change and environmental issues prompting exploration and appreciation of our planet, and the rise of remote work and digital nomadism have also contributed to the rising popularity of the Explorer.

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Our most frequent Explorer brand clients are in hospitality, food and beverages, health and mental well-being, and the creative industry. When we create stories for them, we make sure we bring out the traits that highlight their sense of adventure, resourcefulness and ability to stay authentic despite shifts in time and place. See how we helped a resort with an Explorer identity communicate how they stayed true to their offer during Sri Lanka’s economic crisis; this was a story designed to show how an Explorer persona used its superpower to stay true to self in the thick of changes within a seriously challenging context where the government had imposed strict import restrictions leading to ingredient limitations for their eclectic menu based on recipes around the world. To find out how we can tell your Explorer stories, get in touch.

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Where the story goes

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Designers’ Soup. This month, we are looking at the Explorer archetype. This archetype is known for its audacious curiosity and venturing into the unknown inspired by a sense of wonder. It's this thrill of encountering the unfamiliar that brings vitality to all the adventure stories we love. Sometimes, when we make stories—particularly ones involving a larger scope or team leaving room for more changes—I find myself leaning on my inner Explorer archetype and sensing where the story is moving through the inevitable changes.

Last year, we were invited to help direct the narrative of a Sri Lankan surf documentary. Early on, I decided to document my experience of working on this project. As the filming started, and I joined the film crew, I was faced with the dichotomy of presence versus documentation. I’ve been dancing with this paradox ever since. And I wonder, as someone who is part of building a narrative for the story, how do I become absorbed in the present, feeling out the moment to moment, while also recording it? To strike this balance, I keep a journal; it’s become a tool to reconcile the images and sounds captured from the day’s surf mission with the evocative emotions triggered by the experience. The camera encapsulates reality and the journal distills its essence. 

Some stories can be designed within strict parameters while others need room to evolve. Stories like documentary films are notorious for this need to take form through the changes that affect the team, place, resources and even things completely beyond the story makers’ control—like the weather.

The task of unravelling the essence of a story can be challenging, particularly when it’s ongoing. Since we started working on this film, there have been unpredictable weather changes, last-minute cancellations, and unexpected discoveries along the way; all these have moved us to adjust or make changes to the direction of the story. For these kinds of scenarios, we tend to let the story play out, keep the script open, and use a framework to tie the different pieces under a common thread later as the story gains more form. This approach works not just for documentary films, but also in shaping business stories. For example, in my company Public Works' case, the open script was intentional. We allowed the business an incubation period, enabling an organic evolution of its identity and persona. We knew our business would change as we settled into the market; we chose to wait before defining our story. This approach led to a more authentic representation of who we are and what we’re doing as a business; our narrative didn’t arise out of thin air, but rather from a deep-rooted understanding and real experiences. 

We use story maps as a way to keep track of where stories evolve, particularly when they’re complex or are forming a series. Especially in the case of stories that need wiggle room to evolve, story maps help us keep things on track and aim toward the end goal of the client. But, that’s a whole other story.

Change, like an uncharted path, demands preparedness. Packing for adventure is similar to a business gearing up for changes; you need to have an understanding of the basics you need and pack them; you must stay open and nimble enough to move with the tides. Everyone may not have the readiness, and this is where my work at Public Works usually emerges as a crucial ally to our clients. Most of what we did during COVID, was helping our clients stay in business. All the businesses we worked with, once they had the right tools and the know-how to use them, were able to adapt to the new landscape. As a consultant, I find myself channelling the seasoned guide aspect of the Explorer archetype. 

Coming back to this film, a good part of the work I’m doing on this documentary involves determining what is relevant to the story, where it’s going, and keeping us along that track. With the methods and tools we’ve designed to help our clients tell their business stories, I’ve been able to adapt and embrace the wonder of the unknown in documentary filmmaking. Let’s see where this story goes.

Our storytelling tools are designed to let stories evolve while making sure they stay on track to deliver commercial goals for the client. To find out how we use story maps to keep a story on track, drop us a message.