looking for the why

Full-time graphic designer has been great. In-house graphic designer has not. Unexpected challenges arise when one Creative exists in an office of many… well, not creatives. I am piling up quite a paragraph of relevant experience. I have a heap of responsibility—there is actual back-strain involved most days (correct posture in front of a computer for 8 hours a day is really important). I also have some great projects, a handful of new and wonderful people and a growing curiosity for the growth of design, branding and my knowledge of it all.

However, I'm not going to sit here and recap a lot of unimportant details on how I got here or what I'm doing now that I am here.

Another print project has landed on my task list. I excitedly dove into this project with research and thumbnail ideas only to discover the intended content is grossly in need of a face lift. The content reads much like the fine print on an exciting ad, yet is missing the exciting part that brought the reader to the fine print in the first place. There is no "why." A reader would glance at this piece, never finding an interesting word to begin with and leave the piece never knowing exactly what it was. My latest hero and brand guru, Marty Neumeier, discusses the packaging design natural reading sequence in his impressive book The Brand Gap:

1. Grab attention. 2. What is it? 3. Why should they care? 4. Why should they buy? 5. Finally, the then necessary buying details.

The content in this piece bypasses the first 4 and beelines to #5 as it cancels out the "then necessary" part.
So here I sit, looking for the "why," and pondering how it could be possible to lose it in the first place.