I walked out of the Michael biopic thinking about brands like Adobe, Polaroid, and Airbnb. The film is not just a tribute to the King of Pop. It is a close study in how storytelling is used to shape what an audience remembers, accepts, and feels. This issue reflects on how brands have been doing the same thing for years.

What turns a brand story into something the audience retells on its own? A look at Airbnb's Milano Cortina campaign and the alphabet FutureBrand drew from the Amazon river. Plus a thought about what AI still cannot do.

Week 1 of Design Brands that Last is behind me, and one concept did not get the time it deserved. So this Sunday I want to give it the space it needed: resolution, and the three spheres through which a brand's impact actually lands. Two of them is what makes a brand last. Three is what makes one rare.