FINESTRA
CONVERSATION PROMPTS
STRATEGY • COPYWRITING • WORLD BUILDING
There’s an expression that says, when someone dies, a library has burned. Every one of us holds a library of experiences and perceptions, and though it’s a loss when these things disappear, the greater tragedy is when the books in these libraries go unread.
The world is filled with conversational products aiming to create discussion and connection. However, many of these products fall short exactly where you would think: people feel self-conscious. They clam up, they don’t want to look inside for the answer, and even if they do, they don’t want to share it.
Finestra is different.
Consisting of fifty-two cards that each begin with a narrative and end with a question, Finestra hopes to guide participants, if only for a moment, away from themselves. Research shows that we’re able to engage our inner worlds more easily and more deeply when we create a degree of distance. By starting participants in a slightly magical, otherworldly place, Finestra pulls them a step outside of themselves, allowing them to be honest and vulnerable with the person across the table.
All of us carry libraries inside us. We don’t think a single library should burn before all the books have been read.
The influences for the aesthetics of Finestra range from the lighthearted magical realism of Miyazaki to the violent darkness of Giallo films. From illustrated manuscripts to cosmic horror, we wanted the narrative worlds to be both delightful and dangerous.
We love artifacts and objects that tell a story We dreamed of Finestra being such an object. No matter if it sits at a coffee shop for ten years, gets left at a bus stop, or is mailed to a friend without explanation, we wanted this simple deck of fifty-two cards to immediately conjure a sense of magic and timelessness.
