What is subplot?
© subplot
Filed July 2025 · Samuel Gray, Founder of FORWARD WORKS
I didn't start Subplot to launch another editorial section for a website. Or a blog of unoriginal thoughts, purely for SEO purposes. Honestly, I started it because I kept noticing things I wanted to remember or share and they didn't quite fit anywhere else.
They weren’t always big insights, either. Sometimes it was just a weird format that kept showing up in the stuff I was watching, or a piece of design that was interesting enough to screenshot and then forget about until I saw it again. Sometimes it was a pattern in brand campaigns that made sense but only after I’d noticed it three or four times.
I realised I needed a place to track those small moments, half-formed thoughts and references. Somewhere I could sit down and figure out why they seemed interesting. Maybe even useful, without the pressure of turning them into something polished for a client or a pitch.
That’s Subplot. It’s just a journal, really. A running log of ideas, references, questions and observations. Some things come from what we’re doing at FORWARD WORKS or conversations with clients, or things I see brands doing that feel quietly clever. Other times it’s just stuff I’ve noticed - an odd edit style, an old print format or a casting choice that somehow feels smarter than the campaign itself.
The point isn’t to turn everything into an answer or a neat takeaway. It’s to spend a little time looking at how creative work actually works or why it sometimes doesn’t or why something sticks around long enough to matter.
Sometimes I’m not even sure what I’m looking for until I see it twice.
A structure that keeps resurfacing. A moment that feels off. A reference I thought was gone but suddenly fits again.
Is this actually useful, or just interesting? Would we use this in a deck? Would I even know how to explain it? That’s really what Subplot is for. Not to document everything, just to pin down things worth thinking through.
If you're looking for a space to follow the things that feel like they matter, even if you can't put your finger on why, then keep checking in.
If you'd like to contribute, I'd like that too. Reach out to me: samuel@forward-works.com
I didn't start Subplot to launch another editorial section for a website. Or a blog of unoriginal thoughts, purely for SEO purposes. Honestly, I started it because I kept noticing things I wanted to remember or share and they didn't quite fit anywhere else.
They weren’t always big insights, either. Sometimes it was just a weird format that kept showing up in the stuff I was watching, or a piece of design that was interesting enough to screenshot and then forget about until I saw it again. Sometimes it was a pattern in brand campaigns that made sense but only after I’d noticed it three or four times.
I realised I needed a place to track those small moments, half-formed thoughts and references. Somewhere I could sit down and figure out why they seemed interesting. Maybe even useful, without the pressure of turning them into something polished for a client or a pitch.
That’s Subplot. It’s just a journal, really. A running log of ideas, references, questions and observations. Some things come from what we’re doing at FORWARD WORKS or conversations with clients, or things I see brands doing that feel quietly clever. Other times it’s just stuff I’ve noticed - an odd edit style, an old print format or a casting choice that somehow feels smarter than the campaign itself.
The point isn’t to turn everything into an answer or a neat takeaway. It’s to spend a little time looking at how creative work actually works or why it sometimes doesn’t or why something sticks around long enough to matter.
Sometimes I’m not even sure what I’m looking for until I see it twice.
A structure that keeps resurfacing. A moment that feels off. A reference I thought was gone but suddenly fits again.
Is this actually useful, or just interesting? Would we use this in a deck? Would I even know how to explain it? That’s really what Subplot is for. Not to document everything, just to pin down things worth thinking through.
If you're looking for a space to follow the things that feel like they matter, even if you can't put your finger on why, then keep checking in.
If you'd like to contribute, I'd like that too. Reach out to me: samuel@forward-works.com