People like to get their hands on things. It’s why you see so many “do not touch” signs in shops. It’s why my children walked up to an Andy Warhol exhibit in a New York museum, fingers ready to jab (until restrained by dad to the relief of wide-eyed curators).

We are tactile creatures. It’s a big part of how we understand our surroundings, how we sense the world, how we relate to things and to each other.

These elephants in Trafalgar Square are some of 250 in London at the moment. Each decorated by a different artist or celebrity, the aim is to raise money to safeguard elephant populations worldwide.

Everyone wants to stroke them, to make contact with them. The models bring the cause to life.

Maybe you have a project or an idea that you want people to understand, to connect with or get behind? Why not make a model of it, a sculpture or some sort of object?

Bring your cause to life and see how people react.

Tags: brand, communication