Our recent tribute to Steve Jobs, we’re delighted to report, has proved popular, eliciting some fabulous feedback and much-appreciated messages.

It was, we don’t mind admitting, a rather good read.

But it wasn’t just the words that have stuck a chord.

You see, accompanying our poignant post was an image, a rather special picture, beneath which lurks a story, one captivating, one rooted in connection.

The illustration in question is the work of Jonathan Mak, last week an anonymous student in Hong Kong, this week a world-renowned and sought-after designer, his work well-known, his talent a topic that has undergone discussion all over the planet.

You see, Jonathan’s graphic (pictured below) has featured just about everywhere the Earth over, and not just on our blog.

It has adorned the front pages of the world’s major newspapers, been shared countless times online and changed its unassuming creator’s life beyond all recognition.

“It’s crazy, unreal, terrifying,” admits Jonathan who, having posted the image on his personal blog site last week, has found himself in a limelight he never sought.

Job offers, requests from media organizations desperate to purchase the copyright, commendations from admirers far and wide, he received around 180,000 messages in the 24 hours that followed.

One suspects it wasn’t long before he had to lock the front door, unplug the phone and hide under his bed.

So great is the feeling for Steve Jobs, so awesome the internet’s reach, that this single artistic effort has connected Jonathan Mak with millions worldwide.

That, in itself, is fitting given the subject.

“The exponential rate at which the design spread in just a few hours says a lot about the power of social media and the influence of Steve Jobs,” said Jonathan.

“People have shared their stories about how Apple has made a difference in their lives, which is wonderful. I hope the design will be remembered, not for my sake but for Steve Jobs’, so his contributions will forever remain in people’s hearts, although I’m sure he needs no help with that.

“Steve Jobs believed in his own ideas and continued with his beliefs no matter how people criticized him. He was courageous.”

That last line struck a chord here, for reaching out and making connections requires no little courage, no little belief in yourself and your principles.

It’s the case here in Saunderstown, just as it was for Steve Jobs, just as it will be for Jonathan Mak, who on this evidence, has much to offer the world.

Given our eye for the aesthetic, it’s clear that, just as we feel we have much in common with the man behind the Apple revolution, so too we share a great deal with this talented teenager.

Connection, you see? It works in mysterious ways, but that matters not. The important thing is that, more often than not, it works.

We could leave it here, our point made, but on further investigation, we discovered something else about Jonathan Mak, a connection that could prove even more extraordinary.

You see, casting an eye over the blog site that launched him into the global consciousness, we stumbled across a link titled Spread a Little Joy.

That kind of thing tends to speak to us so we clicked it. Boy, are we glad we did.

Described as ‘a project started by Jonathan Mak to make the world a slightly less depressing place’, this is a concept right up our street.

It began when Jonathan decided to create a series of feel-good flyers that he left in the mailboxes of neighbours, neighbours unknown to him, in an attempt to touch their lives.

Since then the project has grown into a website, Jonathan urging his followers to use his example and create their own leaflets, photographing them first and submitting them to use on his blog, before distributing them to their own neighbours.

“With the collective effort of all you wonderful people, I hope this can grow into a global movement,” he wrote. “This is about making other people happy, this is about spreading a little joy, one flyer at a time.”

Sound familiar? Here in our studio, where we’re aiming to connect the world one OM at a time, it spoke loud and clear.

Flyers, OMs, the conduit matters not: For us, like Jonathan, this is about sharing, spreading a message, coming together and connecting.

Here’s to Hong Kong’s finest. Here’s to Spreading a Little Joy. Here’s to our OMs.

We are all connected.