Glyphics
Glyphics transform branding or wayfinding ideas into customised signs from their Shoreditch HQ, bringing functionality to all sorts of spaces - from corporate offices to cultural organisations. In 2005, I consulted with them on web design, UX, art direction, editorial and social media strategy. They asked me to stay on and revitalise their messaging, elevating their comms and visuals across all platforms, from their website to their socials and printed materials. Having established the company's identity over the years, I now produce photography, short films, interviews and case studies to maintain active engagement and support business development.
Southbank Centre
The Alchemy Festival celebrates the exchange of ideas between the east and the west, showcasing creatives and contemporary works from seven South Asian countries - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh - as well as the UK. As a person who exists in the intersection of culture being celebrated, it was an honour to be part of the 11 day event in 2016, where I led content development of the Southbank Centre’s printed programme, interviewing 25 people to formulate a feature-packed magazine that gives context to a festival catering to thousands.
City Academy
City Academy is a private company that runs a range of performing and creative arts classes for adults at over 40 locations across London. I initially joined on a three-month freelance contract and was offered a permanent position as an editorial producer at the end of it. I developed blog content (10k+ views per piece), print literature for members, and scripts for videos and ads. My responsibilities also included event photography and Instagram content - tripling our following in 4 months.
Huck/O'Neill
The Working Artisans’ Club is an initiative by HUCK and O’Neill that celebrates the indie maker community in a print series. Spread over a year, it culminates in an exhibition of those featured at 71a Gallery in Shoreditch.
Through candid interviews, I mapped out the trajectory of the artists' lives, discovering the sources of inspiration that led to their niche realisations of DIY design. This journalistic style of branding took readers on a soulful journey, positively associating both sponsors with the resurrection of salt-of-the-earth craft.
Groupon
Groupon is a global leader in local e-commerce and mobile-led shopping, operating in 47 countries with more than 200 million subscribers.
As creative writer and site editor, my job was to enable rank #1 in search results and the highest possible ROI by sourcing and producing digital marketing content that inspires users to want to go out: photo essays, merchant profiles, and engaging venue or location write-ups, full of trusted recommendations and insights. Working to 45-minute deadlines, each advertorial was not only information-rich and customer-focused, but also kept to ASA guidelines and in-house copy style/standards.
InShoreditch/Yammer
Independent Shoreditch was a group of business owners interested in helping to promote, strengthen and support the area's pioneering entrepreneurial community. That had been achieved thanks to cost savings through joint buying and providing a forum for small-medium sized companies to have a collective voice.
This leaflet was drafted in that vein; using the founder's conversational tone and my editorial treatment to encourage private sector engagement on the £50m redevelopment of the Old Street roundabout. It also aimed to set up a best practice model regarding future infrastructure projects that would impact local enterprise - created in collaboration with neighbourhood success story and professional social network, Yammer. The flip side of the leaflet was capitalised upon with promotional ad copy for other ventures pertaining to InShoreditch, with each print out hand-delivered to office doors for maximum B2B impact.
Bamboo Bicycle Club
My first port of call as a freelance consultant at Bamboo Bicycle Club was to add meaningfulness to its products - DIY bike making workshops and home-build kits. To kick off, I implemented strong media representations of the business' ethos within newsletters: capitalising on the idea of being unafraid to use our bare hands, a nature-led approach to engineering and of building our own products. I then streamlined the brand's visual identity across different elements, including the website logo and a clothing range redesign.
Visits to the workshop allowed me to document behind-the-scenes activity and gather content for the website to drive traffic to the blog. I managed to establish a bigger online presence through backlinks and interactions with key players like cycling journalist, Robert Penn, and provided bite sized insights for email, newsletter and social media campaigns.
Some Voices
Featured in The Guardian, this high energy indie choir is all about the power of group singing whatever the vocal ability.
Through integrating a periodic member’s newsletter, I was able to encourage knowledge sharing and open up communication channels, enabling the musical masterminds behind Some Voices to tap into their network of 300 voices. I also put SEO blogging into practice to head up external brand engagement; profiling the everyday folk that take part with targeted Q&As.
Boardettes/BRGTN
Boardettes synthesises women in board sports and femme subcultures with the wider movement of extreme lifestyle. A growing digital title and real world social enterprise, the brand co-hosted Seaside Sessions 2015, a two-day skate festival on Brighton's seafront as part of Paddle Round the Pier, in partnership with local enterprise BRGTN.
The brief was to create a step-by-step sponsorship package and press release that would compel well-loved indie and mainstream brands to come on board within less than a month of the event. In response, I co-designed a stand-out media pack and statement, singlehandedly formulating digestible bites of copy that gave prospective partners insight into sponsorship levels and the possible benefits of each, winning support from the likes of Volcom, Etnies and Vans.