Portfolio FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL STUDIOS—Contact


Long, short; digital, print; new brands and evolving ones: here is a selection of clients from the past few years. They include: Acne Studios, The Obama Foundation, Madhappy, North Six, Paul Smith, TAG Heuer, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, LoveFrom and – myself. 

I am also the former managing editor of Monocle magazine and Winkreative creative agency, and for editor-in-chief of the UK’s Icon magazine. 

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CONCEPT, WRITING / FOR SCALE

— A weekly Substack, exploring the supreme potential of domestic interiors. Early praise, care of Blackbird Spyplane: “Our favorite sletter right now is called For Scale... The look of it is tight, the voice is really fun, and the sh*t is crafted with deep knowledge, careening wit,  far-ranging references, a killer eye and a healthy use of ALL CAPS.”

FOR SCALE has an audience of 9,000 across 90 countries. Archive found here.


STRATEGY / MADHAPPY

— Currently working with LA-based clothing brand Madhappy on brand development, including revising their mission statement, and a coming revision to their tone of voice; and, copywriting for their SS24 collection of graphic tees.

EDITING, COPYWRITING / NORTH SIX

— A first-ever editorial expression by top-tier production company North Six, the North Six Yearbook is a celebration of 21 years of business. A snapshot in time of its places and projects, it also reaches outside its payroll and explores the world around it through the eyes of New Museum’s Karen Wong, guerilla garderner Ron Finley, GQ Middle East editor Ahmad Swaid, chef Rose Chalalai Singh, gallerist Alexander May, and others.

In addition to the concept, commissioning, and editing, there was some copywriting, too – here, for example.

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COPYWRITING / MESH

— Refined and put to words the strategic foundation of MESH, a web3 fund and accelerator, as well as developing their tone of voice, one they wanted to be energized, optimistic, and stripped of industry jargon. 

COPYWRITING / AIRBNB

— As the only external copywriter, I developed the framing and wrote copy for the Voyager Scholarship for Public Service, a partnership between The Obama Foundation and Airbnb’s co-founder Brian Chesky – two formidable and very particular clients. 

COPYWRITING / ASK US FOR IDEAS

— As part of an ongoing partnership (that also produced the Private View(s) podcast, in twenty nineteen), I wrote copy for the opening of the new offices of ASK US FOR IDEAS. Briefed to respond to artwork by Spiritual Objects and to introduce AUFI to their neighbors, it reads: 

“Delicate when alone. A kaleidoscope of joy when side by side. Some things are better together. ASK US FOR IDEAS is happy to be here with you.”


STRATEGY, TONE OF VOICE / BISHOP RANCH

— Content strategy and copywriting for Bishop Ranch, a once-vibrant business park near San Francisco seeking to reshape its image. 

COPYWRITING / WERT&CO.

A new website for Wert&Co., leading executive search agency for the design sector. 

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COPYWRITING, STRATEGY / ACNE STUDIOS, 2020-2021

— Consulted with Acne Studios to round out their naturally steely Swedishness with a more poetic tone of voice for Instagram, their primary connection with their audience, as well as new types of humanized content (which would become #AcnePeople). 

Copy examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 


COPYWRITING / PAUL SMITH 

— With signature Paul Smith bright-and-Britishness, and the humble acknoledgment of the need for progress, new copy for the brand’s sustainability pages.

CONCEPT, EDITING / ING 

— I edited a book for essays and interviews on the built environment for consultancy and PR firm ING. Contributors included musician and artist Brian Eno, legendary Berlin club owner Dimitri Hegemann, MoMA architecture and design curator Paola Antonelli, Cairo-based curator and writer Mohamed Elshahed, and others.
 


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CONCEPT, COPYWRITING / WHERE WE STAND

Where We Stand, a personal project, was a design challenge that asked 15 world-leading design agencies, designers and design partnerships to help reimagine public spaces to fit the physically-distanced demands we had to place on them, as we grappled with a global pandemic. The project was covered in Dezeen, El País (Spain), The Creative Review, The Brand Identity, It’s Nice That, Design Week, Grafikmagazin (Germany), The Business Times (Singapore), and others.


COPYWRITING / LOVEFROM 

— Trusted with cowriting the manifesto of LoveFrom, starting with the words of Jony Ive, around his notion of working from a place of ‘love and fury’.

COPYWRITING / WGP MONOGRAPH

— Content strategy and writing for the not-entirely-typical monograph of London-based architects WG+P.  A very zine-like design by Studio Lowrie was juxtaposed with contextualizing, intellectualizing, inquisitive copy.



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COPYWRITING / LOOKBOOKS

— The tone of voice and copy for online booksellers LOOKBOOKS.  A short, simple, impactful ‘ABOUT’ to set the tone for an approachable but niche store:

“LOOKBOOKS is an independent seller of old, kinda fun books. Founded in 2019 in London, we’re not beholden to borders: we do worldwide sourcing and worldwide shipping.”

CONCEPT, COPYWRITING / “PLACE SETTINGS” DINNER SERIES

— For leading ‘placemaking’ agency MARK (London, UK), I launched a dinner series that would bring together designers, bureacrats, and important locals (the librarian, the record store owner, the restaurateur) into conversation. The first was held on the rooftop of a former department store in Brixton and was dedicated to “grit”. The invite reads:

A good place is one that’s a bit lived in, isn’t it? But we never build them like that. We build them polished and ‘perfect’. Is that boring? Maybe even wrong? What is it about the ‘grit’ of a city that makes it a healthier, better, or even more inclusive place; and how  do we let that in?

But there’s another type of grit that makes cities work, too: strength of character, a resolve to build and support ‘community’. 

We raise our galsses to both and share experiences about it takes to build a place with good grit, and the right amount of it.”


CONCEPT, PRODUCTION / PRIVATE VIEW(S)

Private View(s) is a ten-episode podcast, getting inside some of the world's most exciting creative studios, in collaboration with ASK US FOR IDEAS. The podcast was recorded in London and New York City, and features Made Thought, Koto, RoAndCo, Collins, Base, Character, Gretel, AllofUs, Mythology and DesignStudio.

OLDER


EDITORIAL DIRECTION / NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG

— For Switzerland’s newspaper of record, I revised the editorial strategy for “Z” its monthly supplement on style, integrating both longer and much shorter content as well as new regular story concepts to bring more levity and youthful energy – imagined dinner parties, graphically-driven interview formats, the integration of architecture and travel guides, and more.


BRAND DEVELIOPMENT / EDITORIAL: TSZ SHAN MONASTERY

— Opened in 2015, just outside of Hong Kong, the Tsz Shan Monastery was built by the Li Ka Shing Foundation, with a mission to offer key lessons from Buddhist teachings to those struggling with the pressures and anxieties of urban life. I oversaw the editorial direction of a book to communicate Tsz Shan’s philosophy, and honour its inauguration and develop its unique tone of voice.

SCRIPT WRITING: TAG HEUER

— For Monocle, scripted a film to celebrate the collaboration between TAG Heuer and Japanese designer Hiroshi Fujiwara about the value of design and the relationship between Switzerland and Japan.