I’m a writer for brands and businesses, helping them connect powerfully with their audiences. My clients cover fields from property, tech and manufacturing to retail, design and the arts, and include some of the most respected names in British business, culture and campaigning.

I’m a writer for brands and businesses, helping them connect powerfully with their audiences. My clients cover fields from property, tech and manufacturing to retail, design and the arts, and include some of the most respected names in British business, culture and campaigning.

I work and collaborate with leading design studios, creative teams and strategists, helping bring brands to life through storytelling and brand voice, as well as digital, print, film, advertising and naming projects.

I work and collaborate with leading design studios, creative teams and strategists, helping bring brands to life through storytelling and brand voice, as well as digital, print, film, advertising and naming projects.

And I’m the author of several books about design, such as Logo, Logotype and World Without Words.

And I’m the author of several books about design, such as Logo, Logotype and World Without Words.

About ME

I’ve been an independent copywriter since the mid-1990s, and a writer on design for even longer. On Design magazine I covered international developments in graphic and product design for four years, before becoming a regular freelance contributor to Design Week, Blueprint and Graphics International.

At the same time, I started working with design studios on projects that required some verbal warp to their visual weft. Early clients included Ideal Standard, Bowers & Wilkins and the British Council. Today, I’m lucky to still be working with clients who recognise the value of good design and a well-chosen word.

Selected works:

Exhibitions:

  • 2017

    The Wolpe Exhibition

    The Wolpe Exhibition

    A celebration of the work of émigré book and type designer Berthold Wolpe to mark the revival of several Wolpe typefaces by Monotype. At The Type Archive, south London.

  • 2018

    It Will Never Work

    It Will Never Work

    A travelling exhibition and accompanying book reviewing the first 25 years of regeneration developer Urban Splash, in honest, tell-it-like-it-was detail.

  • 2018

    Design for Rail

    Design for Rail

    Documenting Roundel’s development of the groundbreaking visual identity for BR’s Railfreight division in 1987. At D&AD, London.

  • 2018

    Open House: Dartington Hall Trust

    Open House: Dartington Hall Trust

    A public exhibition and consultation on Dartington’s future development, from its buildings and gardens to its educational and cultural programmes.

  • 2010

    UK Pavilion for Expo 2010 Shanghai

    UK Pavilion for Expo 2010 Shanghai

    Accompanying text for Troika’s installations, Green City, Open City and Living City, leading into Thomas Heatherwick’s ‘Seed Cathedral’.

  • 2001

    ReDesign

    ReDesign

    An international travelling exhibition and catalogue for the British Council celebrating the UK’s achievements in sustainable design and architecture, opened in Oslo by HM the Queen.

Books:

The topic of my first book might seem like an odd choice for a writer: World Without Words documented the substitution of text in numerous areas of life with wordless symbols, icons and imagery.

LOGO, first published by Laurence King in 2007, collected classic, new and notable corporate symbols currently in use, giving a thumbnail history of each. The revised and updated edition, which appeared in 2020, has kept the title near the top of the best-selling books on branding and graphic design.

Selected other clients:

  • Arjowiggins Creative Papers

    Website content, product launch campaigns and product literature

  • Arup

    Presentations, project stories, award entries

  • BAFTA

    Annual reviews 2005 to 2007

  • The Bartlett School of Architecture

    Brand voice development

  • Brick By Brick

    Manifesto

  • Camberwell College of Arts

    Student prospectuses

  • The Climate Group

    Launch booklet

  • Dan Pearson

    Website content

  • Deepmind

    Scholarship stories

  • Fontsmith

    Brand voice, website content

  • Hawkins\Brown

    Project stories for It's Your Building 30-year commemorative book

  • HRG Worldwide

    Website content, lead brochure

  • Invesco

    Brand guidelines

  • King's College London

    Campus redevelopment booklet

  • Land Securities

    Capital Commitment lead brochures

  • Lend Lease Europe

    Bluewater - Vision to Reality book

  • Lynne Hunt London

    Website content

  • MultiAdaptor

    Brand voice development for multiple clients

  • Pentagram

    Brand guidelines for multiple clients

  • The Royal Institute of British Architects

    Member literature

  • Simmons Bakers

    Brand voice, website content

  • South Hampstead School

    Prospectus and website content

  • Stockholm Design Lab

    Website content

  • Wales Milennium Centre

    Brand story