Category: Editing

Hearty

Posted on Posted in Editing, Writing
Hearty eggs at Morrisons
Hearty eggs at Morrisons

writing | sub editing | editing

COPY IS EVERYWHERE. From the billboards in Kings Cross to the side of a juice carton, someone has carefully considered every word to communicate the right message in a given space, so that if you’re interested enough by the front of the box, once you’ve turned it over and read the back you’re guaranteed to stick it in your trolley.

Independent food producers Fridays Ltd tasked me with updating copy on their egg box –  40-50 words replacing what was already on the back of the box, including two main points: 1. The hens are free range; 2. The eggs contain omega-3.

We set the scene quickly by using imagery to convey the hens’ extensive free range run of trees and hedgerows, which keep them ‘bright-eyed and fine-feathered’, and chose to retain the existing phrase which effectively demonstrated that the hens’ health comes first – after the hens have topped up on omega-3 they ‘generously put some in the eggs for us’.

The updated wording was incorporated into the fresh design of the new pack, and the new Hearty eggs in brand new boxes are now available exclusively in Morrisons.

I am continuing to work with Hearty, developing their brand story. If you would like some assistance in developing your brand, contact me at jo.burge@gmail.com 

Blue Ventures

Posted on Posted in Editing, Leaflets, WritingTagged , ,

writing | sub editing | editing

BLUE VENTURES IS a marine conservation charity taking volunteers on dive expeditions to coastal tropical communities. They wanted a new A3 z-fold leaflet to hand out at careers fairs to generate new interest and bookings to Madagascar and Belize.

They sent me an abundance of existing information from brochures and posters to web links and testimonials. After that and a phone call checking we were all on track, I got down to business.

With four sections recommended by Blue Ventures I set about dividing and chopping information, and split it further under more headings for greater momentum in leading readers through the leaflet, whilst allowing them to dip in at any point. I added interest by breaking the text into bullets under easy-to-read sections including ‘Get trained’ and ‘Why us?’, engaged the reader with more fluid paragraphs to give visualisations of ‘being there’, and selected appropriate testimonials, all with prospective volunteers in mind.

After a few tweaks, I left it with Blue Ventures while their designer got to work – as pictured in this post.

Need a marketing leaflet or company brochure? Drop me an email: jo.burge@gmail.com

The Angel Orchestra

Posted on Posted in Editing, Programmes

writing | sub editing | editing

THE ANGEL ORCHESTRA wanted a concert programme for a series of unique exchange performances in London with an orchestra from Italy. It needed to contain not only the usual information (programme notes, conductor and soloist biographies, order of play, etc), but have a special touch to make it a souvenir.

The ‘Angels’ are incredibly friendly and sociable as an orchestra, and we wanted to tie this into the programme and add personal touches to help concert-goers get to know musicians.

With this in mind we organised a chat with Angel Orchestra Conductor Peter Fender, from which we wrote a special introduction to welcome the audience in first person narrative. We also ran an ‘In the spotlight’ question and answer column with each conductor. This provided an easy-to-read personality snapshot alongside their more formal biographies, revealing their inspiration, best – and worst – concert moments, etc.

By this time we had chased in the rest of the copy and images needed to hand to our designer, then it was down to the usual: final proofread and send to print!

If you need a concert programme or event copy, email me at jo.burge@gmail.com