Variety is the spice of life. I'm just as happy whipping up campaign straplines as I am getting stuck into a piece of long-form journalism. Take a glimpse at some of my favourite projects.
Digital storytelling
Lonely Not Alone
Space. Vast, empty, cold. Loneliness can feel this way too.
Welcome to this digital universe, where young people can share their stories of loneliness and find their tribes in the form of shining constellations. I joined Effervescent on this Co-op Foundation project, to work with young creatives as the project writer.
Welcome to this digital universe, where young people can share their stories of loneliness and find their tribes in the form of shining constellations. I joined Effervescent on this Co-op Foundation project, to work with young creatives as the project writer.
Magic: The Gathering
Streets of New Capenna: The Mystery
I was called on by creative agency YRS TRULY to add words to a product launch like no other. For the latest Magic: The Gathering release, Streets of New Capenna, we created an art heist mystery game themed around its five warring demon-led crime families, and asked a select group of streamers to solve the puzzle with their audiences. Delving into the lore of the game, I pinned down the narrative and wrote letters in the voice of each crime family as well as editing clues that each family left behind. An art deco style evidence box, a series of puzzles and a twisty-turny ending later, and the mystery was solved.
Images courtesy of YRS TRULY and Wizards of the Coast
Ordnance Survey: Secret Stories app
Ready for a romp through the forest? How about storytelling in the city? The new Secret Stories app from Ordnance Survey is full of fun, local mini adventures.
I put together a multimedia tour through Lyndhurst, discovering Alice's real Wonderland. Look out for wildlife, go back in time, and meet a local dragon slayer.
I put together a multimedia tour through Lyndhurst, discovering Alice's real Wonderland. Look out for wildlife, go back in time, and meet a local dragon slayer.
Loóna
Loóna is an award-winning app to help soothe minds with interactive content, and it's a joy to regularly write creative stories for the platform.
Brand features
Eurovision 2023
I cha-cha-cha-ed to Liverpool for Eurovision 2023, to work for the EBU's digital team as a copy editor. And it was indeed phenomen-phenomen-phenomenal. I wrote artist profiles for the website and programme, extended articles for each artist and other pieces of editorial. Here's a flavour of what I produced from the greatest show on Earth.
Photo credits left to right and top to bottom: Loreen: Corinne Cumming / EBU; Voyager: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU; Tvorchi: Chloe Hashemi / EBU; Kalush Orchestra: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU; Teya and Salena: Corinne Cumming / EBU; Vesna: Corinne Cumming / EBU
Lush's bubble bar campaign
What's the story behind the Elsie the Giraffe bubble bath? For one of my first projects at Lush, I was asked to write a children's style story featuring a new griaffe-shaped bubble bar. Meet Elsie, the giraffe with her head in the clouds.
Lush gift campaign
I led the Lush gifting campaign in 2019, with the story behind Lush gifts landing on shop floor screens across the country. As part of the campaign, I got into the history of Lush's reusable gift wrap, inspired by Japanese traditions. This is the story behind Lush's Knot Wrap journey, from picking out materials to transforming the gift wrap game.
Raising the bar for Jungle Culture
Keep your conscience clean and your soap bars green. A branded feature about natural soap bars for ethical retailer and fan of coconuts, Jungle Culture.
Products and windows
Shaking up Boxtails
This letterbox cocktail company's copy was looking a little shaken, not stirred. I hopped aboard to shape their tone of voice and get their words well mixed. Here's a flavour of the product copy I whipped up. Look out for remaining web rewrites and blog content that'll be hitting their site soon.
Awareness-raising campaigns
In my job as senior writer at Lush, I shaped and led a whole host of awareness raising campaigns. Think fake fake fur (not a typo), lost orangutan habitat, and getting a UK citizen off death row in Ethiopia. Here's a little look at what I got up to.
Buy one, set one free
This is the campaign that's closest to my heart. British citizen Andy Tsege was being illegally held on death row in Ethiopia, and Lush joined Reprieve to call for his release. In a physical and digital campaign, we raised funds through bath bombs and called on people to sign postcard petitions. I got to know Andy's family, joined them outside the Foreign Office, and cried at my desk the day that Andy arrived back on UK soil.
I led the Lush Times content strategy, interviewing Reprieve directors, Andy's family members, and writing up the stories behind the campaign. Here are some of those pieces of content, including a video that I produced (but I can't take credit for the edit).
I led the Lush Times content strategy, interviewing Reprieve directors, Andy's family members, and writing up the stories behind the campaign. Here are some of those pieces of content, including a video that I produced (but I can't take credit for the edit).
Uncovering digital ethics
I concepted a physical space where people could explore the ethics behind their mobile phones. We started in a mobile phone shop, where the damaging impacts blared out as if they were special offers for the latest handsets. Next we moved into a smoky room filled with e-waste and a video showing the environmental cost. And finally we came out into the light, showcasing groups creating solutions.
When they're gone, they're gone
Lush sold soap, I told stories. I led the Lush Times content alongside Lush's fundraising campaign to protect orangutan environment in Sumatra. I wrote articles, interviewed organisations for videos, and planned content. I kept in touch with SOS Sumatra and the Orangutan Information Centre, telling their stories over time.
Here's a flavour of a few more campaigns that I worked on at Lush, partnering with Reprieve, HSI, and Access Now.
Lush Times magazine
In 2019, I co-edited a shiny new Lush Times magazine, relaunched after a little break. This wasn't the usual product catalogue, but a collectable curation of stories that champion innovation and spark change.
The magazine was sold in UK/IRL Lush shops, and translated into Japanese.
The magazine was sold in UK/IRL Lush shops, and translated into Japanese.