Look, we all know you just clicked on this one, because, “OMG, the emoji thing on wheels is adorable!” Don’t pretend you’re here to hear about all the words I wrote for Waze. You’re not even reading those words. Or these.
The short version is that we did a lot of work for Waze to launch an entirely redesigned and rewritten website. This included everything from the homepage for the masses to the nitty-gritty features for a niche audience of city officials. We also developed banners that chiseled away at a long-held belief that banners were almost never fun. And then, we created COVID updates, video scripts, brand guidelines, and lots of sentences about what “Waze knows” (a lot, as it happens). You get it. On to the next project.
I should make this sound really epic. One shoe to change the world. One site to unravel our whole understanding of life, death, and an agnostic beyond. But really, it's an international shoe customization site. It was playful, utilitarian, and a ton of fun to write.
What if everyone's favorite iconic car was going to be coming back, but this time...as an EV? Well, thank goodness, because this planet isn't going to stop burning anytime soon.
For this project: we wanted to tease, excite, and then sell what we knew would be the EVs for the masses, but to do so, we really needed to excite people about EVs in general and separate them from myths about difficulty of use (charging really is nbd) and about attainability. (We can't all afford Teslas, and who wants to support Elon anyway?)
NBCUniversal asked thelab to bring them a campaign that would get the attention of a very media-savvy audience: the media industry itself. In preparation of their upfront, they wanted to speak to their immersive, big-data-driven reach, so we created a campaign would turn the heads of media buyers, planners, salespeople, and advertisers.
It was great to work with the team at Equality Fund and the visual peeps at Mighty Oak to create this video. When it comes to watchable content, I’d say most of us just hit that shiny ‘Play’ button, but I’d be happy to flap further on what went into me writing this script and how we made this video when we chat.
I worked on BMW for 4 years, and despite being unlicensed in real life, I learned about every detail from the Hofmeister Kink to electronic slip differential. Some projects required campaign re-branding for BMW as a whole, while others were conceptual launches of specific new vehicles. Here are a few favorite projects from the years spent immersed in the Ultimate Driving Machine.
BMX X6 Sneaking Inside Designworks
BMW has fans. I mean twin-turbocharged, totally obsessed motorheads. So when BMW came to us with a whole new kind of vehicle, the Sports Activity Coupe, my partner and I had the thought that we could make the site that appeared to be a feed from various security cameras inside BMW Designworks in Munich. Site visitors navigated the view from these cameras to explore part sketches, material swatches, power specs, and beautiful views of the car, while employees walked around measuring wind-tunnel aerodynamics and torque.
BMW 2 Series + BMW 4 Series Redesign
These two projects allowed me to write attention-grabbing headlines for the attention-deficit online browsers of today.
BMW 3 Series Envy Management Kit
This is a car for an egotistical and wealthy demographic. Why not play with that?
BMW JOY.
This was that huge international rebranding I was talking about. So, I wrote words for an extra big audience this time. That's as exciting as I can make this blurb.
BMW 1 Series
We created a Welcome Kit for Americans to prepare for the arrival of the already globally popular and formerly European-exclusive 1 Series.
BMW Nurburgurgring
All BMWs are tested on the track literally known as The Green Hell. This project made me want to get my license again.
I will not mock this one, because unlike many projects, this one was about helping, not selling, and ultimately I'd rather do that.*
Collaborative among design, UX, copy, and the client through the whole process, the Robin Hood Foundation redesign was a spot of true collaboration. It was also a spot of work that made me proud, like send-it-home-to-mom-to-hang-on-her-fridge proud instead of icky like maybe we shouldn't be telling people there's such thing as life-changing hair.
* NOTE: RECRUITERS, THAT WAS A HINT.**
** NOTE ON THE NOTE: CAPS LOCK ENSURES I AM AS SUBTLE AS A SLEDGEHAMMER.
Why did an email make the cut? Because I was assigned a boring project and turned in a poem. Was this 'cause I'm so smart and exceptional and creative? No. It's because if emails are boring to write, you bet they're boring to receive, and it's nice to make someone's day less annoying. A bit like putting a poem in my portfolio when you know someone has to read portfolios all day.
A fashion designer you might recognize if you've been to Italy (or Canal Street) wanted to launch a line of denim in America using sexy videos of Cristiano Ronaldo and Megan Fox walking around in their underwear. We knew it would be super difficult to get people to want to look at that, but we took on the project anyway. We invited site visitors to walk around their rooms, snooping through their things, and shopping or sharing the items they found and liked. Look at that. A real writeup. Next square.
We worked with an NYC-based charity that helps to bring excess textiles, office supplies, and goods from fashion labels and other companies to schools in Malawi. Well, that was part 1 when we gave them a new logo, tagline, and website. Then, in part 2, they added farms to their non-profit's efforts and came back to us to make a site about that, too. Good project. Good people. All for good.
We made a site. Sorry, I'm already tired of explaining what we did on these, and you're probably not reading, but oh well, let me try again. What we did here was make a website that would, in the words of our case study video, help Luden's throat drops jump from grandma's handbag to the pockets of millennials. Oooo. That's a nice, succinct description, isn't it? I didn't write that one.* But I did write this site and whatever else was required at the time.
*Julie Grates wrote that one. She's also fantastic. You should lavish her with love. Well, me first, but then her, too.
As Anthony Bourdain said, Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.
Unilever has a brand of products that are just for chefs. We're talking to people in kitchens who want big flavor, quick ideas, quicker execution, and no bull.
Bonus: this whole set of work was set in a kitchen, and when I'm not writing copy to pay my bills, I'm writing a novel about a chef (update: done now, on to the next book), and when I'm not writing anything, I'm cooking.
Styleware is a direct-to-consumer stackable tupperware and utensils brand trying to make lunchbreaks, picnics, dinner parties, and cabinets a whole lot more stylish.
We created a tone of voice and look that married their two stories:
- their Made-in-Australia design
- their We deserve better than sad tupperware goals
Working with them from 2020-now, we created their website, product packaging copy, and more. We also created a voice and look that felt so them, the original team is the current team — aka we’ve never stopped working together.
This site was so much fun to concept. And, it still works and holds up all these many moons later, which can't be said for much in the digital space. In addition to this one for NIVEA for Men, I also worked on NIVEA, NIVEA Visage, Eucerin, Aquaphor, and later in my career, Jergens, Bioré, Shiseido, bareMinerals, and more...aka I have "beauty experience," Mx Recruiter.
