Posts Tagged
copywriting

Ben Locker & Associates

The sharp end of North Meadow Media’s writing pencil. So when the need for a little identity came along, it seemed a golden opportunity to play with some letters of my own… It’s not an accurate portrait of Ben – but you get the idea. Also see benlocker.co.uk.

Posted by: Barry Lowenhoff, MCSD
Published: 24th September, 2009 at 6:43 pm in News, North Meadow Projects.
Tags: copywriting, corporate identities, logos
Comments: No Comments »

Palladian Calendar

North Meadow Media is proud to have been selected by Palladian Press to create its 2009 desk calendar, sent free of charge to its valued clients.

Designed by Barry Lowenhoff, the calendar features a giant Palladian ‘P’ logo photographed in various locations in East Anglia. The shots were taken by Harland Payne Photography during November and December, and a short introduction was provided by NMM’s Ben Locker.

If you would like an equally distinctive gift for your own clients, get in touch today.

Posted by: Barry Lowenhoff, MCSD
Published: 30th January, 2009 at 1:19 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: calendars, colchester, copywriting, photography
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Shaw Design Website

Clerkenwell-based agency Shaw Design Associates Ltd has just relaunched its website, which was designed and coded in-house but written by North Meadow Media’s Ben Locker. The company has many future plans for the new site’s development and founder Matt Shaw is delighted with the revamp:

Just wanted to say thank you for writing our website. I’m really pleased with the end result, and I think you’ve well and truly fulfilled the objective we gave you – to inject some personality into the site…

North Meadow is working on a number of website projects at the moment — we offer design and construction as well as copywriting. More details will be appearing here soon, but please get in touch if you’re interested in working with us in these ways.

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 30th January, 2009 at 11:18 am in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: copywriting, websites
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Colchester Connected

It’s been a while since I’ve had to approve a magazine for press, but I’m extremely glad to say that the first ever issue of Colchester Connected is being printed right now.

The mag is a great example of what happens when people unite behind an idea. Only three months ago I got an email from Palladian Press’s Sales and Marketing Director Steve Green. He wrote:

Hi Ben,
I want to publish a quarterly magazine called “Colchester Connected”.
10,000 copies, A4, full colour, 64pps, high quality, good read.

A few days later, I wrote a promotional flyer for Steve, just to help gauge interest in the idea. It didn’t take long to realise that there was an enormous demand for a publication that was specifically targeted at Colchester’s business community, and which had an emphasis on collaboration and fresh ideas.

The only fly in the ointment was that the magazine needed to be put together on a shoestring if we were to prove its mettle. But so many people chipped in to help that the project was soon sailing on an ocean of goodwill. My contribution was to write or edit all the features free of charge.

It was a massive task, especially as the only adverts were on the back and inside covers. That left a lot of pages to fill with editorial.

We had a good way of working. Local companies would pay for a high-quality feature, and Publishing Director Linda Green would drop by and conduct an interview with her customary charm and finesse. I’d then shape her notes into an article (whilst rocking, in the final fortnight, a newborn’s cradle with my foot) and the finished work would then be sent back to the customer for approval and signing off. They were all delighted.

Editorial wasn’t restricted to local companies, though; and we also included pieces about the Essex Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses, Colchester2020 and other people with an important message for the local business community.

The magazine is launched on 23rd January at the Weston Homes Community Stadium in Colchester, and over 250 people have already confirmed they are coming along. I’ll do a write up after the event, and I’ll also add full details about the project to the North Meadow portfolio pages in due course.

I hope Colchester Connected is hugely successful — and that Issue 2 is an even better read — but the most rewarding part for me has been to learn about the ideas and determination of a cross-section of the local businesspeople. It would be unfair to point out which ones really captured my imagination — especially as, in a garrison town like Colchester, many of them are trained killers — but I’m very much looking forward to meeting every single one.

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 15th January, 2009 at 2:57 pm in Blog, News.
Tags: copywriting, editing, journalism, magazines, publications
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Come Take My Hand

The Hackney Citizen has just started to publish some of its content online, which will be a great way for it to pick up new readers. The Winter 2008 issue features an article by North Meadow Media’s Ben Locker, and it’s available in full here. It’s very different from his commercial work, so hats off to the newspaper for publishing something so unusual.

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 12th December, 2008 at 12:10 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: copywriting, hackney, journalism, North Meadow Projects
Comments: 1 Comment »

Created for Diana

The Diana Award – formerly the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Award for Young People – gives recognition to outstanding young people aged 11-18 who make selfless contributions to their communities and invest a huge amount of energy and compassion to improve the lives of others.

The Award is a long-standing client of Barry Lowenhoff, who has for many years designed its Inspire! newsletter, as well as its nomination forms, guidance notes and a range of publicity material. Ben Locker also has a long association with the Diana team, and is now responsible for writing publications such as the vital Award guidance notes, as well as writing material for (and updating) www.diana-award.org.uk.

An Award with this level of prestige needs the best possible publications. We are proud to work with the Diana team to provide them.

Posted by: North Meadow Media
Published: 16th November, 2008 at 2:19 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: charities, copywriting, diana award, newsletters, princess of wales, publications, publicity material, websites, young people
Comments: 2 Comments »

First Impressions

Palladian Press rightly takes its place in the front rank of East Anglia’s printing firms. Established in 1995, the Colchester printer has since won a place in the prestigious Printweek 500 and carved out an enviable reputation as a company that puts quality and its customers first. North Meadow Media’s Barry Lowenhoff and Ben Locker collaborated to produce the first two issues of its industry-leading newsletter, Palladian Impressions.

Both issues contain a lively mix of news, interviews, staff profiles and features. Ben Locker was responsible for the research and writing, which gave him the chance to speak to a broad cross section of Palladian’s clients and explore their relationship with the printing firm. Final articles put the following companies, organisations and individuals in the spotlight:

• Colchester United FC;
• Karen Taylor Contemporary Art;
• Fisher Jones Greenwood LLP;
• Coco Ribbon;
• Emmaus Colchester;
• Colchester’s Lemon Tree Restaurant;
• Bestselling author Kes Gray; and
• The University of Essex.

Barry Lowenhoff acted as art director, working closely with Harland Payne Photography, and was responsible for designing the two publications. His creative vision sends out a clear message that Palladian is an up-and-coming company, fizzing with all the ideas and energy that are the hallmarks of the print industry’s biggest hitters.

Palladian Impressions was very well received by the firm’s clients, and it doubles up as excellent marketing material. To download copies and read testimonials, visit the Palladian Press website.

Posted by: North Meadow Media
Published: 14th November, 2008 at 1:03 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: colchester, copywriting, essex, journalism, newsletters, North Meadow Projects, palladian impressions, publications
Comments: 1 Comment »

Bittersweet

Once again joining forces as History by Design, New Meadow Media’s Ben Locker and Barry Lowenhoff created a poignant exhibition on the links between slavery, food and Wales on behalf of the Gateway Gardens Trust. Ben was responsible for researching the material in conjunction with GGT, and then writing it to a visually logical format. Barry Lowenhoff was the creative force behind the exhibition design.

The exhibition was launched to great acclaim in October 2008. Gateway Gardens Trust Chairman Bettina Harden was thrilled with the response it generated:

The Chairman of HLF said he never expected [the exhibition] to be as good, look so great and relate such difficult issues to people’s everyday lives. [Dr] Chris Evans LOVED it and is really looking forward to having it at the University of Glamorgan Library over the winter… we will feature in the Big Issue with some of our ex-homeless guests on the visit from Dragon Arts — and their response was so enthusiastic. Finally, the Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council wants to get it on the Vale’s website, so tremendously positive all round.

Ben and Barry are looking forward to working with the Gateway Gardens Trust over the course of the Bittersweet project, and are already thinking about how best to do its final exhibition.

Posted by: North Meadow Media
Published: 12th November, 2008 at 1:00 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: bittersweet, copywriting, education resources, exhibitions, ggt, heritage, history by design, wales
Comments: No Comments »

Goy Next Door

In October 2008, community newspaper The Hackney Citizen published a thought-provoking article by North Meadow media’s Ben Locker and Orthodox Jewish blogger ‘The Shaigetz’. The piece, which takes a fond and wry look at what it is like to be a gentile – or goy – living amongst the world’s third largest Orthodox community, is given added sharpness and balance by The Shaigetz’s perspective from within ‘the square mile of piety’.

The Hackney Citizen’s editor, Keith Magnum, was delighted with the response the article generated. As he said after publication: “The responses I’ve been have been… things like ‘amazing’, ’sensitive handling of some difficult issues’, ‘brave’”.

The full article is reproduced below:

The Goy Next Door

I made my home in the heart of Stamford Hill in 1999 becoming, as I put my foot on the property ladder, goy next door to Europe’s largest settlement of Orthodox Jews. Over the years, I’ve observed the observant in this ‘square mile of piety’ and relished those moments where our lives collide.

It always made me nervous, as a kid, when new neighbours moved in, especially if it was goyim. You never knew in advance what threat they might bring. Would they have kids who would shout ‘Jew Bug’ when we came home from school? Worse, would they have a dog? (more…)

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 12th November, 2008 at 12:59 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: copywriting, hackney, journalism, judaism
Comments: 1 Comment »

East Anglian Vision

Palladian Press’s twin enthusiasm for the people and places of East Anglia inspired the firm to commission a new marketing pack that uses high-quality imagery and printing to tell the story of their area, and to emphasise the human side of its business.

The result, Visions from East Anglia, is a beautifully produced gatefold box that houses two slip cases. Inside the first you can find cards that feature every single member of Palladian Press: designers, drivers, press minders, customer services staff, administrators, bindery operatives and everyone else in the firm’s team.

The second component of the pack is a series of specially commissioned postcards that feature artists’ and photographers’ interpretations of East Anglia’s distinctive coastline, with its rich texture and many contrasts. You’ll find striking woodcuts by Felixstowe printmaker Clare Curtis, ethereal black and white photographs by Suffolk photographer Colin Turner, marine linocuts by Brightlingsea-born illustrator James Dodds and, completing the set, digital art and photography by Colchester duo Stephanie Harland and Judy Payne. The pack itself was designed by North Meadow Media’s Barry Lowenhoff, whilst the pack title and copy for the postcards element was provided by Ben Locker.

Visions from East Anglia has been an invaluable marketing tool: beautiful printing inspires many more potential clients than the run-of-the-mill sales catalogues that land on our desks every day of the week.

For more information about Visions from East Anglia and Palladian Press, contact info@palladianpress.co.uk.

Posted by: Barry Lowenhoff, MCSD
Published: 12th November, 2008 at 12:57 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: copywriting, essex, photography, publicity material
Comments: No Comments »

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