Branding agencies are great at telling other people’s stories. Turning the lens on yourself? Not always so easy.
Having spent three decades in the design industry — as editor, awards chair, and brand writer — I combine an outside eye with inside knowledge, helping agencies find their voice, sharpen their positioning, and build their reputation.
Selected case studies
Helping Taxi Studio speak unforgettably
I collaborated with Taxi Studio to develop an internal writing guide to ensure the agency’s own voice is as considered and crafted as its client work.
The guide establishes clear principles for how Taxi communicates, including:
1. Show confidence and swagger, but stop short of arrogance: We’re world-class, and rightfully proud of it. But we’ll turn people off if we rub it in. And we need to back it up with proof.
2. Replace well-trodden industry cliches with distinctive, lesser-used words and phrases: Being unforgettable means digging a little harder for fresh ways to say what everyone else says.
3. Use ‘unforgettable’ sparingly. Find the one place in each piece where it has maximum impact: Yes, we create unforgettable work. But if we bang on too much about it the word loses its clout. Pick your battles.
4. Add playfulness and character with wordplay and grammatical tricks: Let’s not overdo this and turn it into a gimmick. But adding a little extra rhythm and flair makes us more memorable.
5. Write in short, punchy, active sentences. Break them up, make them count: The longer and more rambling the sentence, the more chance we lose someone. Keep them wanting more.
6. Soften industry jargon. Make well-informed, expert points but in accessible, colloquial language: There’s so much bullshit in our industry. We should have enough confidence in our work to explain it in layman’s terms.
7. Emphasise design’s commercial value, not craft details for the sake of it: Let’s not fawn over colours, typefaces, and golden ratios in public. Write for clients, not fellow designers – and contextualise every decision in terms of the brief and its wider commercial impact.
“Nick is an excellent writer with a particular set of skills, skills he has acquired over a very long career, skills that make him a dream for people like you. Try him once and you’ll be taken.”
Spencer Buck – creative partner, Taxi Studio
I helped craft a bank of real-world touchpoints to demonstrate the principles in action, including job descriptions, web copy and social media posts – all rewritten to feel unmistakably Taxi.
Taxi Studio is also one of my longest-standing brand writing collaborators, including Yoloh’s award-winning brand voice.
Giving STB’s bold, no-bullshit attitude a voice
Stocks Taylor Benson (STB) is an independent, employee-owned design studio with over three decades of global expertise. Their voice is direct, unashamedly commercial, and refreshingly free of industry ego.
No fancy job titles. No dense jargon.
Just smart thinking and bold design that delivers results.
Since 2020, I’ve collaborated with the studio to help develop and consistently express that voice, including thought leadership, creds and case studies, social posts, promotional activities, and an ongoing content series showcasing the senior team through the lens of their specialist expertise – including creative partners Lois Blackhurst, Craig Lister, and Charlotte Brown.
Telling the story of Carlsberg’s global rebrand
I collaborated with Taxi Studio, developing a content strategy to tell the fascinating story behind its award-winning Carlsberg rebrand.
Asking provocative questions of top brands
I helped The Clearing produce a series of videos to promote the studio’s new book, Wild Thinking – developing a content strategy to draw out particularly engaging themes.
Nick Carson 