Project Description
Client: The Yealm Development
Project: Brochure copywriting for a lifestyle magazine special
When: Summer 2018
Website: www.theyealm.co.uk
While the majority of my copywriting work focuses on writing for the web, once in a while, a wonderful brochure project comes up. Working with the team at UX web design agency, Made With Maturity (MwM), I wrote and copyedited editorial content for a special, one-off brochure.
Project Background
The Yealm is a luxury and boutique housing development along Devon’s south coast, breathing new life into the former Yealm Hotel. The building overlooks the harbour of the twin villages of Newton Ferrers and Noss Mayo in a stunning location. Local residents were keen to keep the building, rather than see it demolished, but were sceptical about how a new development of homes and apartments would and could work.
Together with developers, Red Earth, MwM devised a one-off brochure magazine to celebrate the life, work, and people of the two villages. The brochure would also be an opportunity to tell residents, visitors, and potential buyers about the development in more detail.
Brochure Copyediting
With MwM project managing, they drafted me in for brochure copywriting services on all its content. MwM had already received written submissions on life in the villages and its pubs, yacht club, school, and church. Taking this supplied content, I put it all through a copyediting process that included:
– Proofing: checking for spelling, grammar, and consistency throughout each piece
– Editing: making stylistic edits to improve how each piece sounded and read, plus proofing
– Rewriting: making larger changes to structure and content, plus editing and proofing
Brochure Copywriting
This left around 10 articles I needed to research and write from a standing start. I’d already had a site visit and met the owner and developer, so understood what he wanted to achieve. This really helped when it came to writing the brochure’s intro and the articles on Red Earth and the development itself.
Two articles written on the development’s architect and interior designer both needed phone interviews. This would get the back story and inside look at how it all came together from their perspective. Features on the ecology and conservation of the River Yealm, the harbour, and four of the area’s local beaches all had huge amounts of research behind them.
Keeping it short and easy to read
Never intended to be an in-depth publication, River Life aimed to provide a snapshot of village life and the new development. But it had always intended to be a souvenir, set aside for future reference. Each article needed to be short and easy to read, so they all ranged from around 200 – 400 words. While not exactly micro-copy, I needed to keep the writing concise without losing too much detail.
The length of content also allowed the MwM team to include plenty of professionally shot images. The final layout design works really well in making it a real visual feast for the eyes. With a print run of around 2,000, a copy of River Life got hand-delivered to every house in both villages. A small quantity was also left in the pubs for visitors, as well as with the estate agents looking after the property sales.
River Life remains one of my favourite brochure projects to have worked on. Though it involved a lot of research, planning, and coordination, I’m really pleased with the quality of my writing. And there was a certain amount of satisfaction in getting to finally touch, see, and smell it in all its printed glory.
To see the River Life magazine in full, have a look through the digital version here. (Safe link directing you to htpps://issuu.com)
“We’ve contracted Graeme at DropCapCopy to work with us on client projects for a couple of years now. He’s always a delight to work with. He responds quickly, produces a high-quality set of copy every time, and always maintains active communication. We’re impressed with Graeme’s copywriting and will continue to work with DropCapCopy on future projects.”
Ben & Clare Stirling, Made With Maturity ~ Web & Digital Marketing Specialists.
Check out some other recent work for previous brochure and print copywriting projects and get in touch when you need copy for your business brochure.
