Category Archives: Writing

The Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life

By tim | Published: 02/02/2012

‘In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London.’ With these words the Spitalfields Life blog was born, back in August 2009.

Also posted in Attention span, Authors, History, London, Reading, Storytelling, Tone of voice | Tagged a writer's life, blogging, blogs, communications, copy, culture, east london, justin knopp, letterpress, linkedin, london, narrative, random spectacular, spitalfields, spitalfields life, st jude's, the gentle author, tim rich, Tone of voice, typoretum, words, writers, Writing | 7 Comments

Comfortable among the clouds

By tim | Published: 24/01/2012

Joseph Roth’s What I Saw captures his impressions and observations as he wanders Berlin in the years between the two World Wars. He re-constructs the city before the reader’s eyes. But it’s very much his Berlin – one moment a hard reality of stone and traffic, the next a floating world of dizzying shapes and elusive symbols.

Also posted in Authors, Books, Design, History | Tagged architecture, berlin, city, factual writing, feuilletons, Joseph Roth, journalism, language, linkedin, newspapers, optimism, progressive, reportage, urbanism, what I Saw, words, Writing | 1 Comment

Buskers told to Foxtrot Oscar

By tim | Published: 22/01/2012

‘Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.’

Also posted in Authors, Copy analysis, Design, Free speech, History, Jargon, London, Plain English, Poetry, Tone of voice | Tagged jargon, oscar wilde, shakespeare, sign, southwark council, words, writing style | 1 Comment

Consider yourself at home

By tim | Published: 16/12/2011

This is one of my favourite customer service signs, complete with seasonal make-over. You’ll find it in Gaddis & Co, in Luxor, Egypt.

Also posted in Brand, Business, History, Photography, Tone of voice | Tagged copywriting, customer services, egypt, gaddis, luxor, retail, shops, Tone of voice | 1 Comment

Random Spectacular

By tim | Published: 14/12/2011

Spitalfields Life is an important counter-argument to the ridiculous but common notion that people don’t like to read online.

Also posted in Attention span, Authors, Design, London, Magazines, Photography, Reading | Tagged 26, attention span, blogs, design magazines, gentle author, linkedin, magazines, random spectacular, reading, reading online, spitalfields life, st jude's, tim rich, Writing, writing online | 7 Comments

Tis as human a little story

By tim | Published: 09/12/2011

Designers don’t always limit themselves to pure function; why should copywriters restrict themselves to functional language?

Also posted in Authors, Brand, Business, Copy analysis, Jargon, Plain English, Reading, Tone of voice | Tagged business writing, copywriting, finnegans wake, james loyce, language, linkedin, plain english, plain english day, tim rich, words, Writing | 4 Comments

The Look of Love

By tom | Published: 29/11/2011

Most of the fundraising projects I work on are with destitute human rights foundations struggling for survival. Exterior events always seem to take place in the doldrums of winter on the streets of London, New York, Paris, Madrid or Den Haag which may sound glamorous but involves dripping tents, mobile blind spots, failing generators, obstreperous [...]

Also posted in Business, Campaigning, Education, Families, Health, Science, Storytelling | 1 Comment

Mad in America

By tim | Published: 25/11/2011

From Bedlam to chemical lobotomies; this is a harrowing history of the way people with mental illness have been treated in the US and other developed countries.

Also posted in Books, History | Tagged book, mad in america, psychiatry, robert whitaker | 2 Comments

Stringing words together

By Fiona | Published: 24/10/2011

Playing a piece of music is like telling a story. A good storyteller knows how to capture an audience’s attention, vary the pace, add in the detail that hooks the imagination