Examples of My Work
I’ve worked as a journalist, a commercial copywriter, as well as a creative/ghost writer and content designer within government and local government so this is a fairly partial and omnivorous collection, but here goes:
Very short - campaign copy, video, social
Developing a digital voice for the brand and working on (almost!) all ecommerce copy as well as internal narrative messaging docs articulating the repositioning of the brand for Ermenegildo Zegna (Sept 2014 - May 2018).
Key member of a small ‘start-up’ team which grew over 3 years into a full-blown in-house creative studio. Campaign copy, UX copy, video, social, narrative documents.
Short - blogging
Ghost writing for product lead at Department of International Trade https://digitaltrade.blog.gov.uk/2020/11/23/great-gov-uk-turns-four/
Ghost writing for senior members of Governmental Digital Service https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2016/04/18/what-we-mean-by-service-design/ https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2016/02/29/lets-talk-about-service-patterns/
Writing about adults social care content redesign https://servicedesign.blog.essex.gov.uk/2018/07/13/rewriting-content-for-carers-what-we-found-out/
Writing about rewriting content for carers https://servicedesign.blog.essex.gov.uk/2018/07/13/rewriting-content-for-carers-what-we-found-out/
We’re all user researchers now https://servicedesign.blog.essex.gov.uk/2018/06/04/were-all-user-researchers-now/
Why we do show and tells https://servicedesign.blog.essex.gov.uk/2018/03/06/why-we-do-show-and-tells/
Weekly culture column for the Architects’ Journal, 2010-13 https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/james-pallister/1.contributor?cmd=PageSize&val=50
Medium - building narratives, helping people articulate what they do
Tone of voice guidance for Art on the Underground (Transport for London)
Writing a short pamphlet with Art on the Underground, explaining who they are and what they do (designed by Rose).
Art on the Underground has to remain credible within a global contemporary art market as well as be understandable to the man or woman in the London street. This document was created at a time when the organisation was growing in confidence and felt that senior management knew it was a great thing but didn’t necessarily have the language for expressing why. http://studiopallister.com/TFL_AOTU_PUBLICATION_08_lores.pdf
Longer writing - ‘thought leadership’ & journalism
The secrets of the chief design officer Piece commissioned as part of the ’Design Economy’ marketing campaign for the Design Council. This particular piece generated a wide response, several new business enquiries for the Design Council and was syndicated and translated into Chinese for publishing in China.
Reinventing death for the 21st century Widely republished, linked to, and used as the basis of a symposium at MoMa
On Superintelligence, AI and killer robots An early report into the threats associated with the complex world of advanced artificial intelligence.
A Nation of Shopkeepers Piece on the relationship between the high street and artists, and it’s place in the English psyche. For Creative Review.
On the bleak fate of polar bears. Piece exploring the impact on the flora and fauna of the Arctic of increased industry and shipping. For Weapons of Reason.
Books and publications
‘A Steak in the Economy: why food entrepreneurship is so important to the economy, and how best to support it’ http://cargocollective.com/jamespallister/Print-1/A-Steak-in-the-Economy
London 2012 Velodrome: Design in Pursuit of Efficiency Monograph produced to document the Olympic Velodrome by Hopkins Architects. http://cargocollective.com/jamespallister/Print-1/London-2012-Velodrome-Design-in-Pursuit-of-Efficiency
V&A FuturePlan: Transforming the world’s favourite museum of art and design http://cargocollective.com/jamespallister/Print-1/V-A-FuturePlan
Sacred Spaces Contemporary Religious Architecture, Phaidon, 2015 https://uk.phaidon.com/store/architecture/sacred-spaces-9780714868950/