Copywriting
Writes clearly. Thinks before writing.
Michelle R. is a copywriter with a background in magazine journalism and brand strategy. She writes clearly, thinks before she writes, and knows when the best answer is fewer words. Her work spans brand voice systems, campaign copy, naming, and long-form editorial.
Before joining the collective's network, she spent six years as a features editor at a design and culture publication — which shapes how she approaches every brief: a good reader first, a writer second.
The Botanist — Campaign, 2024
Campaign copywriting for a botanical skincare debut. The tone had to be precise without sounding pharmaceutical, and confident without leaning on wellness language. Every line was tested against one question: would a sceptical reader believe this?
Volta Coffee — Brand Voice, 2023
Brand voice system and packaging copy for a specialty coffee roaster expanding into retail. Named the roast range, wrote the bag copy, and established tone-of-voice principles for their internal team to carry forward.
Independent Work — 2024
A self-initiated experiment: the complete website for an imaginary architecture practice, written before a single layout existed — to find out whether copy can lead a design instead of filling the gaps it leaves.
Independent Work — Editorial, Ongoing
An ongoing column on how brands talk, and why most of them talk too much — published quarterly in Margin, a design and culture magazine, and the cover essay of its Language Issue. Writing for a general rather than a client audience keeps the commercial work honest.
Within the Collective
Michelle typically joins projects at the brief stage — before the visual direction is fixed — because copy and visual systems work best when developed in conversation rather than in sequence. She leads on brand voice development, naming, campaign copy, and any engagement where tone is as strategic as the message itself. She approaches every brief as a thinking problem first, a writing problem second.
All project enquiries are handled by Creative Director V. through Influence Design Studio.
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