 We’ve just updated the case studies section on our website with new case studies on:A whole heap of work for Vestas Wind Systems Practice area flyers for Stephens Scown solicitors The online prospectus for Westminster Business School Practice area brochure and pupillage leaflet for Devereux Chambers Take a look and let us now what you think. |
The long commute to Wordsworks' Bali office...
August is upon us, so what better word than:
aestival (adj.) – it means of or belonging to summer.
For example:
1. In the far north of Norway, the aestival white nights seem to last an eternity.
2. Glastonbury is just the best aestival festival ever!
Here’s hoping we have plenty of aestival sunshine this month!
As anyone who’s been to one our writing training courses knows, one of the key tenets of good writing is only to use as many words as you need. Check every word and phrase just to make sure it actually adds something to what you’re writing.
There are hundreds of stock phrases that we all use every day that don’t actually mean anything, or that could be expressed more simply and concisely without any loss of meaning.
Here are a couple of classic examples of unnecessary word use we came across recently:
per calendar month – are there any other kinds of month? Lunar month? Celestial month? It’s not like year, where there could be confusion over the financial year or the calendar year. There’s only one kind of month, so drop the calendar.
including but not limited to – by definition, including means not limited to. You don’t need to explicitly state it again. Including means ‘here are a few examples, but there are others’. It is not saying, ‘here is the definitive list and nothing else counts’.
So next time you find yourself reaching for one of those easy, familiar phrases that we all use without even thinking about it, just take a second to check if there’s a better way of saying it.
| Our creative director Gareth Chadwick recently wrote an article for Business Development in Law magazine about the importance of aligning your written brand with your visual brand.
In other words, you need to make sure that if your visual brand is all about being modern, personable and down-to-earth, you don’t shoot yourselves in the foot with written material that sounds formal or impersonal.
Take a look at the full article here. |
Here’s one of our favourite word-related quotes. It’s from Albert Einstein of all people. Not just a numbers man after all it seems:
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
Sometimes I feel like tattooing this quote onto my forehead when meeting particularly jargon-loving clients. After all, who’s going to argue with Einstein?