About
I’ve been a freelance copywriter for forty years, and now I’m semi-retired in Santa Barbara.
My new hobby is dissecting the websites of technology companies to see how much more informative and effective they could be with just a few improvements.
My first copywriting job was at a regional Sears center creating full-page newspaper ads.
I moved to the California coast and became an editor at the newly founded Santa Barbara Magazine.
I also wrote text for local clients and ad agencies, and that led to a portfolio good enough to attract an offer from BBDO Detroit, where I wrote Dodge Truck ads and commercials.
Then I returned to California and have worked ever since as a freelance/contract copywriter, creative director, and content strategist in Santa Barbara and Silicon Valley.
Science and technology fan
Apple fanboi
Baseball nut
Daily bicycler
Earlier in my careeer I did a lot of work for art directors whose sole goal in life was to win awards for creativity. If the ads for the clients also increased sales, so much the better.
Back in those days I would investigate the client’s situation and suggest a line of attack: “here’s the thing we should focus on,” and the art directors illuminated that focal point with their graphic genius.
So the ads not only looked great, they worked, and that’s why they won awards. Just being pretty was never enough. So art directors frequently called me in on projects.
Professional Awards
American Institute of the Graphic Arts
Los Angeles Art Director’s Club
Western Art Director’s Club
Direct Marketing Association
Art Center College of Design
Art Director’s Club of Detroit
Santa Barbara Ad Club
Ventura Ad Club
Sacramento Ad Club
My work has been selected to appear in these publications:
Art Direction
Creativity Annual
Communication Arts
Graphis