Bringing your spaces & places to life with creative copywriting
Words. Narrating life.
Good copywriting brings spaces and places to life. The right words connect with people, they tell stories, they convey emotions, they suggest experiences, and they engage all our senses. They help make your design three-dimensional and human.
I specialise in original and effective copy strategy, copywriting, copy coaching, and editing for architects, property developers, interior designers, garden or landscape designers, placemaking specialists, retail designers, and associated lifestyle brands.
I work happily alongside creative professionals and marketing teams or with businesses directly.
Copywriting consultancy
Lifestyle. Styling life.
If you’re reading this, the chances are you’re looking for a copy strategist or writer who understands design. I have over 15 years’ experience as a B2C/B2B copywriter and content writer in architecture, interiors, retail design, landscape, and the built environment. I’ve also worked with lifestyle brands curated in placemaking across health & wellbeing, food & beverage, homewares, art, fashion, and beauty.
My strength is connecting your designed spaces with the clients you most want to reach. By helping you find your voice and tell your stories, I can transform your ideas into real, tangible experiences that change people’s perspectives – and ultimately their lives. Together we can find the words to lift your visuals up off the drawing board and animate them with human emotion – bringing through that all-important spirit of place.
As well as having a niche, I’ve written copy elsewhere and it shows. My consumer lifestyle background adds value when writing about the use of private spaces and curation of public places. It also means I know how to write with flair and confidence across a number of different channels.
I can help if you need any of the following:
copy STRATEGY & SUPPORT
- Brand voice workshop + guide notes (package)
- Storytelling workshop + guide notes (package)
- Website & content reviews
- Writing coaching & co-writing
- Nature & creativity coaching
- Content management
- Annotation for design
- Research & interviews
- Editing & proofreading
- Story pitching (PR)
- International English
Copy & Content Writing B2C/B2B
- Website copy
- Project stories & case studies
- Brochures
- Newsletters & brand magazines
- Award entries
- Brand profiles & biographies
- Thought leadership & opinion
- Exhibition & gallery stories
- Taglines & captions
- Articles & blog posts
- Advertorial promotions
- Press releases
- Property listings
- Product descriptions
- Fee proposals & letters
- White papers
- Brand guides
- Tenders
- Scripts
wellbeing design writing
- Biophilic design writing
- Regenerative design writing
- Writing for mindfulness & wellbeing spaces
- Multi-sensory storytelling
- Mindfulness journey creation
- Meditation scriptwriting
- Creativity coaching & journalling
A guided approach to copywriting:
FIND YOUR VOICE
Because you want your writing to sound like you (and not like everyone else)
Brand voice workshop + written guide from £750
- Why a business is not a brand until it has a voice
- Working out who you are, how you do what you do, and why
- Identifying your ideal clients
- Working out what your essential values are
- How your values give you your unique voice
- Putting your new voice into writing
- When your voice needs to change (tone)
- What your brand voice guide gives you
TELL YOUR STORY
Because you want to tell compelling stories about who you are and what you do
Storytelling workshop + written guide from £600
- Why stories are essential in marketing
- How a message becomes a story
- The three parts of a good story
- What a story looks like for you, your brand
- What a story looks like for your projects or products
- Where you can use your stories
- Repurposing stories for different platforms
- What your story guide gives you
REVIEW YOUR WRITING
When you want a fresh pair of eyes on your existing copy
Copywriting review + written guide from £300
- What’s the purpose of this copy?
- Who’s it written for?
- What do we think is working?
- What results has it had?
- How can it be improved?
- Other things we can do to move your writing on
- What your review guide gives you
BOOST YOUR WRITING
When you want a guiding hand with your own copywriting
Copy coaching + written guide from £450
- What’s the purpose of your writing?
- Who are you writing for?
- What are the strengths of your piece?
- And the weaknesses?
- What’s sticking and how can we get unstuck?
- Other things we can do to move your writing on
- What your coaching guide gives you
Biophilia & mindfulness
Biophilia. Love of life.
There’s something a bit different in the way I think about spaces. I’m also a qualified meditation and mindfulness teacher working with nature connection. You’ll get the benefit of my specialist knowledge and interest in biophilic design and regenerative architecture, multi-sensory storytelling and journey creation, placemaking for wellbeing, mindful spaces, and meditation scriptwriting.
In 2023 I became an ambassador for the biophilic and wellbeing design ecosystem Habitarmonia Academy: www.habitarmonia-academy.com and I’ve recorded two podcasts about nature-connected meditation in biophilic design with Zoom Regenerative in Conversation and Building Sustainability Podcast.
Talk to me about my meditation and mindfulness teaching.
About me
Biography. My life.
My garden office sits in the historic chairmaking district at the foot of the Chiltern Hills. Sharing a his & hers workspace with my landscape gardener husband, I love working with a variety of lifestyle brands and specialists in architecture, interior design, and landscape design – many of them across the world.
Clients may only need me for a specific project or time period, and that’s fine. But I’m also lucky enough to have built some genuine, lasting relationships with the people I advise or write for. Getting to know what makes designers tick is a big part of my story.
All this is in the blood. I come from a family of entrepreneurs in the worlds of art, fashion, craft and design, and am well-versed in the communication of creative vision.
My half-Swedish heritage inspires a love of simple, human-centred design concepts and an affinity with nature and organic materials, colours, and textures – while my diploma in meditation teaching gives me a unique perspective on mindful spaces, biophilic design, and placemaking for wellbeing.
Who I work with
Sectors. Diverse life.
Architects & designers of space
My specialist copywriting & content writing consultancy adds well-crafted and targeted words to animate your visual material, helping you tell your unique story of place and driving client or visitor engagement. Human connection with spaces and design for nature and wellbeing are my favourite subjects.
PR & Marketing Agencies
Whatever the size of your agency, I advise and write across all channels from press releases to web + print. Outsourcing copywriting frees you up to focus on strategy and media relations. I can also coach your junior executives, help with editing, act as a fresh pair of eyes, or step in when you’re extra busy.
CREATIVE & BRANDING Agencies
You do the pictures, I’ll do the words! I can help with web, print or mixed packages. I’m used to working with graphic/digital designers, slotting into large international teams, picking up briefs quickly and hitting fast-moving deadlines. I can work remotely or in-studio, whichever suits you best.
LIFESTYLE BRANDS
Let’s make sure your brand is saying everything you need it to and to the right people. I can apply my experience in lifestyle marketing to help you find your brand voice and tell your story across the relevant channels, working closely with you to get to know what you do, how you do it, and why.
Sole Traders & Start-Ups
Do you have a tiny marketing budget for your small or artisan business? Flexible writing support could be the answer. We can talk about a one-off new brand voice project, or we can look at a writing/editing service for a few hours a month. I can also work with you to help improve your writing.
Other Organisations
Creative writing is useful in so many areas. If you have a need outside business, let’s talk it through. I have some unusual experience in editing and scriptwriting as well as in copywriting & content writing, so it’s always worth getting in touch to find out how I can support you.
Prices
Cost. Investing in life.
Each project is priced individually. The prices given here are a rough guide only and will be confirmed after a brief.
Website review from £450 / Brand voice guide with workshop from £750 / Brand story guide with workshop from £600 / 300-word single page of website text from £350 / 5-page website text from £2,700 / 2000-word brochure from £3,600 / Blog posts & articles from £450 / Co-writing & editing from £450
These days most of what I do is delivered through consultancy using coaching, workshops, or guide documents. I will take on some writing if you’d prefer to hand it over, but I’ll always ask you to build in time for a proper briefing and to discuss revisions.
Day rate £450 / Hourly rate £65 working from home (agencies only)
I recommend an exploratory phone or video call to discuss your needs, which is free. You can email me or connect on LinkedIn to get started.
Portfolio
Record. Documenting life.
Please click on the links below for examples of my work:
What my clients say
Community. Sharing life.
Sophie really listened to what I wanted to achieve through our rebrand and was instrumental in shaping the tone of voice and approach we adopted. She worked seamlessly with the graphic designer and web designer – it really was a dream team combination – I’m delighted with the result! We received lots of positive feedback on our new website with clients commenting how much they like the content and feel. I would highly recommend Sophie for your copywriting needs.
Bronwen Gombert
Director, Connected Architecture, Maidenhead
After years of recycling bits of old text, we worked with Sophie to help us explain clearly who we are and what we do. We have a shared interest in the influence of design on health, mental health and wellbeing, so she quickly understood our ethos. She also produced a tone of voice document to help us communicate clearly with our clients, which continues to be helpful. She was a pleasure to work with and I hope to work with her again in the future.
Maia Lemlij
Business Director, XUL Architecture, London NW3
Sophie really took the time to understand our business, our core values and our brand, and what we wanted to achieve. Her attention to detail was second to none, and she delivered fantastic precise, informative, professional copy. We’ve been really pleased with the quality of her work.
Joanne Smith
Director of Business Development, Chapter Seven Design, Hinckley
We’ve worked with Sophie on a number of projects at Portland and her work has varied from brand strategy, guideline documents, copy editing and proof. Her ability to quickly understand the brief and immerse herself in the DNA of a brand make her a great asset on any writing project. I would highly recommend her and look forward to working with her again in the future.
Matt Meader
Senior Designer, Portland Design, London EC1
Sophie Lacey is a real asset for press releases, local newsletters and web text for our clients in the property and retail sectors. She works with close attention to every aspect of a writing project: from the initial planning/research and creative coordination right through to her delivery of well-crafted and effective copy – within budget.
Anna Coverdale
Director, Coverdale Barclay PR & Marketing Agency, London W1
Our fashion PR agency has been working with Sophie Lacey to produce press releases for the past year. We appreciate her ability to quickly deliver quality material. Moreover, she has been able to communicate our brands’ creative and cutting edge approach with precision.
Alexis Temomanin
Director, Temomanin PR (fashion PR agency), London E1
We have been using Sophie Lacey to write, edit and proof material such as press releases, company biographies etc. She has been working with us for over three years now and we are always pleased with the quality of her work. She follows our clients’ briefs accurately, gets all the key messages across, writes with flair and impact, and consistently delivers projects by the deadline.
Paige Mengers
Director, Bright Light PR, Fulham, London
Sophie Lacey wrote the text for our website – we are really pleased with the quality of her writing as well as the time she put into understanding our particular brand values and the messages we wanted to convey about our business. She was meticulous and very professional.
Hervé & Mary Gatineau
Owner, Gatineau Patisserie, Summertown, Oxford
Sophie Lacey managed our PR for a year, successfully placing key stories in national media including The Independent, The Daily Mail, Channel 4 and Waitrose Weekend. Sophie is a stickler for detail and her succinct approach, whether pitching with a new angle or writing a response to a press request, helped to get our message across quickly and clearly.
Beverley Glock
Director, Splat Cooking Ltd (family cookery school and on-line store)
Blog
Inspiration. Notes on life.
Forest bathing for architects and designers
Alongside writing for property developers, placemaking specialists, architects and designers, I also teach meditation and mindfulness – working primarily with nature-based practices including forest bathing. See this post about the intersection of mindfulness with...
Placemaking lessons from Dorset
Who knew Dorset is so full of interesting placemaking experiments? I was there at the end of the summer and came back with some good, bad, and downright ugly impressions. It was a useful moment of reflection on what placemaking and sense of place really mean. King...
Zoom Regenerative (ZR) podcast: mindfulness, placemaking and biophilic design
We covered many themes in our podcast chat about mindfulness, placemaking and biophilic design. These are the highlights of our conversation. Recorded with Zoom Regenerative (ZR) September 2021. “Zoom Regenerative is a https://fairsnape.com initiative, sharing,...
Get in touch
Connection. Sparking life.
16 Wykeham Rise, Chinnor, Oxfordshire, OX39 4PS
Working in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, London & remotely
01844 351919 or 07982 756609
© Copyright 2024 Sophie Lacey Copywriting – All Rights Reserved. Built by Pixant.