LEON TK: PORTFOLIO
Hi! I’m Leon, and welcome to my portfolio. Below you’ll find some of my favourite examples of my work as a copywriter, editor, and creative/marketing consultant.
Clicking on each image will expand a screenshot or open a PDF document, so you can explore each piece in detail.
If you’d like to get in touch, drop me an email at info@leontk.com or use the contact form at the bottom of this page. You can also check out some testimonials and general information about my background by clicking here. Thanks for reading!
ICMP Masterclasses Webpage
The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) is the UK’s longest-running degree-awarding contemporary music school, with a long list of notable alumni such as Ed O’Brien (Radiohead), Luke Patterson (Clean Bandit), and social media superstars Rob Chapman, Justin Sandercoe, and Jon Gomm.
ICMP’s programme of masterclasses, clinics, and guest lectures is a core part of the overall student experience. High-profile names from across the music business visit ICMP on a regular basis to share their unique insights, and this webpage outlines the full scope of this exclusive offering. Each section required extensive research into each individual’s career, as well as collaborations with key ICMP staff to ensure that each guest’s contributions were presented accurately.
I also provided the text for the featured video included below, providing a list of words and sentences that ICMP’s videographer could cherry-pick from as required. As the brief specified quick cuts and a fast pace, I focused on short and punchy copy, including individual words. This gave the videographer plenty of creative freedom, and the ability to blend the text into engaging visuals using some cool special effects.
Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) Mini-Prospectus
On the first day I began working with the ACM (one of the UK’s most popular contemporary music schools), I was thrown in the deep end and loved every second. Working alongside the school’s executive director, marketing director, creative team, senior executives and faculty, I was immediately tasked with creating a mini-prospectus that summed up the school’s core values and selling points.
With three campuses across London, Birmingham, and Guildford, a comprehensive curriculum, and a partnership with the world-famous Metropolis Studios, the ACM provided a wealth of useful information that the team and I successfully distilled into this mini-prospectus.
Click the image below to open the full PDF.
ACM Course Promotion Brochures
The ACM is known for its innovative and award-winning approach to music education. Instead of one bulky full-scale prospectus, ACM’s owner and chairman requested a range of shorter course-focused brochures, with contributions from executives, staff, and senior faculty across ACM’s three campuses, as well as Metropolis Studios (where over 50% of the UK Top 40 is recorded, mixed, or mastered in an average year).
I was the project manager, editor, and copywriter across the entire project, coordinating dozens of contributors, editing and proofreading their contributions, and inserting my own original writing as required. I also provided advice and guidance with regard to brand representation, general writing skills, and each piece’s visual style, layout, and image choices. The examples below have been selected from a larger range of brochures.
I love working on highly impactful projects, and was incredibly happy to see that everyone involved felt that I had understood and accurately represented their authentic communication styles, as well as the ACM as a whole.
Clicking the images below will open each PDF.
ICMP Virtual Reality (VR) Campus Tour
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ICMP was unable to offer in-person campus tours – so the school’s executive and marketing teams created a full tour in virtual reality (VR). I created audio scripts describing important locations across the building, which were then inserted as audio recordings at relevant points within the virtual campus. I also wrote the body text for the campus tour webpage, and wrote completely updated descriptions of ICMP’s core curriculum from scratch.
Screenshots are included beneath the demonstration videos.
The first video demonstrates the “dollhouse view” of ICMP’s London campus. The blue and white buttons mark important locations around the building. Clicking or hovering over a button triggers a popup box containing an audio recording.
This video showcases the “quick tour” feature, including close-up views of some featured spaces and the trigger buttons:
The next three videos demonstrate examples of the trigger buttons in action.
Keep scrolling for screenshots of the full Virtual Open Day web page, and to move on to the next portfolio piece.
“ACM Collab” (Student & Alumni Professional Networking App), Creative Consultancy Project
Working alongside ACM’s Group Head of Digital Innovation & Game Development, I provided advice and guidance with regard to the app’s content, architecture, and user interface. I also beta-tested app prototypes as part of this process, offering feedback and ideas as required.
ICMP Campaign Email Demo (Copywriting / Art Direction)
When writing email copy for freelance clients, I usually submit Word documents that a member of the client’s in-house marketing team can copy and paste into a MailChimp project. Bearing that in mind, I’ve used some green-lit copy, written for an ICMP email campaign, to create my own version of this email in MailChimp from scratch, sourcing images from ICMP’s social media channels and (in some cases) turning them into collages using the popular photo editing app Fotor.
I did this not only as a quick project to demonstrate my proficiency with MailChimp, but also because MailChimp is a fun platform to use, and I’ve always enjoyed playing a part in the creative process beyond just writing and editing.
The copy from this email was one part of a larger campaign, designed to engage prospective ICMP students who had already been offered (but had not yet accepted) a place on an ICMP course. As with all of the screenshots presented in this portfolio, I’ve broken this email up into smaller chunks that can be enlarged by clicking on any section you’d like to see in more detail.
Email subject line: “Chat one-on-one with One Direction’s Musical Director!”
NQ (formerly Northern Quarterz), Website Screenshots
A full-service entertainment company based in Manchester, NQ represents Aitch (a British rapper with multiple chart hits, over 226 million YouTube views, and featured spots on tracks by Stormzy and Ed Sheeran), platinum-selling record producer Whyjay, and Zeph – a rapper-songwriter with more than 12 million YouTube views. NQ’s collaborative partners include Manchester United, Nike, North Face, Adidas, Electronic Arts (EA), Activision, Footasylum, Sony RCA, Sports Direct, Cyprus Break Festival, Warner Music, and Universal.
Working alongside a fantastic team at British marketing agency Impact Designs, I provided extensive advice and guidance with regard to NQ’s website, SEO strategy, and brand name, which we changed from the original “Northern Quarterz”. Having established themselves within the British music scene, NQ had set their sights on the global music market – so I made sure that the written content connected the North of England to the international music scene from the very first paragraph. Helping the company’s owner-executives move closer to their ultimate goal was an absolute pleasure.
CEO Biography: Michael Adex (NQ)
As part of my work with NQ, I interviewed Michael Adex for the biography below. Interviews have always been one of my favourite parts of my job, and this one went perfectly.
I was given complete freedom to mould the interview’s contents into the final text, and did so while retaining as many of Adex’s original words and phrases as possible. By making the process truly collaborative, I made sure that this biography represented Adex’s authentic voice – as well as his story, career, vision, and values.
ACM Blog Post Example
As a long-time music journalist and blogger, I’ve written countless feature pieces, interviews, and reviews spanning almost every genre imaginable. The ACM ran an ongoing blog series placing the spotlight on students and alumni who had released top-quality tracks, and this is one example.
ICMP Tri-Fold Leaflet (Before/After Comparison)
This was a quick leaflet project for ICMP, based on an initial concept provided by the school’s marketing team (the “before” images below). The “after” images show how my contributions and feedback helped the leaflet evolve from its rough and unfinished form into a completed product.
Front Cover (Before I was involved in the project):
Front Cover (After my contributions/feedback):
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Promo.ly Website (SaaS Copywriting)
Promoly is an online music PR management platform used by hundreds of record labels, PR companies, and independent bands and artists. We completed our work on this website shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began – and despite the extensive damage the virus caused to the music business, it’s been great to see Promoly continue to survive and thrive.
Book Cover (Original Design & Art Direction)
We’re told to never judge a book by its cover – but as marketers, we know that people do anyway! Having spent two and a half years working on a groundbreaking and accessible book that combines technical psychological concepts with creative industry insights, I knew the cover had to stand out from the crowd. After considering many forms of music- and relationship-related imagery, I created this design, which combines a classic “broken heart” with a guitar plectrum.
I brought in a graphic designer to help fine-tune the details of the image, polish the completed result, and provide external objective feedback about the cover. When a project means a lot to you emotionally, it’s important to be open to feedback from a professional who will encounter your ideas, creative concepts, and almost-completed work for the first time, with a fresh and unbiased perspective. I wanted to make sure this design was minimalistic and timeless, and I was ecstatic (and relieved!) to see the collaborative results meet the high standards I’d applied throughout the entire book-writing process.
Following its launch, Why Do Good Bands Break Up? landed in the Top 3 on Amazon’s Music Business Bestsellers chart.
Personal Brand Logo (Art Direction)
This project was more collaborative than the book cover, as I wanted a design that combined multiple specific influences from across the music and wider creative industries. The graphic designer I worked with (Dave Hollingworth) was a true professional, and quickly created a series of logos that we moulded into the results below. If you’d like to see more of Dave’s work, he currently oversees the incredible guitar designs that have made every Chapman Guitars product a global hit.
Thanks to these logo designs, I’ve had a lot of fun swapping business cards at networking events. The cards frequently become a talking point in themselves, helping to deepen conversations and connections.
Final Note
Thanks for taking the time to check out my portfolio! If you’d like more information, have any questions, or would just like a chat, feel free to email me at info@leontk.com or use the contact form below. I’ll get back to you ASAP.