Spin Master

I recently finished a long-term contract as Senior Copywriter/Content Manager with Spin Master. Unfortunately, Spin Master decided to move their games team to New York, but I did get to work on some great projects during the time I was there. I was responsible for all product naming and taglines, package copy, instructions, and game content.

Below are some samples of my work there...

Of all the projects I've worked on in my career, this was the first one that I thought for sure HR and IT would come and escort me out of the building! Dirty Dough is an adult party game where you use the included dough to get players to guess the raunchy clues on the cards (think Pictionary, but definitely NOT for kids!). Above is some of the copy from the package and rules that I wrote. If you want to see the card content, I recommend buying the game...because this isn't the place for that!

I wrote the rules/instructions for everything from the simplest preschool games to more complex strategy games and electronics. Below are the instructions I wrote for a game called Trust Me, I'm Psychic. I predict you'll like it.

 

Imagine playing charades with a sloth hanging off of you. Then imagine that the sloth has a motion sensor in it so you...have to...move...very, very...slowly. That's The Sloth Game! Writing the content for this was a blast because it meant that I was holed up in a conference room with another writer for days on end writing and testing the content with a sloth prototype. Below is some of the content I wrote for this. 

Here's some more content I wrote and copyedited. We wanted to add a new twist to the classic family game in addition to the standard trivia questions. So, we added some silly challenges to get the family laughing together. Below are some samples of the challenges we tested and ultimately added to the refreshed game.

 

I have worked on naming projects for hundreds of products and brands. It's one of my favorite things to work on for consumer goods. I helped the Spin Master girls team to work on naming the 25 different collectible figures for a new line called Awesome Bloss'ems.

There are basically five figures in each of five different "tribes." I had to dig deep to find cute names that worked well for each figure within the different "tribes." Below is a working document that shows some of the thought process for this with recommendations.

Create 2 Destroy

Crayola wanted to reach boys with a creative line of products that had classic boy play patterns--construction and destruction. We came up with a line of products that had a gritty, sand-like compound with catapults, dinosaurs, and more (oh my!). I worked closely with the designer to create the themes, play mats, instructions, packaging and web content. I also designed the gameplay for the entire modular, collectible system of playsets.

Below are samples of the copy I wrote for the packaging, instructions and website...

My First Crayola

My First Crayola was an opportunity to extend the classic brand to a much younger user. I worked with marketing, product design and educational experts to craft a message about the developmental benefits of creativity for toddlers. These are some samples of the age-appropriate product and web content I wrote and copyedited to help mothers understand and guide their little ones as they explore the magic of creativity.

Outdoor Games

Crayola had extended creative play to the outdoors to generate incremental seasonal revenue. It's a crowded field with many low-cost generic competitors. In order to stand out and add more play value, I worked with product design and marketing to create the Grab 'n Go Games line. I wrote all of the copy, named the line and designed all of the games for each product.

We then worked with the consumer insights team to prove out the concepts and play test with kids (which is probably one of the reasons I love the toy and children's entertainment industries!). The line was a surprise hit in our seasonal Spring product mix.

Optimized Web Content

In the past year, I was tasked with writing and copyediting several Crayola product descriptions for Amazon, Toys R Us, Walmart, etc. It truly is a different kind of writing that is always evolving. I followed the latest trends and retailer guidelines to optimize product titles, write and edit above-the-fold feature/benefit copy and infuse the top keywords to improve search results.

And the winner is...

The Crayola Digital Light Designer won the 2013 Innovative Toy of the Year award! I worked closely with the design, marketing and engineering teams to define and develop the games and activities. Below is a page from the instruction sheet that I wrote for that content. 

Pictionary Man

I worked on the Mattel design team when Pictionary Man was originally launched. When it came time to update the content, I was contracted by Mattel to edit and write new content to ensure the gameplay was fresh and relevent. Below is a small sampling of some of the content script that I wrote.  

Wendy's Kids' Meal Games

I worked with the creative team at Strottman International to develop games and activities for Wendy's. These were usually challenging since they had to be very low in cost. I was really happy with the Pac-Man Maze Game...I basically designed a board game version of the classic video game.  

I designed the game play and wrote the content and rules for five Wheel of Fortune games for Wendy's.

The only thing missing was Vanna White! 

The game that never was...

I was contracted by Spin Master to write trivia content for the home version of the Million Dollar Money Drop TV game show. It was a very quick turnaround with a few 12-hour days writing and fact checking.

Ultimately, the show was canceled and the game never went to market. On a positive note...I now have many trivial facts stuck in my head!

Below is a small sampling of some of the trivia content I wrote.

Puppy Tweets

This was a very fun project I did for Mattel. The idea is that you attach the tag to your dog's collar and you get tweets throughout the day so you know what your pup is up to! I created the voice and irreverent attitude of the tweeting dog and wrote the content.

Below is just a small sample of the script I wrote for this.