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Kate Anderson Copywriting

Kate Anderson Copywriting

Copywriting and Social Media Management

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Magazines

MalindoMag – Malindo Air Inflight Magazine, May 2016

15 August 2016 by Kate

MalindoMag, May 2016

MalindoMag is the inflight magazine of Malaysian-based Malindo Air. Published monthly with a print run of 15,000 copies, the magazine is read by 500,000 passengers each month. Articles range from travel features of enticing destinations, to reviews and industry news.

Scope of work

Hawker’s Cuisine, a popular Malaysian restaurant in Perth, Western Australia, approached me to help them write an article for Malino Air’s inflight magazine. The aim of the article was to promote the restaurant to travellers looking for delicious authentic Malaysian food in Perth.

Read the May 2016 issue of the magazine

Filed Under: Magazines, Portfolio, Writing

Design For Life

31 July 2015 by Kate

For the past three years, Tse Yin Chang has been working her creative magic to help produce the Chung Wah Association’s flagship magazine. Tse Yin spoke to Kate Anderson about how she came to be involved with the Chung Wah Magazine, and what led her to choose a career as a graphic designer.

“Like most freelance designers, you’ve always got one eye open looking for more work to help your business grow. I remember browsing through Gumtree one day and I came across an ad the Chung Wah Association had placed for a graphic designer,” explains Tse Yin.

“At the time I was looking to expand my freelance business, so I enquired, popped along for a chat, showed them my portfolio and ended up getting the job. I guess it was a question of right time, right place.”

As a web and graphic designer, Tse Yin works with images and text to create material that is visually appealing, be it to convey a message or promote a product. On any given day she can be working on the layout for a magazine, designing a new website or working on branding solutions, such as creating a logo.

“Basically it’s my job to make things look good,” she says with a smile. “Okay, I’m just joking; it’s not quite that simple.

“I’ll usually be given a brief with a specific outcome that needs to be achieved, or a message that needs to be conveyed. As a designer I have to figure out the best solution.

“I’m a visual-thinking problem solver. Of course it’s not just about making something look good.”

Tse Yin began her career working as a web designer for an advertising agency, before setting up her own business in 2005. She also works with Western Australia’s popular music festival, Fairbridge Festival, volunteering her design skills.

“I put a lot of time and effort into my graphic design work for Chung Wah. It’s not my full-time job; I’m a partial volunteer. But whether I’m getting paid or working for free, I believe that what I produce reflects on my skills and professionalism. So I’ll always give 110 per cent.”

Tse Yin was also responsible for the Chung Wah Association’s new look website, which went live earlier in the year. It’s proved to be a huge success, both in terms of visitor traffic and feedback.

When touching upon the skills needed to pursue a career in graphic or web design, Tse Yin says you don’t necessarily need to have a formal education to break into the field. But for those of you just finishing school, a design degree will provide you with the opportunity to meet and work with other up-and-coming designers, as well as mix with cool creative folk and get access to design resources and guidance from professional tutors.

“I never went to design school. In fact, I have a commerce degree! But I learned by reading books, practising my craft and working in the field for free to build up my portfolio.

“What you really need to become a good designer is practise, practise, practise. It’s extremely important to have an impressive portfolio of work to show off your artistic fair and creative eye. You won’t get a job, paid or otherwise, without one.

“Oh, and don’t think you have to be great at drawing to be a good graphic designer either, because you don’t. Which is great, because my drawing skills are pretty much limited to stick figures!”

10 things NOT to say to a graphic designer

“Can you make it look like this, but better?”

“But my target market is everybody.”

“I don’t really have a design idea yet, but can you tell me how much it would cost?”

“I love the logo, but can you just make it pop a bit more?”

“I love the design, but can you do another 5 or 6 and come back to me with them all?

“Can you jazz it up a little?”

“Can you do lots of versions? I’ll know what I want when I see it.”

“We haven’t finished writing the copy, but can you design a draft?”

“You’re the designer, you’ll know what to do.”

“Can you bold and underline all the text so it stands out?”

Article originally written for and published in the Chung Wah Magazine, volume 24 July 2015

Filed Under: Magazines, Portfolio, Writing Tagged With: Chung Wah Magazine, graphic design, Perth, Tad Graphics, web design, Western Australia

Chung Wah Magazine, volume 24 July 2015

15 July 2015 by Kate

Chung Wah Magazine volume 24 July 2015

The Chung Wah Association of Western Australia was founded in 1909. Based in Perth, Chung Wah is the largest Chinese organisation in the whole of Western Australia. Their bi-monthly Chinese-English bilingual magazine is made available to members of the association as well as the wider community in Perth.

Scope of work

The theme of this issue was professionalism. I was asked to interview Tse Yin Chang, who has been Chung Wah Magazine’s web and graphic designer for the past three years.

Amongst other things, I discussed with Tse Yin how she came to be involved with the Chung Wah Association, and why she chose a career as a freelance web designer.

View the July 2015 issues of the magazine

Filed Under: Magazines, Portfolio, Writing

Chung Wah Magazine: A Street Celebration With Style

29 June 2015 by Kate

A street celebration with styleThere’s nothing quite like a good celebration to bring people and communities together, especially free community events. This year I had the opportunity to experience my first ever Chinese New Year festival, when I popped along to Northbridge for the Chung Wah Association’s family-friendly one-day street celebration.

Now Perth, as I’ve discovered during my relatively short time here, is a wonderfully diverse multicultural city. And the Chinese community plays a big part in its growing diversity. For Chinese people, the New Year is the most important date of the lunar calendar and a major festival for most Australian cities, Perth included.

Sichuan Opera Fire Breathing
Sichuan Opera Fire Breathing

Street parades, with lion dancing, firecrackers and food stalls, are a big part of these celebrations. And given the importance of New Year, the festivities, organised by the Chung Wah Association, certainly did the Chinese community proud. Colourful, fun and entertaining, it’s fair to say that Perth’s Chinese community certainly knows how to celebrate in style!

In true Perth fashion, the weather on the day was sunny and warm (although thankfully not as hot as last year’s 41 degree heat I’m told!) with people of all ages out to have a good time, enjoy the pleasant weather and help the city’s Chinese migrants usher in the Year of the Goat. With over 100 stalls selling food and drink and a range of products and services, it was fun to mingle with the crowds on James Street and soak up the lively atmosphere. I especially enjoyed the multi-cultural entertainment – even, dare I admit it, the Morris dancing! But as fun as the daytime festivities were, for me the best was yet to come.

Chinese Mask Changing
Chinese Mask Changing

The day was brought to a close with a multicultural concert at Northbridge Piazza. A treat for both the eyes and the ears, like the rest of the crowd I was in awe of the amazing performances. I loved the lion dance; a traditional Chinese dance performed to bring good luck and fortune, and to scare away evil spirits.

The concert also included the show-stopping Chinese mask changing and fire breathing, and the eye-catching Sichuan Kung Fu tea act, which involves pouring tea from an elaborate long-spouted teapot. For me, a Western woman who grew up in a relatively small village in England, this was my first opportunity to experience traditional Chinese culture.

The Chinese New Year Fair left me entertained, educated and much more culturally aware. I felt it was the perfect opportunity to showcase Chinese culture, and perhaps most importantly, allow as many people as possible to learn more about China.

8 fun facts about Chinese New Year

Sichuan Kung Fu Tea Act
Sichuan Kung Fu Tea Act
  • The date changes every year. Chinese New Year is determined by the Chinese lunar calendar. Which means Chinese New Year will always fall between 21 January and 20 February.
  • During the Chinese New Year red envelopes are exchanged, which contain cash. Older people give envelopes to younger people, while bosses are known to give out red envelopes to their employees.
  • It’s a popular festival in the UK. Over 300,000 people take part in the celebrations across the capital.
  • The period just before Chinese New Year is the busiest travel time of the whole year. Everyone that can goes home to celebrate with their families.
  • Every Chinese New Year brings with it a new animal zodiac year. 2014 was the Year of the Horse, this year is the Year of the Goat, and next year it will be the Year of the Monkey.
  • The traditional Chinese New Year celebration lasts for a whopping 15 days.
  • The colour red is said to be a lucky colour. Hence the reason why decorations are always red.
  • It’s a big no-no to wash your hair on the first day of Chinese New Year. Apparently some Chinese people believe doing so means washing away your good luck and fortune for the year ahead.

Article published in Chung Wah Magazine, volume 23 April 2015

Filed Under: Magazines, Portfolio, Writing Tagged With: Chinese New Year, Chung Wah Magazine, Perth, Western Australia

Chung Wah Magazine: Asian Cinema From a Western Perspective

14 May 2015 by Kate

EntertainmentAsian movies have been influencing the Western film industry since the 1960s. For over 50 years Hollywood has been looking to the East and foreign cinema for inspiration, remaking and reimagining some of Asia’s most popular movies.

For Asian films, a Hollywood makeover can be both helpful and harmful in equal measures. Not least because of linguistic and cultural differences, most Western remakes fail to capture the charm and essence of the film upon which they are based. Getting lost in translation would seem to be an unavoidable side effect. Most Western adaptations of classic Hong Kong, Korean or Japanese films fall considerably short in their efforts to emulate the originals. Remakes rarely outshine their inspiration. But perhaps that is as it should be.

Still, however bad their Hollywood makeover may be, there is an upside – and it’s a significant one. What once may have been deemed inaccessible to mainstream Western audiences, more and more moviegoers are now seeking out original Asian films, thereby opening them up to a whole new audience. Original language Chinese films, complete with subtitles, are increasingly appealing to more than just the art house crowd; foreign language films are becoming less, well, foreign.

East Asia has become a global player on the cinematic world stage and their influence on the Western film industry is undeniable. Most Western audiences will be familiar with Asian cinema through martial arts and Kung Fu, fronted by key players like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. But there is so much more to Asian films than brilliantly choreographed martial arts action sequences.

The first Asian movie to get the Hollywood treatment was the Japanese-language film Seven Samurai in 1954. The story, about villagers who hire a group of freelance samurai to protect their village from armed bandits, was remade for a Western audience six years later. The Magnificent Seven starred Steve McQueen and Yul Brynner, and to this day is widely regarded as one of the best westerns of all time.
Fifty-four years later and East Asian filmmakers remain as influential as ever on Western cinema.

So let’s take a look at a few East Asian classic movies worth checking out, and their Western interpretations…

The-Ring-2002Ring

Based on a best-selling novel by Kôji Suzuki, when it was released in 1998, Ring was the highest grossing horror movie in Japanese history. The story of a journalist who sets out to investigate a cursed videotape, dubbed the “New Asian Horror” Ring was given a Hollywood makeover in 2002. Known for its creepy visuals, by 2010 the American “J-Horror” remake became the highest grossing horror remake in movie history, grossing over $249 million.

Infernal Affairs

Widely regarded as the cream of Hong Kong crime-thrillers, this character-centric movie was released in 2002 and centres around a police officer who goes undercover to infiltrate a gang. Infernal Affairs was so popular it spawned a prequel and a sequel. In 2006, acclaimed Hollywood director Martin Scorsese remade the movie for Western audiences. The Departed starred Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio and went on to win four Oscars.
TheLakeHouse

II Mare

A beautiful little Korean film released in 2000, this romantic drama tells the story of a man and a woman who live in the same house but two years apart. They establish a romantic friendship by communicating through letters. II Mare was the inspiration for the equally sweet The Lake House in 2006 starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves.

Shall we Dance?

A successful but bored accountant finds happiness through taking ballroom dancing lessons. This delightful award-winning Japanese movie won 14 Japanese Academy Awards. The American version of the same name was a somewhat loose remake. Starring Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and Jennifer Lopez, although charming in its own right, it fails to capture the magic of the original.
The Eye

The Eye

A Hong Kong-Singaporean horror film that has all the characteristics of a good chiller; like most Asian flicks of this genre The Eye combines just the right amount of atmospheric tense horror, which Asian film makers seem to have such a flair for. After receiving a cornea transplant a young blind woman starts to see ghosts. Jessica Alba starred in the 2006 remake, also called The Eye, funnily enough.

Bangkok Dangerous

A Thai crime thriller about a deaf-mute assassin-for-hire, who eventually gives up his killer ways for the love of a good woman.Although long on style but short on substance, what it does right – exquisite photography, fancy editing and music – it does exceedingly well. The first movie to be directed by The Pang Brothers, they went on to direct the American remake too, featuring Nicholas Cage.

Article published in Chung Wah Magazine, volume 21 November 2014

Filed Under: Magazines, Portfolio, Writing Tagged With: Asian cinema, Chung Wah Magazine, films

Chung Wah Magazine, volume 23 April 2015

5 April 2015 by Kate

Chung Wah Magazine volume 23 April 2015

The Chung Wah Association of Western Australia was founded in 1909. Based in Perth, Chung Wah is the largest Chinese organisation in the whole of Western Australia. Their bi-monthly Chinese-English bilingual magazine is made available to members of the association as well as the wider community in Perth.

Scope of work

For this issue, my brief was to write an article about the Chinese New Year festivities in Perth, Western Australia. A free event, hosted by the Chung Wah Association and the City of Perth, it was my first ever experience of a Chinese New Year festival.

The article was written from my perspective, and I was also tasked with taking photos of the activities throughout the day; some of which were published alongside my article, or used for other promotional material

View the April 2015 issue of the magazine

Filed Under: Magazines, Portfolio, Writing

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About me

I work with small businesses, helping them to address their marketing needs by providing copywriting and communication services for digital and print. This could be blog content, optimised website content, copy for emails or newsletteres. I also provide social media management services, taking care of social channels for small businesses.

Contact me

If you’re looking for someone to write blog posts, require content writing for your website, want to commission me to write an article or need help with your social media, please feel free to drop me a line.

Email: kate@kateeanderson.com

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