Touch of Modern Product Copywriting
Touch of Modern ran on product descriptions: about 150 a day, often built from nothing but a few specs. Vendor copy was often off-brand or ungrammatical. While I wrote for everything under the sun — grooming, electronics, art, you name it — I was brought on for men's fashion, where the job started with the clothes themselves. Racks of them, inspected by hand, because you can't sell a jacket if you can't tell a raglan sleeve from a set-in one.
The Role
Touch of Modern was a fast-moving e-commerce site built on daily sales, so product copy wasn't a nice-to-have. It was the store. Every item needed a description that sold it, and new items arrived every day.
The raw material was uneven. Sometimes we got a list of specs and nothing else. Sometimes we got a vendor's copy that was off-brand, off-style or just wrong. Either way, it had to become something worth reading, fast.
I often wrote the daily Design Spotlight: a short editorial feature on a single brand, from levitating speakers to Goodyear-welted shoes.
The Rack
Men's fashion was the hardest category to write from a spec sheet, which is why I was brought on. The clothes arrived on racks, and someone had to look at them: the fabric, the construction, the details that justify a price. A shoe that was made with a Goodyear welt might not mention it; a color listed as green might actually be grey.
The Work
For most products, all we got was the specs. Often, we didn't even receive images in time to write to them.
What I received
— Warranty: Manufacturer's 2 Year
— Sold Individually
— Suitable For Indoor & Outdoor Use
— No Assembly Required
— Weight: 20.9 lb
— Materials: Steel
— Measurements: 15"L x 17.7"W x 35"H
— Origin: Spain
What I wrote
Offered in a range of eye-catching colors and heights to suit your space, the Ombra series makes a spectacular addition to any seating area. The steel structure features a clean design with sleek, elegant lines and a generously sized ergonomic seat. Best of all, Ombra is designed for both indoor and outdoor use thanks to its weatherproof, cataphoretic treated finish. The durable yet lightweight construction makes it convenient to carry wherever an extra seat is needed.
The Ombra Bar Stool
The Scale
Writing one good product description is easy. Writing 150 a day without them blurring together takes a system, and ours had two parts.
The first was construction formulas: a set structure for each description, so no one started from a blank page. The formula handled the order, and the writing went into the parts that actually sold the product.
The second was the house style, which we knew by heart. When you're fixing vendor copy at speed, you can't stop to check a style guide on every sentence. Knowing it cold meant edits were instant, and every description sounded like Touch of Modern, no matter who wrote it.