https://www.dana-moran.com/home daily 1.0 2025-09-18 https://www.dana-moran.com/agency daily 0.75 2025-02-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/d64c385d-4856-4143-b97c-8c813b2ef464/Billboard.png Agency work - CDPH’s Healthy Chicago The challenge: For years, the Chicago Department of Public Health has worked to improve livelihoods and close our city’s racial life expectancy gap through the Healthy Chicago movement. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, CDPH was ready to refresh the Healthy Chicago brand, messaging and educational toolkit to better support CDPH and its community partners, and to reach audiences of all backgrounds. My role: CDPH lacked a common verbal strategy for Healthy Chicago, so refreshing this portion of the brand meant starting from scratch. The work needed to meet audiences where they are, consider lived experiences and empower direct action. As creative director and copy lead, my work included: Interviews with internal stakeholders and research on the communication needs of both internal and external audiences Verbal concepting, development + execution, working closely with the client on key messaging for two distinct audiences and brand guidelines Stakeholder materials, including a PowerPoint template, brand flipbook, educational one-sheet Wireframing and writing the relaunched healthychicago.org website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/9b8c3c95-51ba-4795-a73e-29a29c4164d5/Screenshot+2025-02-12+at+3.58.54%E2%80%AFPM.png Agency work - Smokeball The challenge: Legal practice management software company Smokeball was reviving its entire brand—visual and verbal—and needed a modern website to connect with current and potential customers. My role: As the in-house communications manager, I had already re-written Smokeball’s verbal identity and brand guidelines. In writing the new website, I focused on language that would resonate with legal professionals while conveying Smokeball’s deep expertise. The site also elevates Smokeball as a team-centric organization. As part of the revamped Careers page, I wrote and directed an employee testimonials video to showcase our culture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/c67b12da-df9e-413f-8bdf-3a340ef6cd67/Bigmouth+website Agency work - Bigmouth Creative The challenge: Bigmouth is a small agency—really small. Less than 10 full- and part-timers make the magic happen. As a one-woman copy team, I own our internal brand, social media, business development and new client acquisition from a verbal perspective. Over the past two years, the agency leaned further into our values, requiring a refresh of our verbal identity, website and social strategy. My role: Bigmouth defines itself as a human-centric agency; I approach my strategy and creative through this lens. Wireframing and copy for pages like Services and Process considered the user journey for organizations with both limited and extensive experience working with an agency. I built our brand voice to be trustworthy, vulnerable and conversational; this informs my work as detailed below. As creative director and copy lead, my work includes: Wireframing and re-writing every page of bigmouthcreative.com Leading brand-building projects, including our DEI page, 2024 impact report and agency manifesto Owning strategy and copy for Bigmouth’s Instagram and LinkedIn accounts, and our internal blog and newsletter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/1613515040379-BS4ZROD2KWYFQPP3RV5N/unnamed.png Agency work - Hub Group The challenge: Intermodal shipping company Hub Group was ready to move into the future as a tech-forward, holistic supply chain solutions provider. At the same time, the company wanted its new brand to remain true to its historic focus on integrity and service. My role: As Walker Sands’ lead branding writer, I was responsible for end-to-end verbal creative development for the new Hub Group brand, including: Industry + competitive research Verbal identity concept development + execution, including tagline, brand manifesto, mission, vision, personality traits, voice + tone characteristics and audience-specific messaging. Launch assets, including brand guidelines, a case study template, an investor PowerPoint deck, business cards, PowerPoint/Google Slides templates, lobby slides, posters and more. I also provided copy guidance and editing for the relaunched HubGroup.com website. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/0205523b-f0ee-4fbe-a621-b6545e513159/CDPH-023_PlaybillDiscussionGuide_r1e.jpg Agency work - ‘Journey Toward Zero’ The challenge: The Chicago Dept. of Public Health and Tessa films needed help promoting their three-part “HIV and the Journey Toward Zero” documentary. The films capture the experience of Chicago advocates and medical professionals in the face of “the end” of the HIV epidemic. The CDPH team launch the documentary’s first installment with a premiere event that sparked conversation and celebrated the movement; subsequent films also received the premiere treatment. My role: As creative director of copy for the small-but-mighty Bigmouth team, I was tasked with researching and developing creative concepts and copy. My work needed to honor the film’s subjects and show sensitivity toward the HIV community. My work included: An interactive film website Playbills and discussion guides for each film Emails, social media, film posters and screening signage On-set creative support and direction https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/1613514554009-TF9WCFO3DB94N18B71VR/Walker-Sands-edtech-case-study-NovoEd-brand-05.jpg Agency work - NovoEd The challenge: Enterprise learning and development platform NovoEd needed a full branding and web refresh to reposition itself as a modern learning and development innovator. My role: As Walker Sands’ lead branding writer, I was responsible for end-to-end verbal creative development for NovoEd’s new brand, including: Industry + competitive research Stakeholder interviews Verbal identity concept development + execution, including tagline, brand manifesto, mission, vision, personality traits, voice + tone characteristics and audience-specific messaging. Launch assets, including brand guidelines Additionally, I wrote every page of copy for the new NovoEd.com website. https://www.dana-moran.com/b2b-editorial daily 0.75 2025-02-12 https://www.dana-moran.com/freelance daily 0.75 2023-02-17 https://www.dana-moran.com/b2b-foodservice daily 0.75 2021-02-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/1614138120797-NXGIR577P7JEBIB6QJ53/The-Yard.jpg B2B foodservice - Behind the Scenes at Shipping Container Paradise The Yard. Shipping containers + baseball fans = a recipe for a great time. I spent a beautiful day onsite at The Yard at Mission Rock, a shipping container concept within spitting distance of the San Francisco Giants’ Oracle Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/1614137244762-Z3BGJBIFU3SY3KPAAJ73/community-graphic.jpg B2B foodservice - Reaching, Tapping and Fostering a Foodservice Community. Food is so much more than a source of nourishment. It’s a form of caretaking, a cultural rite and a common ground. For FoodService Director’s annual Big Idea issue, I focused on the role of food — and foodservice professionals — in building community. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/1614136295016-GO97UA0JWSBSEL0H0U7N/u-of-i-dining-interior.jpg B2B foodservice - A Day in the Life of College Dining. With more than 50,000 students at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Dawn Aubrey had a lot of mouths to feed. Then the associate director of housing for dining services, Dawn graciously allowed me to spend a day shadowing her for FoodService Director’s annual Steal This Idea issue. Highlights included a visit to a local shipping container microfarm, inspiration from the Founding Fathers and an honest-to-god fire drill. https://www.dana-moran.com/pop-culture daily 0.75 2021-02-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/1614140542548-6FUYZOO83G7EZPU2XF0T/MadMenGraphic.jpg Pop culture - Four Seasons of ‘Mad Men’ Characters, Charted. As a huge fan of both “Mad Men” and infographics, this chart remains one of my favorite projects of my entire career. I spent months plotting the intersection of important characters and story arcs ahead of the show’s Season 5 premiere. Did it involve rewatching every episode? Yes, yes it did. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/1614139620758-VS4BQ7YCJXDZCFAAUYDJ/LostLake.jpg Pop culture - Getting Tiki With It at Lost Lake. A citywide tiki craze meant Lost Lake was destined to be Chicago’s hottest bar opening of 2015. It also meant researching the history and art of tiki — and sampling a rainbow of cocktails for the very serious purpose of this review. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/1614140234770-252QHSSXP8LWKFYD0O1Z/PopCultureSummer-copy.jpg Pop culture - The Summer in Pop Culture. Among my daily tasks at RedEye: Writing a satirical pop culture page called Whoville. Some days, Whoville took the form of an infographic, and some days it became the cover story. One hot summer day, it was both. https://www.dana-moran.com/resume-1 daily 0.75 2021-02-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847904871-IJY33BXSJQA0OIFROI1H/image-asset.jpeg Resume - It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do. https://www.dana-moran.com/about-me daily 0.75 2025-01-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602c3d572f049247c1d87e74/1621957385448-Z1TENMVXF9MIJC1GCYMI/DanaSmall.jpg About Me - How I got here. I grew up in northwest Washington, which inspired a natural curiosity about the world around me — plants, animals and humans. I’ve loved reading and writing for as long as I can remember, and decided to be a journalist as a high school freshman. I also wanted to forge my path in a new place, so I packed my bags for Upstate New York and then Chicago. Where I’m at. I live with my husband and very loud cats in Chicago’s Hermosa neighborhood, where I dabble in competitive pinball, woodworking, gardening, unhealthy cooking and also being very loud. I pride myself on being a voracious reader, a dubious driver and a fiercely loyal friend. I love creating and serving as the voice of a brand because it’s a very specific version of storytelling—bringing a company to life and shaping its personality through the power of words. Where I’m going. Who’s to say? Photo: Hilary Higgins Photography https://www.dana-moran.com/404 daily 0.75 2021-02-24