Writing & the deeper cut

Everything the home page didn't have room for.

The home page is the foundation — the work I'd put in front of a hiring manager first. This is where it goes deeper: how my eye for style actually developed, and full pieces of writing behind two of the case studies.

← Back to the main site
How my eye developed

Three references, one thread.

Written as part of a styling case-study series — the same instinct for mood, reference and detail that I now point at a client brief.

Reference 01

A$AP Rocky

Fashion Killa era, via my university SoundCloud years

My first real meeting with fashion was "Fashion Killa" — Rocky with his arm around Rihanna, in a Supreme snapback, a dark trench over a long printed tee, Raf Simons x adidas on his feet. I was still in high school, and Supreme was a brand only kids with access to their parents' savings could afford. His charisma and his dress sense were the same thing, and that was new to me.

University overlapped the SoundCloud era, 2016 to 2019 — Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, and Rocky's name kept coming up behind both of them. From there I went back through the Cozy Tapes, listened to TESTING, watched every Vice and Noisey interview I could find, and landed on his AWGE tapes — a lo-fi, experimental fusion of fashion and visual art.

What stuck wasn't really the fits. It was that he stayed himself outside of what people expected him to be — outcast, "weirdo," and all. That's the part I still try to carry into a brief: don't dress the trend, dress the point of view.

Reference 02

Skepta

UK grime, monochrome, function first

Skepta is hard to put under one title — grime artist, MC, producer, designer — and that range is part of what I take from him. His palette is heavy monochrome with the occasional pop of red or blue, focused and simple, and I emulate that because it makes a look distinct rather than busy.

He leans on nylon and waterproof textiles — tech and sportswear fabrics — which is exactly what I grew up wearing through football and athletics. Relaxed, mobile, built to be worn by anyone: that thread runs through most of what I put together, and it traces straight back to him.

He's also a fellow Nigerian, which is part of why I've followed his run as closely as I have, and why I'll keep doing it as he introduces new staples.

Reference 03

Edgar Davids

Terrace culture, sunglasses, the Sydney update

Growing up, football decided most of my wardrobe before I had any say in it — tracksuits, boots, kits, for what feels like a lifetime. It's comfort and practicality mixed with streetwear synergy, and it had a purpose in almost all areas of my everyday.

Edgar Davids is the reason that stayed stylish instead of just practical. Tinted protective sports goggles after an operation for glaucoma, dreadlocks tied up, boxy kits worn like they were tailored to him — "what you see is what you get." His minimalism made the look relatable, and it never distracted from the actual objective: winning.

Living in Sydney now, sunnier more often than not, I've kept his signature going. I usually go for sleek, aerodynamic, slightly futuristic frames — the same instinct, just re-set for a different coastline.

Briefs I write from scratch

A full concept, written the way I'd send it to a client.

The brief behind the Will & Co spec pitch on the home page — insight, concept, audience, format rationale and measurement, in full.

Will & Co — Maple Sea Salt Espresso

Product brief · self-initiated
The insight

This TikTok is part of my brief for a suggested new product for Will & Co's Bondi coffee shop. An insight into the process behind the magic — a short, snappy, aesthetic-style video that captures how our Maple Sea Salt Espresso is carefully built, while showcasing Bondi's beautiful scenery. This product proves that sea salt can be a signature drink of choice for a beachside roaster.

The concept — 20–30 second vertical video

Built on the pour-and-layer technique from the reference clip — it's a proven visual hook, just reset in Will & Co's own space.

0:00–0:04Espresso shots being extracted and maple shot being poured
0:04–0:08Espresso and ice being steamed to create a foam layer
0:08–0:14Coffee poured over ice, the two layers visibly settling into the gradient
0:14–0:20Chocolate powder sprinkled and three coffee beans added as garnish
0:20–0:26Lids sealed on cup, straws added ready for serving, close-up reveal, foam settled on top
0:26–0:30Drink pulled away from the close-up shot, ready to serve
Audience

Will & Co's existing Bondi and specialty-coffee following — design-conscious, quality-first coffee drinkers who already engage with place-based, lifestyle-driven brand storytelling — plus the broader specialty-coffee TikTok and Instagram audience that discovers new drinks through recipe-reveal content.

Why this format

Short-form video is how Will & Co's own audience already discovers new drinks. Recipe-reveal content consistently outperforms static posts in specialty coffee, and 15–20 seconds matches how people actually watch on these platforms — long enough to build anticipation, short enough to hold attention to the reveal. The pour-and-layer technique is already proven on camera in a coastal setting, so this isn't theoretical.

How I'd measure it

Views and completion rate for reach and watch-through. Saves and shares as the real intent signal, since recipe content gets saved to try later. Comments asking where to get it as demand validation. If trialled in-store, actual orders of the drink as the hard conversion metric.

The director's notes

ClubHouse Sydney, in full.

The home page shows the numbers. This is the fuller write-up behind them — the brief, the approach and the read on why it worked.

Videography Case Study: ClubHouse Sydney — Instagram Event Content

Freelance · 2026–present · @clubhousesyd

ClubHouse Sydney brought me on to shoot event video for Instagram, working from a creative brief with a clear point of view: candid, chaotic, joyful, cheeky, nostalgic, and never sterile. The brief was explicit that this wasn't a normal club night to document — it was house-party energy inside a club setting, and the job was to capture the experience, not just the people in it.

I filmed on a Sony Handycam, shooting handheld and close, working from inside the crowd rather than standing back, which is where the brief's "energy, sweat, emotion" direction actually lives. No flash — the venue's own lighting, neon greens, pinks and purples running through the space, did the work, which is exactly what gives the footage its immersive feel rather than something shot and lit from the outside.

The brief cared as much about the details that make ClubHouse different as it did about the people, so alongside the crowd and dancefloor I made sure to cover the gaming setup, the framed pictures, lamps and signage that build out the house-party feel, and the smaller props and touches scattered through the space.

Working to a one-week turnaround from the event itself, I edited in Filmora 15, working section by section against the brief rather than applying one blanket treatment. Rather than a single visual look throughout, I cut sections to black and white against the full-colour neon of the rest — a contrast that pushes the nostalgic, "you had to be there" feeling harder than either treatment would alone. I kept the camera moving with intention, pushes and pans rather than static shots, and looked for people mid-laugh, mid-shout, or catching the lens directly — the unguarded moments the brief wanted — balanced against quieter beats, like two people close together mid-conversation, so the chaos has something to breathe against. The final grade was kept dark and moody rather than bright and clean, which meant the white text overlays in the edit sat cleanly over the footage without extra treatment, exactly as briefed.

Jacob's response captured it best: "Mate, so sooo good! I think you've got the vibe of the party perfectly and I think the general feel of it is spot on. Really really happy with how it looks!"

On the numbers, the post reached 1,597 views and drew 20 comments from an account with 830 followers. With likes hidden, comments are the only engagement action visible, giving a comment rate of 1.25% against views or 2.4% against followers — neither is a complete picture without like data. The more telling number is reach: 1,597 views against 830 followers means the post reached close to 1.9 times the account's own following, so most of the people who saw it weren't already following ClubHouse.

That gap is the point. The goal of a house-party recap video isn't to maximise engagement from an audience that already knows the brand — it's exposure: putting ClubHouse's atmosphere in front of as many new eyes as possible to build awareness and anticipation for the next event. Reach beyond the existing follower base is the number that actually reflects that goal, and Jacob's feedback confirms the content did what it needed to do.

That's the deeper cut

Want to talk about a brief, or just say hi?

Get in touch Back to the work