Oh! Hello there.
My name is Iain Broome and Very Meta is my freelance content design studio. I’ve been writing and designing with words for more than 20 years. Since February 2023, I’ve been lead content designer on a series of digital planning projects for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. That work comes to a natural end soon, which means I’m available for new, exciting projects from June 2024.
Email: iain@verymeta.com
LinkedIn: @iainbroome
Recent project work
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Content strategy for a brand new area of GOV.UK
The culmination of a year’s worth of research into the local plan-making process, I wrote a content strategy for a new area of GOV.UK dedicated to local plans. Specifically, these pages will feature guidance that helps local planning authorities create and update their plan. The strategy includes user and business needs, content principles, governance processes and workflows, and a narrow selection of content types. It will provide the foundations for policymakers to work closely with a small team of user-centred designers as they collaborate on content.
Agency: TPXimpact
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Redesigning the Local Plan-making process
Lead content designer on a series of discovery and alpha projects as part of an overarching digital planning transformation programme. Over 13 months, I was a core member of the Local Plans team. I mapped user journeys, prototyped new concepts and developed a whole new content strategy. All of this work should help transform the way local planning authorities in England create Local Plans.
Agency: TPXimpact
Kinship
The Kinship Together Podcast
I produced a new podcast for the charity, Kinship, which features interviews with six kinship carers. I did the whole shebang, from planning and interviewing to editing and publishing. To help promote the show, I took some of the best audio clips and turned them into short video content ideal for Kinship’s social channels.
Kind words
“You really want to hire Iain. He’s an excellent content designer. And a joy to work with.”
“Been an absolute pleasure working with Iain for the last year. Snap him up for all your content strategy and content design needs. Amazing addition to any team.”
“It was a pleasure working with you on this podcast Iain. They’re great, and their honesty is a testament to the relationships you so naturally build with people. Thank you!”
“Iain is both an excellent content designer and a lovely person who is capable of leading teams and delivering quality work. If you’re looking to make your content better and more accessible he’s your man.”
Clients
In no particular order, here’s a list of organisations I’ve written, designed and produced content for over the years.
Bang & Olufsen / Facebook / Maersk / Eden Project / A.P. Moller Foundation / NHS / EcoTree / Novozymes / Novo Nordisk / TPXimpact / FutureGov / Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities / Buckinghamshire Council / Essex County Council / North and West Northamptonshire Councils / Kingston Council / Sheffield City Council / Bradford Council / HM Land Registry / Morrisons / University of Sheffield / Sheffield Hallam University / Kinship / Good Things Foundation / Save the Children / TribePad / Westfield Health / West Wakefield Health / Learndirect / Cornerstones Education / Design Council / Danish Design Council / Taxi for Email / John Smedley / Studio C / Perform Green / Content OD / Sheffield Digital / Lost Dot
A few things about me
Here I am speaking at Sheffield Content Club, the Sheffield-based meetup I founded in 2018. I also run plain English workshops, send a regular email newsletter for writers, and I’m currently working on my second novel. The first, A is for Angelica, was published in 2012 and people said very nice things about it, even the Daily Mail.