Welcome to my very simple copywriting and marketing portfolio! This is in place as I redesign my personal website. I’m overhauling that sucker, making it pretty, and expanding its scope beyond just a portfolio.
It will be a place for my essay work, photography, DJ mixes, coding projects, and whatever the heck else I want! Catch a peek in the “Building with AI” section.
Drew Parrish
Copywriter & Brand Strategist
I’m a copywriter and brand strategist with deep experience in the high-end outdoor gear and apparel industry. For five years, I did all things words and messaging strategy for 3 different brands and over 100 products in dozens of categories at Cascade Designs in Seattle.
My work and creative ideas can be seen and read in hundreds of storefronts around the world, is reflected in numerous online and print publications, and has been dissected by consumers across the world wide web.
I excel at crafting brand voices and messaging strategies that drive at business goals while ensuring the voice and strategy properly show up in all brand assets.
I love the outdoor industry, but I see myself as plenty capable of stewarding just about any brand and elevating how they present and communicate.
Other things I’ve done: - Held a boom mic over a congresswoman for a documentary. - Developed an AI automation for cross-posting vintage clothing I curate to different resale sites (eBay, Depop, etc.). - Shuttled a box truck full of props across state lines and designed photoshoot sets in the Utah desert for a popular womenswear brand. - Interned in a law firm. - Held the title of “Field Biologist.”
Launch a premium pad too heavy for the ultralight crowd and too pricey for the comfort crowd. Earn the title “Most Comfortable Backpacking Pad Ever.”
The move
Consumer research signaled “comfort” as a rising priority over weight and packability. I messaged first-of-its-kind dreamy comfort made possible by cutting-edge engineering and materials... You’re going to have to pay a little more for sleep this good.
The result
Backpacker’s 2025 Editors’ Choice and several more publication awards.
What I wrote
The messaging strategy doc, the name, all product copy across web and packaging, promo and teaser assets, video script, social posts, multi-use infographic (see below), tech names, emails, landing pages... everything.
The multi-use infographic.Watch the launch video on YouTube.
Platypus · Messaging strategy, launch and line expansion · 2020–2024
Platypus QuickDraw™ Water Filters
The job
Go after the Sawyer Squeeze, owner of the squeeze-filter category, and build a belief of design superiority. Expand the line into a family of filters that work in a modular system and cover all your needs.
The move
Match the form of the message to the form of the product. The filter may be meticulously designed, down to tiny details, but the end result is a ridiculously simple, intuitive, and effective user experience. The way I wrote it had to match. Instead of elaborating on the tech stories, I led with simple and joyful language and worked hard with designers to visually represent the tech story, in order to simplify it.
The result
A real competitor. Editors’ Choice in 2022, and the highest-rated filter on the PCT in 2021 and 2023. Many Reddit thread debates about it against the Sawyer Squeeze.
What I wrote
PDPs, instructions, video scripts, packaging, retail and social, ads, press releases... everything—from the launch of a single filter through expansion into 4 models in subsequent years.
Web hero.Schematic from the instructions booklet. I wrote the instructions to be clear, functional, and legally compliant.Diagram driving the modular system story. It balances some more technical language with the ease of visual storytelling.
QuickDraws at REI Seattle Flagship.Web banner for the 2L system.
I wrote the script for each model’s video, including the 3L Gravity Filter System seen here. Watch it on YouTube.
Therm-a-Rest · Positioning, launch and campaign copy · 2024, in market 2025
Boost 650™ Sleeping Bag
The job
Launching this sleeping bag ran into a problem: the international standard test that assigns a bag its temperature rating couldn’t properly capture the Boost 650 due to its shape-changing, and thus warmth-changing, design. I had to explain what was going on.
The move
Work with the engineers and do a bunch of research into thermodynamics to put together a convincing one-pager to help the sales team explain this bag and help consumers understand it.
The result
GearJunkie Best in Show at its first showing.
What I wrote
Positioning, launch and campaign copy, dealer education, packaging, PDPs, video, social and PR... everything. (Again. Noticing a pattern?)
The WarmZip one-pager (opens the PDF).
Drew Parrish · Copywriter3 / 8
Duetti · Freelance · Structure, research and the v1 draft · September 2026
Legal Trends in Catalog Deals
The job
Turn an AI-assisted interview, a General Counsel’s written answers to 14 questions, into a white paper for the lawyers who advise artists on catalog sales.
The move
First, I did a lot of research. I knew little about this niche music industry topic. Second, the question sequencing was not the best sequence for presenting the information and getting to the point. White papers usually lead with the problem, then discuss the fix. However, the topic was not really “white paper” content. I deviated from a strict white paper format and justified my decision. Third, I reordered the information from the source material. I opted to lead with the problem and treat it as a hook, then follow it up in a flow that made sense and conceptually flowed well.
The result
Duetti finished it in-house under their General Counsel’s name. The published piece was not my draft, but significant chunks of what I wrote appeared in the final piece, with the three questions I moved up front anchoring the published version. The final piece was definitely NOT a white paper.
How the interview’s questions mapped onto my draft.
The published article is Duetti’s, credited to their General Counsel, with a structure, data and examples I didn’t write.
PackTowl · Product copy, artist interviews, packaging · 2024
PackTowl Artist Series
The job
PackTowl’s towels were materially better but visibly more boring than the competitors’ fun prints. Achieve both an aesthetically and emotionally compelling product story with original works of art as towel prints.
The move
Short written artist bios displayed on the retail packaging and PDPs turned just another colorful print into an original work of art. I designed a 10–15-question questionnaire sent to the artists that collected information on their background, inspiration, and style, which I then turned into short bios.
The result
The series expanded a year later on strong sales, added another artist, and retail placement was strong across our accounts.
Artist bios, written from interviews with each artist.
Shogo Ota’s Orca print.At retail.
Drew Parrish · Copywriter5 / 8
Freelance · Trailer script rewrite
Death of a Glacier
Death of a Glacier is a film made by Geoscience PhD researchers at the University of Wisconsin. The original trailer script sounded like it was written by people who did a lot of academic writing, which makes sense. However, the point was not to get peer-reviewed and published; it was to move audiences. I took the short script, stripped it to its bones, and reworked it for emotional impact.
The trailer shows a musician playing a cello on a glacier. It uses the timelessness of Bach’s music to portray the once-timeless, now-threatened state of a glacier, and the script had to carry that.
Watch the trailer on YouTube.
Drew Parrish · Copywriter6 / 8
Therm-a-Rest · Launch and campaign copy, packaging, retail · 2022
NeoAir® XLite NXT & XTherm NXT
The next generation of Therm-a-Rest’s flagship backpacking pads. These models were an update on their category-leading predecessors. I suggested we use the NXT name add-on and not deviate too significantly from the original messaging strategies. The aim was to show that “we made the best better” with the next generation. Mostly, it was an exercise in restraint and letting the product and product legacy do the talking.
I wrote the launch and campaign copy, the packaging and the in-store signs for REI. The pads have since picked up awards of their own, including Backpacker’s 2023 Editors’ Choice for the XTherm NXT and GearJunkie’s 2026 Best Overall for the XLite NXT.
The XTherm NXT.
REI in-store sign, XLite NXT.REI in-store sign, XTherm NXT.
Drew Parrish · Copywriter7 / 8
Personal project · Full visual and UX website redesign · Oct 2026–Present
Building with AI
The job
Why pay extra to a CMS for a website, when $11/year for a domain and Claude Code can get me a personalized, aesthetically interesting, and downright fun website? Recently, I decided to expand my website beyond a strict copywriting portfolio to be more of a personal hub for more of my work and interests.
The move
I leaned into Claude Code best practices for getting good, non-formulaic AI-built website results. I started by throwing together an inspo board in Pinterest/Figma, had a discussion with AI about what I was trying to accomplish, then set it about building a V1. From there, I am iterating subpages and small, discrete areas bit by bit to limit context bloat and get good results. Documentation is key, and I have custom Claude Skills in place that keep me and the agent on the right path through the process.
The result
A website that is interactive, has an aesthetic story and theme, and feels like it’s mine. I also built a feature into it where I can hit [cmd+e], enter edit mode, and change the copy on the site in its local layout environment. My changes then get saved back into the code. That way I can edit copy in context, which is a cognitive advantage when writing copy.
I have very little background in web design and coding. Rather, I have curiosity, an eye for design, and the willingness to actually learn how to build with AI.
New home page in progress, with filing-cabinet navigation, and bad AI placeholder copy.
What my portfolio page may end up looking like.This page in Edit Mode.
