Inkcat Media & Associates offers a menu of service options. Our House Specialties are Newsletters, Websites, Blogs, and personal profiles. Our Mains are Writing, Editing, Design, Website development, and Consultation.

We work on documents in a wide variety of formats, including but not limited to the following:

You may also want to browse our Samples or view our Testimonials.

The Mains

Writing

For writing assignments, Inkcat will consult with clients around project details or work from background information provided.

If the client prefers, Inkcat will confer with them during the writing process to ensure the work is being done to specification. Inkcat is committed to excellence in all written endeavors and guarantees clients clear, concise, thoughtfully-written copy delivered with professionalism and integrity.

Editing

Inkcat offers substantive editing, copyediting, and proofreading services. This process can be as interactive or independent as the client wishes.

Light editing (proofreading/copyediting) can be useful if a client would like to ensure their document is polished and error-free before sending it on.

Substantive editing can be useful for clients who wish to have their document critically assessed and/or reworked for purposes of clarification and style. When editing substantively, Inkcat takes great care to remain true to the intention of the writer and invites feedback whenever possible.

Design

Inkcat works closely with creative and highly-skilled graphic design specialists to fulfill clients’ design requirements. Inkcat designers are available to advise clients throughout the design process, from concept to print or electronic product.

Design services include:

Art direction and graphic design: Our designers work from initial concept to layout to send your project to the printers. Projects can include newsletters, websites, blogs, stationery packages (business cards, letterhead, envelopes), and more.

Logo and brand development: This is the visual representation of an organization’s essence and services. A design consultation ensures consistent application of your brand across all media, from stationery to newsletter to online presence.

Illustration and icon development: Original illustration and drawings can enhance your communications projects.

Photography: Inkcat commissions photographers to do original work based on client specifications.

Prepress: This is the last step in the design process, when files are checked for print compatibility.

Print procurement: Our designers can act on a client’s behalf or walk clients through all aspects of the printing process, from clarifying printer terminology to maximizing cost-effectiveness and environmental sustainability.

Website development

Inkcat’s website developers can upgrade your existing website or develop it from scratch. They walk you through a content revision and development process that begins with an exploration of your needs and evolves into recommendations for site structure and content. Our developers work with you from project start to website completion. Their goal is to maximize the success of your website with a mind to usability, fulfillment of organizational objectives, and search engine optimization (SEO).

Website development includes:

Review of your overall website goals and user analysis: Inkcat’s website developers consult with you and consider your website’s users to determine site objectives, including social media requirements.

Wireframe and sitemap development: By laying out the structure of a website in a wireframe and developing a sitemap, they create a model that provides an in-depth overview of a site’s functionality and structure.

SEO recommendations: The purpose of SEO is to influence the page ranking given by search engines to your website, with the goal of placing it among the top ten items in a search result. This requires a combination of approaches, including the use of a Meta tag known as description. Meta tags are a special form of HTML or XHTML tags that search engines use to extract data about your website's content, and description provides a summary of each page on your site. It's used by many search engines to display a capsule of information in their results, but on its own does not increase the page rank. However, if written well, description can increase the likelihood users will click on your link and visit your site.

Developers also ensure all internal hyperlinks provide search engines with scannable text phrases that carry information. An example might be replacing the commonly used phrase click here with “See our blue seat covers". These approaches would be combined with several others to potentially boost your site's page ranking.

Consultation

Inkcat offers consultations for clients in the areas of writing and design. In a consultation, Inkcat works with a client to help them to clarify their vision, intent, or direction, as well as to overcome blocks.

Writing and design consultations can be useful if a client is:

The House Specialties

Inkcat newsletters - Copy with bite

For Inkcat, a newsletter is an open vista and a compelling adventure. Like children, the potential of each one is limitless. To create yours, we’ll edit and polish any material you send us -- or we’ll cook it from scratch. We can seed a newsletter from concept to production: all we need is any specifications, your go-ahead, and a deadline. Check out our “Samples” page for a copy of Caterwaul, the Inkcat newsletter, and links to other Inkcat projects.

Inkcat websites - Stunning reflections

A website is the face of a company or organization, and as such it must reflect character. Inkcat appreciates that a subtle understanding of an organization -- its purposes and people -- is inherent in the creation of the perfect website. Getting to know our clients, their inspiration and motivation, is one of the greatest pleasures of our business. We ask questions, listen, propose approach, then write and design according to your specifications. We can create the text, design, and logo for your site, or play any role in its creation – from consultation to content development to...the whole shebang.

Inkcat blogs - Sass and class

Inkcat's bloggers are business-savvy writers who don’t lack for sass. Contrary to popular notions, wit and charisma do pay the bills, and Inkcat bloggers have it in spades. They’re also endlessly curious and broadly informed. You get the picture. There is nothing they can’t write (and they’d never use a double negative). If they don’t know it already, they’ll learn it. Hand them your blog and know peace and prosperity.

Samples

The following samples are intended to provide readers with a sense of the flavour and scope of Inkcat’s prose. Caterwaul was designed by Inkcat Associate Leanne Prain. Further content and design samples are available upon request.

Newsletters

Journalism

Books

Blog

Testimonials

The following testimonials reflect voices of a few of the clients Inkcat’s Marni Norwich has been grateful to work with and know.