Why the funnel? First, it's a shapely, functional and evocative object. I like funnels. Second, it's a handy visual metaphor for the creative process. Third, it's half of Night Funnels, which is the title of my young adult fantasy/scifi novel that's creeping toward publication.

Dump in strategy, experience, ideas, thinking, creativity, good judgement and even a few drops of that elixir clients always love — common sense — and something delightful emerges: your stuff.

Welcome! If you're interested in getting your hands on some high grade writing and/or design services, I can probably help you. This little website explains how and why.

I'm Todd Ellison and I'm not thrilled to be writing about myself in first person, but I don't have any choice in this case. I've been strategizing, writing and designing for clients for decades. Imagine getting quality thinking, writing and design work out of a single person. Shocking!

Fact is, writing and designing simultaneously is a fast and efficient way to work and ever so handy and cost-effective for clients. Not to be immodest, but there's more; with a business school, entrepreneurial and diverse marketing and consulting background, I bring way more practical business wherewithal to assignments than most clients ever expect from so-called "creative types".

Advertising and collateral materials, intelligent website content, plans, annual reports, books, speeches, presentations, magazine articles and all sorts of other things people read (or watch or listen to) — that's my writing background. I also design brand identities, packages, posters, advertising, diverse printed materials, websites and just about anything else that needs designing. Lots of writing and design examples in the Examples section.

How do I work? We just talk about what you think you need, do some imagining together, come to terms and then I create it: strategy, words, images, design, print production, web creation...whatever it takes. As client, you can be exactly as involved as you choose to be.

I built this website just so you'd have a place to check me out. So please click around and give your most rigorous scrutiny to what's here so far. It's always a work in progress.

Todd Ellison

So I read over Martha Crank's shoulder from time to time. So what? Those of us who refill coffee cups for a living shoud have some privileges, shouldn't we?
    Here's the thing: Martha is a Reading Celebrity. She's the only Licketyville resident in the Modern Reading Habits Study. Get this: she gets paid to write down exactly what catches her eye enough to start reading it. Next she writes down how far she gets into whatever she's reading (including advertising, by the way).
    Martha is stingy with her attention, but from time to time she invites me to rest my bones and my vacuum carafe at her little table in the corner by the coffee roaster. Then she tells me horror stories about what she doesn't read and why.
    If I were somebody selling something and I didn't know about things like Eyeball Reciprocity, I would be unable to sleep at night. Or even take naps.  

~ ~  The Proprietor