This month’s Spotlight turns its lens on Tanya Langdon, one of image.works’ copy editors. While creativity plays a huge part of any marketing piece, correctness and consistency are also essential, which is where she comes in. Tanya makes sure the details are right, and spelling, grammar and punctuation are just the start—there’s proper trademark usage, making sure the links work in a digital document and more. On the personal side, she and husband Kurt are not-quite-empty nesters, with one son who graduated college and another who graduated high school this year. Keep reading for more about her behind-the-scenes role and what keeps her busy outside the office.
Describe what you do on a day-to-day basis.
My main focus is in my job title—copyediting. As a project progresses there are always changes to the copy, which brings the possibility of errors being introduced. My job is to bring a set of fresh eyes to catch those errors. I also monitor industry changes in our clients’ business areas, keeping the rest of the copy team informed and maintaining our department’s reference materials so everyone is aware of and working from the latest information. I also do a bit of writing, mainly blogs and other content for the image.works website and contributions to image.works’ Design Library.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
This is the type of job you have to be suited for to really enjoy, and I’m definitely suited for it. Whether you call me meticulous, detail-oriented or nitpicky, I love using my natural talents to make our clients look good. I also like serving as a test audience and making suggestions to improve the copy—sometimes clients are so well versed in their own products that they don’t explain them fully or clearly enough. Our banking and healthcare clients in particular have a lot of complicated products and information; I figure if I don’t quite get it, neither will the target audience.
What brought you to image.works?
Right out of college I worked at a marketing agency as a project manager—I got to sweat the details in a different way in that job! Over the years I’ve worked in a variety of marketing communications and tech writing roles; editing has always been what I liked best. When I saw the image.works job posting it was like it was written just for me.
Do you have any interesting work-related or client success stories?
Annual reports are usually the highest profile pieces our clients put out, so there’s extra pressure to make sure they’re perfect. My biggest catches this year were the misspelling of a board member’s name and a mistake in financial figures that had a dollar amount listed as millions in one place and billions in another.
What does leadership mean to you?
Being able to inspire people to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do.
What activities are you involved in outside of work?
Five years ago we moved next to a nature conservancy; I hike it several times a week to check out what plants are in bloom and what the critters are doing. I’ve gotten interested in birds to a degree I never expected—we’ve got everything from sandhill cranes and hawks to woodpeckers and turkeys visiting our yard, and I’m working on my “birding by ear” skills.
I also belong to a historic architecture Meetup group; we tour old homes and buildings around the state and geek out about things like jerkinhead roofs, carriage steps and Cream City brick.
Where is the best place you’ve traveled to and why?
The Galapagos Islands. My husband and I love wildlife trips and honeymooned in the Galapagos; the animals there aren’t afraid of humans so you can see them up close (I’m talking really close!). Twenty years later my in-laws hosted an extended-family trip there and it was just as great the second time around.
If you could learn a new skill, what would it be?
Anything artsy/craftsy—the projects I attempt never come out how I imagine them. I can paint a wall, but I can’t paint a picture…
Do you have any weird or irrational fears?
I can’t sleep on dark-colored or patterned sheets—when I wake up in the middle of the night in a dark room, I need the visual reassurance of a solid, white block under me. (Bonus weirdness: I found out a few years ago that my brother has this same quirk. Now I wonder whether it’s due to nature or nurture.)