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One of my gifts/curses is that I often spot typos and mistakes that most people would miss, even if the problem is there for only a few seconds. For example, I recently spotted a glaring error in an ad for Huawei on a digital bus stop advert.

It was only up for a few seconds before being replaced by another ad, but nevertheless, my proofreading klaxon went off the second I saw “it’s” (contraction of “it is”) being used in the first line of the quote instead of the possessive “its”.

Naturally, of course, I wanted to know whom to blame. Was it T3 or the copywriters at Huawei’s agency. Now, it may be some eagle-eyed T3 sub spotted the problem in the ad, or someone pointed it out to the magazine and they went back to change the original copy. But I like to think they wouldn’t have let something so basic through in the first place.

At the very least, that’s not how the review reads now:

So, let’s assume it’s Huawei’s agency. Is this a reflection of the reduced emphasis on subbing with digital copy (although my online subbing services are available…), with digital ads somehow being processed differently to print ads? Maybe, but to be honest, I’ve now seen enough print ads with glaring typos to know that print isn’t immune to the issue.

However, this is the first time I’ve seen a B2C high street ad with such a problem, particularly in the focus copy. I hope it’s not a sign of the shape of things to come.

Matteo Sedazzari ‘s Tales of Aggro is a right rollocking read – a series of short stories for which I did the proofreading last year and Irvine Welsh himself has recommended:

‘A real slice of life told in the vernacular of the streets’ – Irvine Welsh

Meet Oscar De Paul, Eddie the Casual, Dino, Quicksilver, Jamie Joe and Honest Ron, collectively known around the streets of West London as The Magnificent Six. This gang of working-class lovable rogues have claimed Shepherds Bush and White City as their playground and are not going to let anyone spoil the fun. Fashion conscious, music obsessed and shooting from the lip, these lads are legends in their minds and eager to stamp their identities on the often-indifferent streets.

Meet Rockin’ Wilf, uncle to Eddie, Teddy Boy, natural born thief and victim of 1970’s police corruption. Meet Stephanie, a wannabe pop star who is determined to knock spots off the Spice Girls, with her girl group.

Above all though, meet West London and hear the stories of ordinary people getting up to extraordinary adventures.

It’s all about a group of kids growing up in West London in the 70s and 80s, but continues through to the present day. The ‘aggro’ itself isn’t always want you think it is and the ending’s actually quite touching. Give Tales of Aggro a try!

Tales of Aggro: behind the scenes

From a personal perspective, it was a nice job to do and a change of pace – plus, being a SE London boy of the 80s, it was fun to read what the West Londoners were up to at the time, particularly around the Beeb! It’s also not often that I have to create a style guide from scratch, rather than inheriting one, so it meant I could get my Oxford Style Guide out again.

Matteo was great to work with, too, so I hope his latest book is at least as successful as his first, A Craft Cigarette – Tales of a Teenage Mod.