Phil Cox, writer and strategist

Phil Cox

Writer and
strategist

helping organizations
articulate who they are

and what they
stand for.

What I’ve done

Doris Duke Foundation
Brand positioning and copywriting

Materials for the Arts
Mission and copywriting

Advocates for Trans Equality
Naming, mission, and brand positioning

Conservation International
Campaign creative strategy

Meta
Communications strategy

MCA Chicago
Strategic planning

Gates Foundation
Creative strategy (multiple projects)

MoMA
Audience research and visitor strategy

Terra Foundation for American Art
Opportunity assessment

Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County
Strategic planning

La Brea Tar Pits
Opportunity assessment

University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning
Brand positioning

University of Chicago
Naming, exhibition planning, and copywriting

About me

I am a writer and strategist based in NYC. Using words and images, I help individuals and organizations articulate who they are and what they stand for.

My clients have ranged widely over the past ten years—from paleontologists and art curators to coders and CEOs. All are interested in finding a better way to tell their stories; together we find meaning, craft narratives, and build plans.

My favorite project is the next one.

I am the author of two books: “What a Building Does: The Hoosier Modernisms of Evans Woollen” (Indiana University Press) and “Speak Data: Artists, Scientists, Thinkers, and Dreamers on How We Live Our Lives in Numbers“ (Princeton Architectural Press). My writings have also appeared or are forthcoming in Untapped Journal, MAS Context, and Los Angeles Review of Architecture.
Freelance Strategy Lead(2024–)
AREA 17
Freelance Partnership Director
(2025–)

Pentagram Design
(2019–2024)

NEW INC
Mentor
(2019)

LaPlaca Cohen
(2016–2019)