Information Architects and Designers often seem to come from different planets. Well, if IAs are from Mars and Designers from Venus, then copywriters are from Mercury. Copywriters have been around for hundreds of years in various forms. Yet, they still remain one of the most misunderstood, underestimated, forgotten — but important players in the creative process.

(The relationship between the IA and the Designer is explained by Kristof Saelen in his article ‘the (mis)understandings between web designer and information architect’).

Everyone can do magic

A copywriter writes copy. Simple. Everyone can write.
Not exactly. It is an art — of writing words that make people stop & think. As such, copy is too valuable to just jam into a finished design. Learning to use copy as a concept & design tool helps you make the right choices and create more effective websites. If you believe every pixel, every icon & every font matters, then you also need to believe every letter matters. There’s more to a website than just user-friendliness and prettiness.

Questions & more questions — few answers?

Defining a website brings about lots of questions. What pages are needed? How will they link? What will the navigation be? What do you want the visitor to do? What is the message? Do you label a button Submit, Save or Update — New or Create? Do you write two sentences or four? Do you label content New, Updated, Recently updated or Modified? Is it There are new messages: 3 or There are 3 new messages — or is it 3 or three messages or posts? This is copywriting and all of this matters.

The IA should place a copywriter beside him when establishing the wireframe. Copywriters that write for the web can have useful insights to add to the process. In fact, it is the copy that determines the final architecture, the navigation, focus points, and call-to-actions. You need real copy to know how long certain fields should be, to see how tables will expand or contract & to know what your website truly looks like. If you wait until the eleventh hour, you may find the copywriter asking questions you wish you’d asked & answered at the start.

Give me that designer dress

Designers are often blinded by the design itself — poppy colours and fluffy buttons, everything that serves right the design. The issue of content is subordinate and you are left with a restrictive design to begin with. But, what if none of the copy fits? Are you supposed to ruin everything by changing perfectly good copy to fit the design? Isn’t that like cutting your dress, because it doesn’t fit in your suitcase? And just like a dress — copy has shape, texture and style that must go with the design.

That’s why — ideally — the copy should be ready and in place before starting a design.
Lorem ipsum is the beloved friend of the designer. It helps people to get an idea of what the actual design might look like. But, a mock-up with lorem ipsum is hardly a design, is it? And dummy text can be dangerous too — lots of lorem ipsum can seriously disproportionate the overall design. Moreover, it changes the way copy is viewed. It reduces text-based content to a mere visual design. You can’t read the real information, can’t fill out the actual form,… Dummy text is the fabric between you and reality. Therefore, no matter how pretty a design, if it doesn’t serve its purpose, it’s useless.

So copy, IA & design working together in harmony? Not exactly a too far-fetched idea, or is it? Copywriting is a valuable asset in the creative process. Good copywriting is good design.