It might seem that writing isn’t important when it comes to design – and that’s a definite mistake. Yes, this could sound surprising to many of you, but actually writing is one of the most important parts of the design process.
Why does it matter in the first place? Well, because in some way writing is what makes the design work. You can only go so far with the “lorem ipsum” text. Sure, it will work for a couple of sites, but serious designers avoid using text templates as much as possible because of many reasons.
Image Source:www.designshack.net
Why should you use a real text instead of a template?
A text template is easy to tailor to your design, which is very convenient. Sure, tailoring allows you to create a design you want without worrying how to fit in a text that is too big or too small. However, in reality, you won’t be so lucky – you’ll have to work with real texts after the design is finished. So it’s better to start working with them right from the start.
Moreover, it’s hard to picture the design clearly with a text template. Sometimes it’s the text that makes half of an impression, and while it’s still possible to create a design without any texts, I still recommend coming up with them before you actually start designing.
How to do good writing and editing for design?
It doesn’t matter if you are a designer assigned to create texts for a website you’re designing now or a writer who has to create texts for someone else’s design. Either way, it’s important for you to understand the process well enough to evaluate the result.
In some way, writing for design is like building a pyramid. You have to define the most important information, put it first, and then support it by other facts, slowly building the whole text. However, it’s not only about that.
A writer has to remember about three important things too:
– the target audience;
– the consistency;
– the importance of editing.
Your target audience.
Keeping a target audience in mind is very important when it comes to designing and writing. You have to create a text that isn’t simply interesting to read – it has to attract the attention of your target audience, to appeal to them, to encourage them to take certain actions.
If you want to achieve this result, remember that all the details matter, starting from your choice of words and ending with your writing style. At the same time, your writing has to be simple to read and easy enough to understand. Aim for short sentences, subheadings, and small paragraphs. Try to avoid words that are too smart or complex – if a high-school student is able to understand what you’re writing about, then it’ll probably work just fine.
Your writing and design have to be consistent.
Yes, target audience matters – but the main concept matters too. You have to make sure that your writing doesn’t simply appeal to the target audience but also looks good in the design. For example, if a website is designed to look all business-like and formal, the text written in informal and all too friendly manner might look a bit odd. At the same time, if a website is very creative, a simple formal text won’t do too. So make sure both text and design work well together.
The editing is very important.
Let’s start with saying that all the best texts were rarely written from the first draft. In most of the cases, it took writers hours and numbers of drafts before they were able to come up with something truly amazing.
The best way to make a proper edit is to finish the first draft long before the final deadline. In this case, you’ll be able to put it away for a couple of days and only then start your editing. Why does it matter? Well, because when we write for a certain amount of time, we become a bit unfocused. It’s hard for us to notice all the flaws and errors right after we’ve finished our writing.
However, when we distract ourselves from our texts for some time, we are able to look at them with a fresh eye and notice all the things that we would like to change. That’s why such approach is recommended.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to settle with a first edit if you still have time. You can repeat this a couple of times until you are completely satisfied with the result. However, don’t forget that if you aren’t also a designer, your text might still require a few changes. In this case, it might be better to submit it a bit earlier so you will have more time to adjust it according to designer’s comments.
Sure, not all the text affect the perception of a certain design equally – for example, if you are writing the blog post for a website, it won’t have this much impact. However, the blogs are an exception here. Remember that while the design is the first thing your audience sees, the content is the second thing they notice. So make sure that this content fits the design properly and is worthy of their attention.
I hope that these tips will help you to come up with an amazing writing for a certain design and I wish you good luck with that!
