Recently, I saw a post on LinkedIn poising the question – which is more important, copy or design?

This question referred to website landing pages but really it could apply to any comms. The answer is not an either/or. It’s simply both.

If you consider that with online sales alone, an estimated £120 billion is potentially lost in the UK due to people abandoning websites with poor accessibility and usability*, then we all have to work together to avoid that.

Design without copy is just a decorative container. Copy without design is potentially a mass of text.

Even without thinking about it, writers will employ methods of design. For example, using a cascading hierarchy of headings, with the more important headings in larger or bolder type. Or setting as paragraphs with spaces between. Equally, a designer will consider how the copy reads – making sure the line length isn’t too long, preventing ugly line endings and widows/orphans.

I’ve worked with editors and copywriters for years, and we work hand-in-hand. (It rubs off on designers after a while – don’t get us started on double spaces, hyphens instead of en-rules and unnecessary capitalisation!).

We make what you write clear to read. We highlight and draw attention to key messages and calls to action. We pique a reader’s interest – and you keep them there. We make sure everything is legible, accessible, and the structure and pathway make sense.

Which should come first?

That’s an easy question to answer. Copy. Every, single time. (And if it’s final copy, you’ll have a lifelong friend).

I’ve never liked designing with temporary or mock copy, and quite frankly everyone ignores Lorem Ipsum anyway, even for a rough word count. If I have (near) final copy, I know the messaging – which gives me something to work with for concepts. I know the length and the flow. I know the hierarchy and sections that need emphasis, and I know where other graphics, such as diagrams, infographics, images or videos, need to be placed.

I appreciate that sometimes everything needs to be seen together in situ, as working visuals, to make those final design and copy tweaks. This is where designers and copywriters working together can give that final polish.