Whose job is copywriting?
written by Allan on May 02, 2012
Periodically I work with a few freelance designers and when starting a new project, they ask for copywriting before they start the design. For me, I've always designed before the copywriting. Asking for "two paragraphs on the feature set" or "a list of the key uses of the product". Maybe I'm backward, but I can't seem to define the role of a "designer" and if copywriting tasks should be a part of their tasks.
Wikipedia says "Copywriting is the act of writing copy for the purpose of marketing and advertising a person, business, opinion or idea. The purpose of marketing copy, or promotional text, is to persuade the reader, listener or viewer to act."
- Is copywriting part of design?
- or is copywriting a task for someone who specializes in "branding" since it sets the overall tone of the website/marketing?
- Is typography actually part of copywriting?
I find the most interesting/creative/full-of-personality designers seem to do alot of the conceptual copywriting themselves because it sets the tone of the design in turn the brand.
- So who's role is copywriting in your company?
- Do you have suggestions for workflows of sharing copywriting responsibilities?
- What are your favorite websites that have great copywriting?
Great copywriting excites me more than a pretty site, here's some of my favorite sites for copywriting.
- Brewdog.com
- BlueOxJerky
- SaddleBack Leathers
- BellStrike
- ScoutMob
- BetaBrand (product descriptions)
- Got a favorite?
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Allan loves his family more than breathing. He lives in Panama City, Florida & grew up washing cars at his family's car washes. Oh and Allan hasn't worn underwear since 2004.
5 Comments
Great questions Allan? A copywriter and business writer for more than 30 years, I’ve spent many hours with designers. My answer to all your questions is YES. No matter what the collateral, marketing professionals, designers and writers need to work as a team. The question for me is what comes first – the branding, the design or the copy. I’ve found that branding often relates to strategy. Therefore I believe branding principles and guidelines should guide the copy and design. Branding should set the parameters and consistency for all other projects, next copywriting and last design. Designers may need to understand the message in order to create complimentary design as well as the approximate size of copy blocks.
I think the subtext here – with which I completely agree – is that we’re long past the point where design, development and content creation should be siloed.
Further, web copywriters should at least have an understanding of IA, UX, ID, content strategy and related disciplines in order to have a holistic understanding of a project and be a more valuable team member.
Copywriters don’t have to be branding experts, but should understand how to effectively communicate core brand messages and make a business case for everything they create. They shouldn’t dictate typographic decisions, but copywriters should certainly be able to collaborate with designers on how layout, type and formatting can most effectively serve the project goals.
That said, having a copywriter (or better, a content strategist) integrated from the beginning stages of a project – in sales, client interviews, storycarding or whatever – is the best way for everyone on a project to really understand what sort of content is needed and why it needs to be done.
I agree with your point that design and copy can influence one another but surely the job of writing copy is that of, well, a copywriter. If you don’t have one in house then you can always hire a copywriter and if you’re throwing enough resourse at this to have specialist designers involved then they’ll almost certainly provide value for money by making sure your message is engaging and forceful enough.
Nick and Mike make some excellent points, above.
You and I have both worked with some of the same designers (cough Tam Cai cough) and I understand why they need to have an idea of the copy.
Maybe not the exact copy, word for word, but a rough idea, at least.
- Size – how much room do they have to work with. Headlines? Sub-headlines? Details?
- Voice – fun, playful, serious, corporate, wacky
I don’t agree that copy has to be 100% locked in before starting design. That’s a little like saying you have to pick the paint color for bedroom #3 before digging the foundation. But it does help to have an idea if you’re building a cabin or a condo.
-Clay
I would also agree that copywriting must be done first. Copywrting is a way of building a branding strategy that will help designers on deciding the appropriate look of a particular website and assuring that it will compliment all things that a copywriter is telling about. Without the teamwork, things will fail. And obviously, copywriting task is intend for copywriter who has knowledge about the branding strategy of a company.