Monday April 23, 2007

Working With A Copywriter

by Jared Christensen in Design

9 comments

On a project that I worked on in the recent past, I was privileged to work with a copywriter for the very first time. Truthfully, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this outside resource, and I went in with a lot of questions. How much would I need to lead and shape the copywriting effort? Would I need to provide an outline of all the site content before she could get started? Would she just “dress up” the plain-Jane text that the client currently had on the site, or go beyond that?

I certainly can’t provide a comprehensive look into how all copywriters work (or how that role may change depending on the project), but perhaps my experience will answer some questions about copywriting and expose some of the undiscovered benefits these professionals bring to the table.

Content Got Owned.

The client’s site was clearly in need of much improvement. I led the kickoff meeting with the copywriter listening in on the conference line to hear all of the client’s responses to brand exploration exercises.

My initial concern about the need to micromanage this resource was wildly unfounded. Just as any good IA or Designer would, our copywriter dug right into planning and executing her job. She interacted directly with the client when appropriate and bounced ideas off me when there were design issues they might impact.

You’re Not the Only One Interested in User Experience.

This particular copywriter had worked in our client’s industry before, and knew some of the expectations that customers had regarding available content. To this end, she was very helpful in giving me additional insight into some of my IA decisions. More than just a copywriter, I got an additional source of industry-specific knowledge. Because of her experience, we were able to determine that the client’s current website wasn’t giving customers all the information they needed, and — as a result — we ended up mapping out a new site map that was roughly three times the size of the old site.

Copywriters Do Comps, Too.

After the kickoff meeting, my main activity was to create a site map and begin wireframes. Typically, wireframes contain lots of lorem ipsum or, at best, a slightly reworked version of the client’s existing copy. Most of the time, this is sufficient since clients tend to focus more on layout and just the basic representation of content.

With a copywriter on board, however, many pages of the wireframes were able to be filled with actual written content. This allowed us to talk with the client not only about page layouts and structure, but also about the tone and voice of the content. In much the same way as I would later present the client with visual design options crafted in Photoshop, the copywriter was able to present a “content brand” option, and do it far ahead of any visual brand work that I could do.

Painting With Words.

A copywriter is a designer of words. Much like a visual designer “paints” a visual representation of the brand with a visual design tool, the copywriter “paints” a personality for the site with words.

Before I was even beginning to think about the visual aspect of the site, our copywriter was internalizing the client’s responses from the brand workshop and “painting” the website with its own distinct personality. The formation of this textual personality was invaluable to me as I finalized the wireframes and moved into visual design mode.

Inspiration and Clarity.

I cannot tell you how much better and clearer my design process was thanks to well-written and brand-focused copy. The personality of the text had a great influence on how the website materialized visually.

By the time I began pushing pixels and exploring color, type, and other visual elements in Photoshop, the copywriter had already produced a fair amount of new copy. In fact, she first created copy for those wireframed pages that she knew would become comps.

I cannot tell you how much better and clearer my design process was thanks to well-written and brand-focused copy. The personality of the text had a great influence on how the website materialized visually. If memory serves me correctly, I was confident enough with the first design I did that it’s the only one we presented to the client. I had enough inspiration from the kickoff meeting, my research and the new copy that I had no reservations about it. And the client loved it.

Conclusion

Naturally, I can’t speak for all copywriters. Surely they are all as diverse as any other individual you work with. If there is one thing from my experience that I think it’s safe to say would relate to any project where a copywriter was present it would be: Good copy inspired the design process. Just as clients usually have the strongest reaction to visual design comps, I had a strong reaction to our professionally written content. It gave additional depth and clarity to some of the abstract output of the brand workshop, and got me excited about the visual possibilities of enhancing the content.

If you’ve never worked with a copywriter, do find a way to start working them into your projects. Much of the web is still a content wastelend, and no one can make that vast expanse blossom and invite like great copy.

Comments on “Working With A Copywriter”

1. Bruno Miranda said:

   I need a good copywriter, can you forward her info to my email address? Thank you

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2. Carolyn Wood said:

   I’ve been a copywriter (among other things) for years, and one thing I try to do, when appropriate, is actually think and write in visual ways. Hmm, I suppose that’s hard to explain. I try to write using words and phrases that have a lot of visual potential, so the designer immediately has something rich to work with and to translate (however he chooses) into something that’s actually visual. Some words just sit there. Others are alive and have layers of meaning that give designers some extra juice.
   (This depends, of course, on what the project is.)

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3. Nathan Smith said:

   Having written for Digital Web, let me just say that Carolyn is a good copywriter, and editor as well. I'd recommend her word wizardry to anyone looking for a sharp copywriter.

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4. Carolyn Wood said:

   You know, it just occurred to me that I should make it clear that I am NOT the copywriter who worked with Jared. I see copywriters and content undervalued so often that I saw his blog as an opportunity to discuss the subject a tiny bit.

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5. Bud Caddell said:

   You can go one step further than this and look into a <a href=“http://www.imaginepub.com”>custom publisher</a> — someone to craft all types of content around your business or strategy. That’s what my company does!

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6. kenobi said:

   Nathan – just looked at your Digital Web copy. What are your thoughts on long paragraphs on web pages – in particular, keeping one issue / point to one paragraph? Or was this originally produced for a print magazine?

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7. Carolyn Wood said:

   kenobi – Nathan can answer this one himself, but I thought I’d add my thoughts as editor of that magazine. A home page, for example, has different guidelines than a magazine article, even if that magazine article is online. The reader has looked over the home page and made a decision to read an in-depth article, and clicked on it. They know they are going to read a full article, not a series of snapshots or summaries on a topic.
   Once Nathan’s article starts, each paragraph covers a complete thought, and furnishes the proof or examples for that thought, just as with a print magazine. Look, too, at the most respected blog authors. Their paragraphs aren’t one sentence long. Actually, two major parts of Nathan’s article are stories, and I think the stories are divided naturally. Had they been divided more, I think it would have made for choppy reading.

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8. Nathan Smith said:

   Kenobi – I second what Carolyn said. I think that a home page should have short, snappy content. This is why most news sites have “teasers” with a Read More link. However, as you get further into the article, the copywriting reverts to a more traditional style, because there aren’t multiple things vying for attention or space in a limited area (as with a home page). Instead, the focus becomes the content of the article itself, in which case longer paragraphs are allowed.

   To be fair though, I wrote my article using NeoOffice (for spelling and grammar checking), which is similar to Microsoft Word. The line-lengths tend to be longer than most website layouts, and as such the paragraphs appear smaller than they do by the time the article is live on the actual site.

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9. Jared Christensen said:

   Carolyn – It’s interesting that you write in visual ways. Do you think that’s something most copywriters for the web typically do?

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