Page 197 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

92 BEFRIEND A DESIGNER

A great copy/design team is a little like a songwriting team:
one provides the words, the other the music that brings them to
life. Get both halves of the equation right and your words get
that sticky quality that embeds them in your prospect’s brain.
They’ll be humming your jingle as they fill in their credit
card details.

On the other hand, you, as the lyricist, might see your precious
verses and chorus handed over to some hack with a tin ear. Now
your copy jangles the reader’s nerves and the easiest way to find
respite from the pain is to junk it.

The idea

From Colophon, a small but beautifully formed design consultancy
Over the 20 years I have been working with Ross Speirs, the designer
behind Colophon, he has taught me more than I have any right to
know about good design. Not just what it is, but how to recognize
it and why it’s important. He’s not one for awards ceremonies or
industry citations but between us we’ve created promotions that have
sold millions of pounds’ worth of merchandise for our clients.

Here are five things Ross has taught me . . .

1. If you emphasize everything, you emphasize nothing. Making
everything bigger—all the headlines, all the pictures, all the
text—doesn’t make anything more “impactful” [Aagh!—Ed.],
just shouty. In fact, you can draw the eye by making a graphic
element smaller.

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