What role does copy play in your company or design flow?
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I'm trying to get people on board at my company about getting content upfront before trying to nail down all of the workflows. To nobody's surprise it is a bit difficult when working with product development where the features aren't set in stone.
I was curious how big of a role copy plays in your company? -
BIG! Demanding content is a hassle, but I am beginning to realise that upfront is the only sensible thing, and providing approximate/dummy content is a baaaad idea. I got some hints the other day that someone thought the progress was slow on the work, and well. yes. because I have no content. You have the right idea there.
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I think it depends on the project. As a rule, I always ask for copy before getting any design work done, but some small projects are so predictable that you can get away with it if the client's slow to produce any copy.
Demanding copy is a hassle, and it drives me mad. I have 3 projects in the wings just waiting for client copy so that I can get going. I'm beginning to think one will never arrive, and the other two have gone way over our agreed deadlines.
Of course, when content finally arrives in my inbox I'm fully prepared for it to be dire to the point where I would rather design with lorem ipsum text, but that's another thread! -
How can you be unique when you start with the same generic building block?
I try get clients to 'block in' copy, much like how people digital paint, then further along the project i get them to refine the copy.
I don't start without copy, I have client deadlines and if they push back the project with their delays I let them know it's them causing the delays, it's all in the contract sir. -
To me personally, copy is important. But to everyone else, especially outside of the design/marketing field, not so much. I've learned to find out more on possible length of a piece of copy, gist, tone and form, rather than the exact words per se.
If the difficulty is on the clients, can't you back into it from a different angle? Say, if the copy is such a critical element to allow you to move from point A to point B, why don't you offer that service to the client? That way, you're not waiting on them and they're paying you. On the other hand, if the idea of shedding more money irks the client, that could force them to cough up copy. -
Nice thought, aprilfool, but that depends entirely on what kind of project it is. I do work for very specialised fields and specialists that would have my head off, if I spelled Schizodelphis morckhoviensis wrong. My knowledge of fossil dolphins, offshore risk analysis, Mongolian mummies, computed tomography, aviation fuels, devonian biology, american highway history and global energy management is limited. It is both a blessing and a curse, as I obviously cannot be expected to produce copy about these professoral subjects, but that means I have to hassle people endlessly.
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I agree with most sentiments here on getting copy up front. It gets the client vested in the project also, when they have to put the time and effort into thinking about the content before the design work even begins.
