We have seen in the last lesson, that a copywriter is important and necessary to get good copy text and headlines. Working together with a copywriter on the other hand is sometimes harder. Here a few tips on how to get in sync with the copywriter.

Is the copywriter on your level?

Copywriter like graphic designers and art directors are not all the same. Some are good, some are mediocre, and some are bad at their profession. You, as the art director, must know the difference between a good and suitable written text and a bad one. You “direct” the project as a whole, so it’s your responsibility. You don’t have to be a writer to note the difference between good and bad texts, but you want to read some good books or newspapers to get the feeling for a well written piece. Don’t tell me, that you are a creative mind that has no use for the novels and ordinary newspaper – if you think like that you have already lost. As an art director you must have a broader view. So when you choose a copywriter or you start to work with one, read some texts he has already written. This way you see if you can talk and communicate on the same level or if you have to take the lead.

If not – you take the lead

If you find out that the quality of the texts are not as good as hoped or the copywriter is not used to the advertising/creative writing you have take the lead. You have to give him examples or guidelines he can follow. I collect great advertisings or brochures which I think have not only a great layout but also have great text. You can use them like you would use a mood board. The copywriter will be thankful and the results will benefit. Give him also the creative brief, it’s also a guideline he has to stick to and tell him how long the texts should be. Remember you are in charge.

If yes – lead depends on the project

If the copywriter is on your level or maybe better you may go along together or let him leave. This means that you can develop the ideas together, decide if you want more or less text and what type of layout you want to create. If he takes the lead, he may find also the visuals for you. I know a few copywriters that give me these hints for magazine layouts. I’m in charge of the look of the whole magazine, but I don’t decide on the content of every image. I’m with the copywriter in the first briefing, to know what comes along, staying in the background and making some questions, but the copywriter is on its own in the briefing for the content. He might come to me for a brainstorming about the “visual and text metaphor” for the article, but he also might not. If he is a good copywriter this metaphor will lead me easily to the visuals and how to integrate it into the magazine.

Keep communicating

As you can see communication with the copywriter is essential as your both work has to get together. In the case of a not so good copywriter the main communicator will be you leading, if the copywriter is a well trained professional the communication well be more about the idea and creative things. But also in this case show him you pre-layouts and sketches and he should show you his structure and ideas before he elaborates the whole piece. If you think you don’t have time for this, think again. You will benefit if you don’t have to lose time in getting the layout to work because the text is too long or short and I don’t even mention the lost time when you have to redo the job because it’s lack in quality of the text.

Presenting the project together

Presentation of your work is an important thing, you know that already. If you understand that the job is done in team with your copywriter than you want to present it in team. You present the layout and the copywriter the idea behind the text. You sure want to rehearse the presentation in order that you both point to the same direction and don’t get into contradictions. You will see that having the copywriter with you is a nice thing. If something comes up with the text you don’t have to take just everything what your client says about it. A copywriter can argue with the client or even better understand directly what went wrong or where the text is not pointing to the right spots.

In conclusion I just want to say that graphic design is teamwork and therefore a good collaboration with your copywriter is the key to success. It also applies to other parts of your “team” like the photographer and the printer and I will point to these team-partners in another lesson, son stay tuned.

If you are not in the situation where you get a good creative brief (how a good one looks like will be a topic of a future lesson) you have to rely on the information you get from the contactor or the client himself. If you have direct contact to the client you will have to make the right questions. Questions related obviously to the project, to the client himself (if it’s the first project you do for him) and on the goals.

The first rule is the following – the client won’t give you all information you need. Why is that?

Self blindness

Your client doesn’t hide important information from you on purpose. He knows his business and you know yours, and because he is doing his job and doesn’t know how to do yours he is coming to you. But as with anything you know best, you assume that certain things are obvious. An example:

You are a fan of the formula 1 racing circuit and you talk to someone that knows nothing to little about it. You talk about Ferrari and McLaren and so forth – but you will not mention that Ferrari has always red cars and McLaren (since it collaborates with Mercedes) silver ones. They may ask how you distinguish them, maybe by the numbers on the car? Sounds silly, isn’t it? Just because it’s obvious to you, but the other persons can’t know it, since it doesn’t have the basics.

The same thing happens to your client talking to you. They will tell you the new features of a product and why is so cool – but all the underlying basics are lost.

Ask like a child

A child has to learn about everything, its naïve and doesn’t have a broad knowledge. It makes questions about things that for us are so obvious that we don’t mind them anymore. The strength therein lies in these obvious details. By understanding the basics of a market, a product line, a segment of population, a standard behavior … you know what to do to stand out of the crowd with your project. Or on the other hand you know what is a no-go. Don’t be afraid of making childish questions, you just have to state why you are making them. You need the information to check you project against it before you proceed a present it to the client.

A child is never a discriminator, but is not politically correct either

Nowadays politically correctness is a must, discrimination a no-go and showing that racism is not tolerated a daily routine. But you have to watch out – don’t be afraid of asking questions which may seem racist, discriminating and not politically correct. A practical example:

You have to make a brochure for a B2B-client which manufactures machines. You have one page which states that your client is the best partner you can get and show an image of a young man and woman shaking hands sealing a deal (not a creative approach but shows the point). This message might well miss its target because the deals are made between “men” in their 50s. You want to give strength to your message with a picture, but you say with it, we are the best partner for young people, even more when we sell to a woman. Your client might not discriminate women, neither the client of your client, but they may have conservative values about who does business.

Or say you choose a stock image of a business meeting. I now often see interracial gatherings in these pictures – this might be the case in big cities, but if your client is a small-medium sized firm which resides in central Europe the chances to have black or Asian people in a meeting will be low. Not because central European businesses are racist, but because there are number wise enough black or Asian people to get usually into a meeting.

You see, you risk that your client rejects your work because you didn’t reflect the world he is living/working in. You can’t imagine his world, you have to ask him: How do your business partners look like? Are there Asian or black people in your firm/meetings?

Think like an adult

You may ask like a child, but you think like an adult, because you ask the questions to get to a goal. Business in general is goal oriented and your business is to bring the message of you client to its target. I do not suggest, that you ask hundreds of childish questions to you client – but you have to make enough to get the feeling of the client’s world – or of the world of clients-clients. Evaluating how many questions you need is the adult part of the process. You can also separate these from the briefing, by visiting your client (to see the manufacturing) or its client. Its part of the briefing and it’s the base of your work.

How channel all this information and how to make a simple creative brief is the topic of one of our next lessons. Stay tuned.