Content vs. Design: What’s More Important?

01 Jun

Posted by Joel Falconer as Media

Content vs Design

There is an age-old battle among designers and copywriters that argues whether the copy (content) of a page or the design of a page are more important. Members from each camp obviously argue in favor of their side.

I think this is a fairly simple debate to settle: it’s not about winning. It’s about the end product and how well it works. Content conveys a message; design decides how well the content is communicated. Both are symbiotic and in this relationship, one is not more important than the other.

That’s not to say minimalist designs, or minimalist copy, can’t work. They just have to be well done.

Like most other polarized debates around the world, there is no one side winning; it’s a holistic issue and needs to be approached by development and marketing teams as such.

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5 Responses

Marelisa

June 1st, 2008 at 5:20 pm
1

I guess this is like asking: What’s more important, the product or the packaging? If the packaging isn’t appealing, it’s less likely people will be attracted to the product in the first place. If the packaging is great and people buy the product, but then the product doesn’t work, they’ll never buy it again. So I agree that it’s a symbiotic relationship and that it’s important to work on both design and copy. If you go through all that trouble to create great content, why not take the time to design a beautiful blog to showcase all of your hard work?
Joel Falconer

June 2nd, 2008 at 8:45 am
2

Yes - or if you’re a designer building your portfolio site, why not spend some time making the words work so that potential clients connect with you and what you’re about, leading to a contract?
Vered

June 2nd, 2008 at 12:41 pm
3

“That’s not to say minimalist designs, or minimalist copy, can’t work. They just have to be well done.”

See, this is a minimalist sentence, yet it is so powerful.

I love minimalism. I hate clutter - in content and in design. Short, clean and powerful works for me.
Thomas Murphy

June 2nd, 2008 at 6:47 pm
4

sometimes a picture is worth 1000 words but sometimes one sentence can be worth 1000 pictures so i guess the copywriters and the designers should work together to create the perfect campaign.
Joel Falconer

June 4th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
5

Vered, I agree. Clutter, in the case of content and design, means anything that is not required to communicate a message in an effective and powerful way. I would call minimalism, from the copywriter’s point of view, utilizing words for optimum impact without weakening the message by adding more than is needed.

Thomas: exactly right! Thanks for stopping by!