The big design: Wall likes pictures
Authorities in our business will tell in no uncertain terms that Lorem Ipsum is that huge, huge no no to forswear forever. Not so fast, Iâd say, there are some redeeming factors in favor of greeking text, as its use is merely the symptom of a worse problem to take into consideration holds steadfastly to the notion that design.
Itâs unreal, uncanny, makes you wonder if something is wrong, it seems to seek your attention for all the wrong reasons. Usually, we prefer the real thing, wine without sulfur based preservatives, real butter, not margarine, and so weâd like our layouts and designs to be filled with real words, with thoughts that count, information that has value.
Thatâs not so bad, thereâs dummy copy to the rescue. But worse, what if the fish doesnât fit in the can, the footâs to big for the boot? Or to small? To short sentences, to many headings, images too large for the proposed design, or too small, or they fit in but it looks iffy for reasons the folks in the meeting canât quite tell right now, but theyâre unhappy, somehow. A client thatâs unhappy for a reason is a problem, a client thatâs unhappy though he or her canât quite put a finger on it is worse.
Chances are there wasnât collaboration, communication, and checkpoints, there wasnât a process agreed upon or specified with the granularity required. Itâs content strategy gone awry right from the start. Forswearing the use of Lorem Ipsum wouldnât have helped, wonât help now. Itâs like saying youâre a bad designer, use less bold text, donât use italics in every other paragraph. True enough, but thatâs not all that it takes to get things back on track.
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
Winston Churchill
Thereâs lot of hate out there for a text that amounts to little more than garbled words in an old language. The villagers are out there with a vengeance to get that Frankenstein, wielding torches and pitchforks, wanting to tar and feather it at the least, running it out of town in shame.
