Why I don’t like to hear that you’ll “write to fit” my design.

From time to time, I’ll have a client request that I create them a template and then they will “write to fit” whatever I design. You might think a designer would be excited to hear this, but I’m not. Designing first and then writing to fit feels backwards to me.

The way I see it, design is a tool to help communicate to an audience. Yes, design will make content more visually appealing, but it should also do more – it should help make the content easier to understand. The content drives the entire design. That is why starting with the design feels backward. If I don’t know exactly what is being said, how can I best help communicate it?

Beyond that, “writing to fit” just doesn’t always work out. The writer may realize they need more (or less) words than is allotted. Or, once I see the final content, I may realize it would be helpful use a flowchart rather than a list of bullets, which might not be feasible to change after the template was approved or, at the very least, makes the process inefficient. Not to mention the little details like the headline is two lines instead of one, or the subhead is significantly shorter than in the template. If you start with the real content, these issues wouldn’t exist.

I know there will, without a doubt, still be times when I’m designing a template and a client will need to “write to fit” for whatever reason. But, having the real content allows me to work efficiently and create a design that best communicates what you are trying to say. And who wouldn’t want that?