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• • March 20, 2024 at 4:03 am #14401151
    RWVVV

    Member

    Dear reader,

    Fully aware that this forum is mostly used to ask technical questions about Indesign, I’m diving into a more general question on thoughts about process to get copy into design.

    I work for an NGO and we put out reports about our work on a fairly structural basis. Usually copywriters write content in MS Word or Google docs and then it’s given to me to put into a nice looking layout. It’s not rocket science, but I believe I will get your sympathy when I tell that the copy often just completely disregards what is possible in layout. A chapter contains about 2.5 pages of copy, but it needs to be on 1 spread, because the next chapter needs to start on a left page. Or requests to add an image here or there, while my page is already a wall of text. I can give more examples, but I assume you recognize these issues in your work as well.

    It requires me to get creative. Luckily creativity is my bread an butter, so I somehow always manage (with some struggling), yet I sometimes feel limited in creating beautiful breathing layouts, because I simply have to cram content like it’s Tetris.

    So to formulate my question: can anyone provide input on how to approach the process for copywriters and designers to work together on copy that is malleable for design? Perhaps guide me to articles on the subject? (I have searched, but alas, no luck.) Or share your own experience.

    Thanks for reading and I patiently await responses..

  • March 20, 2024 at 4:40 am #14401153
    Steve Davis

    Participant

    You can’t pour 2 litres into a one-litre jug.
    That being said, you need to design your document and its typography to be readable.
    That should indicate how much your copywriters should be supplying.
    If it’s already been supplied then you need a good sub-editor (or send it back for editing).

  • March 20, 2024 at 4:52 am #14401154
    Chris Thompson

    Member

    Education, education… if you can, educate the writers.
    I’m often in a similar situation producing the translated versions of ID documents, where most languages naturally run longer than English anyway. If only I could get the original designers to leave a bit of room for expansion, I’d be in a better position to avoid ruining their carefully-crafted layouts! Often though, translation (effectively = future-proofing for content changes) is the last thing considered at the initial design stage.

    • March 20, 2024 at 4:54 am #14401155
      Steve Davis

      Participant

      I work regularly on multi-lingual documents and run into text that is too long, especially in German and Russian.
      The two litres in a one-litre jug principle always applies and however painful it is, text will need to be subbed if it doesn’t fit to the point of becoming unreadable.
      It’s as simple as that.

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