You want your copywriting spec ad to be the best that it a can be. (Obviously!) But there’s one huge mistake that a ton of new copywriters make that can absolutely tank their chances of getting work. Want to avoid it? I thought you might.
I was watching some movie the other day in which a PR pro was advising a politician to reject the premise of a question. I’m going to do the same thing here: I reject the premise of this question.
You see, it’s a good question, but its whole premise is based on the idea of you designing your own spec ads. And that, my dear friend, is a big mistake.
In fact, it’s the number one mistake in creating spec ads: Copywriters should not be designing their own ads.
And there are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Even if you like designing, even if you just spent a small fortune on Photoshop, even if you went to school for graphic design, you should not be designing your own spec ads.
Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons.
Copywriting and Design Are Two Different Skills
First, and most basically, very few people are good at both copy and design. So, if you try to design your ad yourself, there’s a good chance it will have great copy and mediocre-to-awful design.
If you put that in your portfolio, not only is your design going to take away from your copy, but a creative director is going to think you included it because you can’t tell the difference between good design and bad design. And that’s a bad thing. You don’t need to know how to design, but you need to know bad design when you see it.
Copywriting (as you know) requires training. So does graphic design.
What Copywriters Should Know About Design
While you don’t have to be a design expert as a copywriter, you do need to know the difference between good and bad design. Pick up a copy of Design Basics Index by Jim Krause at your library (or buy a copy—it’s a great book for copywriters to have on their bookshelves!). This book breaks down (with illustrations!) the most important design elements.
Example of Bad Design
One of the major design principles you need to know as a copywriter is hierarchy. Hierarchy is how information (both copy and design) is arranged and presented. Ideally, you want the most important information conveyed first.
As copywriters, we think of hierarchy as the order of information. For example, the headline comes before the subhead comes before the body copy. And this is part of it. But a designer is also factoring in size of text and other visual elements, colors, contrast, alignment, and more to make sure the hierarchy makes sense and the eye is drawn to the most important information first. Depending on the medium—email, poster, billboard, etc.—the way they use these elements will vary.
The crucial thing for you to know as a copywriter is when hierarchy simply isn’t working or doesn’t exist in a design. This example of a poster shows what happens when their is no hierarchy. Your eye doesn’t know where to look. And, if your eye doesn’t know where to look, it means your audience is likely not going to get the message.
You Need to Prove You Can Collaborate
Second, one of the most important things that a spec ad demonstrates (besides your copywriting skills) is that you know how to work well with designers. If you’re designing your own ads, though, the messages you’re sending are “I have no idea how to work with designers” and “I don’t even know any designers.”
Not good.
Remember, just as you’re someone who’s newish to copywriting and you need to build your portfolio, there are plenty of people out there who are newish to graphic design and need to build their portfolios, too.
Get in touch with design schools, post something (safely) on Craigslist, join industry groups and meet-ups, search people on LinkedIn—there are tons of ways to find designers to work with.
Don’t be the applicant with the crummy looking spec ads; work with a designer and be the applicant that gets the job!
Watch More
Hear Nicki and Kate talk more about why not working with a designer is the number one spec ad mistake copywriters make. They also share places you can look for designers and how to make the most of this crucial creative relationship.
Your turn! How have you found designers to work with for your copywriting spec ads? Let us know in the comments below!
Note: this post contains affiliate links.
Last Updated on July 31, 2023
I’m actually a designer (for almost 30 years), but I want to become a copywriter. I’m not an artist, but I have a degree in marketing and have been a working professional designer forever. Any reason why I shouldn’t design my own spec ads?
Hi Lisa,
Yep, you’d be an exception — but don’t forget that there’s also a huge benefit to you to expand your network *and* show that you can collaborate with other designers. 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
I have been looking on Instagram and Facebook for a graphic designer after exhausting all my friends and family who have such connections..
Many of the people who are students or new graphic designers are posting work on their social media platforms or websites that seems overwhelming to me: Crazy wild graphics that distract or obscure any text on the page! Their words are in unreadable fonts. Color combinations that give me a slight headache or even emotional distress.
Someone from a business group offered to help me with my design and logo. I looked at her own website and FB professional pages. They have the same problem. She used more than 8 colors in her FB cover image. I was looking at it on my mobile, and I could not read much of the text because it looked like tiny cursive letters.
I found a 2014 article about mistakes that beginning designers make. In a nutshell, each mistake in the article hit upon what upsets me about MOST of the design work I keep seeing. That article reassured me that MAYBE I am not hopelessly behind the times. But it was published SIX YEARS ago.
I have found two designers who are new and building their businesses (so parts of their portfolios say “coming soon”). One is in South Africa and one is in Kenya. I love their work.
What is your perspective upon working with someone in another nation? My biggest concern would be exchange rates for my clients when they pay my designers. Clients might ONLY want to pay in U.S. dollars. Both designers I liked were obviously fluent in writing English for their own websites, but I could do some editing for them.
Are there issues above and beyond exchange rates that might be problematic with working a graphic designer from another nation? Have CCA students found any national or cultural norms that could slow down or even halt such a collaboration? Perhaps compatible technology might even be an issue?
My other path to locating a designer has been exploration of graphic design schools near me. There is a local graphic designer whose work I love! She does not have the time or equipment to design for me now. (She does all her work in-house for a newspaper.) She graduated with an Associate degree in graphic design. So I researched the community college that trained her. It NO LONGER offers a degree in “graphic design”! Here is how they describe what they now call “Visual Communications”:
“Visual communications students learn to communicate messages, emotions, and ideas through the use of images and words.”
WORDS?! Nicki, could they be teaching Copywriting AND Design so that their graduates don’t learn to collaborate with a copywriter? The degree does require English Composition and Interpersonal Communications.
The website goes on to add:
“Students gain experience with computer illustration, design, interactivity and photography. Visual communications courses emphasize both the technical and aesthetic aspects of good design. Students also have the opportunity to participate in field study to experience first-hand the daily operations and organizations of a successful studio. Students also develop an exit portfolio which they present verbally to a jury.”
What are your thoughts about reaching out to designers in other nations or to students studying “Visual Communications”. The majority of schools in my state have renamed their graphic design programs “Visual Communications.”
Thanks in advance for your advice! Susan Burton
Hi Susan,
Yep! There’s nothing wrong with working with designers in other countries. And “through the use of words” doesn’t necessarily mean that they write the words; only that they use words in their pieces. Sounds like they could be a great pool of potential design partners. 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
Niki, I’m just getting started with the course. I’m overwhelmed so I’ve started over.
I have read some of these posts/questions, and so far I’m questioning spec ad process. I may be jumping the gun with myself but one tid bit of information has me concerned.
?How do I afford a designer to create my spec ads when I’m not officially in the copywriting business yet?
Until now, when I heard(read) you mention our spec ads I assumed the copywriter was creating their own ads as a suggestion for the client but the company would take my copy and design their own ad. I’m afraid hiring a designer will create financial strain, the very thing I’m trying to get myself out of.
In another life I was a graphic designer(I have a BFA in graphic design).
You won’t hire a designer – you’ll barter copy work for design work with a designer that also needs to build their portfolio. You can get all of the details and steps when you get to the Create Spec Ads course. Try not to worry about it – just keep moving forward, step by step.
But if you are starting out in the industry hiring someone to do things that you’re not good at (i.e. PS, editing) will set you back a lot $$$. What should I do then?
When working with a designer to create spec ads and build your portfolio it’s intended that the copywriter and designer trade services and it won’t cost either party any money to do so. As far as editing and other parts of copywriting, that’s what the CCA is for, we cover all the bases of copywriting so you won’t need to hire someone else!