Lorem ipsum, copywriting and content strategy

This has been said before, and likely by folks smarter and more popular than I, but, well, if I’m not using my Tumblr to wax needlessly philosophical on topics already well-covered, why even bother having one.

Lately, there has been a surge of interest and dedication to web and app content. Which is fantastic. I love content. My last job entailed a ton of content management and I’m a writer at heart. I care about architecture designed with content needs and goals in mind. I care about good, clear copywriting with style and message. I think this is essential not only to design but product success.

However. The anti-lorem-ipsum meme irritates me. I’m referring to:

• Stop Using Lorem Ipsum
• Death to Lorem Ipsum
• Just Say No to Lorem Ipsum

Of course, there are also rebuttals of this:

• Stop Banning Lorem Ipsum
• In Defense of Lorem Ipsum
• Yes/No Ipsum

I know, that’s a lot of discussion. Designers are like that. Anyway, it’s not that I’m such a huge lorem ipsum fan. It’s also not just because I’m a pragmatist. (Although, seriously, this magical realm where designers get great content right off the bat? I want to go there and never come back.) But, really, I think the no lorem ipsum meme’s a gross over-simplification of the problem at hand and I think it’s muddying the waters more than it’s improving them.

Yes, we should make content a priority. Yes, content should go hand in hand with the design process. Yes, the two are inextricably linked and rely on each other to relay the full message. But it’s not a three-legged race. As long as a strategy is laid out to start with, creation can move on different tracks with different paces. It’s fully possible, even likely, to have a firm grasp on content and still, at some point, make use of lorem ipsum as a design tool. If you are a designer who works closely with development, you know this drill. Design and development have to start on the same page, and stay balanced with each other. But, as long as they are balanced, they don’t need to be chained to each other every single step of the way. Content and design is no different.

I understand, ideologically, that we can use the anti-lorem-ipsum meme as a starting point for reconsidering content strategy. But isn’t there something odd in championing for more content clarity with a misleading and incomplete motto? Instead of creating red herrings that make attention-grabbing headlines and posters for designers’ vanity projects, let’s just talk about how great content strategy is and make better content.

Also, I don’t have any idea why you’re still using plain lorem ipsum. Everyone knows the best filler text generator is this one.