Comments on: Is Ineffective Graphic Design Diluting Your Copywriting?

By: Pozycjonowanie

Pozycjonowanie — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 08:50:40 +0000

Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is great blog. A fantastic read. I will certainly be back.

By: Beattie

Beattie — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 21:28:02 +0000

I second the above comments. A graphic designer’s job is treat each job individually and recognise when, where and what needs to be done to create a balanced and effective design. I often go against the grain in my work, there is no one size fits all in the design world. If all designers were to follow strict, unbendable rules of layout, then we may as well all be typesetters using Word!

By: Designer Sally

Designer Sally — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:47:20 +0000

Go Amanda … I agree with you.
All design projects need to be treated individually, and yes most designs might work better with black text on white BG, but people also need to factor in the need for good design. A great designer will know exactly how to lift important copy elements off a page and factors such as colour, size, contrast with other design elements all come into play.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:39:59 +0000

Thanks for sharing this as it is an important issue for every business, organisation, copy writer and graphic designer. As a person who has been involved with all of the above, I would like to share my opinion. I do not accept that, as a blanket rule, reversed colour text should be avoided.

Any “black and white” (hehe – no pun intended) blanket rules ring alarm bells for me as I strongly believe each layout should be approached individually. How boring would all the printed matter and websites in the world be if we applied this blanket rule as you have specified? Even your own website utilises reversed text in a few places, to pleasing effect.

I acknowledge that there are some people who believe, and some studies that might show, reversed text in some cases is not as effective, but these are hardly scientific or comprehensive enough to state the claims you have made. Personally, I do not think that light words on dark backgrounds are harder to read than dark words on white backgrounds, and I also disagree wholeheartedly with the claim that dark text on faint coloured backgrounds is also harder to read. There are so many factors when it comes to readability and I do not agree that all dark text on coloured backgrounds are hard to read. Indeed your own article is on a grey background, not white, and it didn’t bother me one bit.

Perhaps with the ageing population, some organisations need to be more aware of readability issues, but to make blanket rules like this is just plain silly.