Comments on: Is Ineffective Graphic Design Diluting Your Copywriting? http://www.wordnerds.com.au/2009/10/is-ineffective-graphic-design-diluting-your-copywriting/ Copywriting, Business Writing, Speech Writing, Editing and Proofreading Thu, 27 May 2010 21:29:30 +1000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Designer Sally http://www.wordnerds.com.au/2009/10/is-ineffective-graphic-design-diluting-your-copywriting/comment-page-1/#comment-402 Designer Sally Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:47:20 +0000 http://www.wordnerds.com.au/?p=390#comment-402 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. 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 http://www.wordnerds.com.au/2009/10/is-ineffective-graphic-design-diluting-your-copywriting/comment-page-1/#comment-392 Amanda Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:39:59 +0000 http://www.wordnerds.com.au/?p=390#comment-392 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. 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.

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