The Creative Relay: copy then design or design then copy?

It’s a common conflict in creative advertising: does design direct copy or does copy drive design?

I’ve met Art Directors who’ve pushed for a design-first approach. And posed the following argument:

“We should lead with look and feel. There’s only a certain number of images, but there’s plenty of words”

And I’ve worked with Copywriters who’ve vehemently disagreed. And rebuked the claim as follows:

“We should lead with words. Copy is what engages and sells, and that’s the single most important thing”

There’s a degree of merit in these arguments, but truthfully both are flawed.

Ideas first. Everything else second.

Great creative work always begins with a single idea. And once landed, everything else follows. Not always seamlessly. But at least single-mindedly.

It is best exemplified in the form of a brief.

Take this one for example:

To launch a new brand of chocolate cereal, creatively named: Extra Chocolatey Cereal.

Independently, an Art Director may look to embrace a smooth chocolate texture to sell the idea of rich chocolate taste. Meanwhile the Copywriter begins forging lines that focus on dialling up the notion of ‘extra’ i.e. “the cereal that gives you more”.

This is when the arguments begin.

The Art Director will ask to align the copy to ‘chocolatey’ and the Copywriter will ask to align the design to ‘extra’. And, if you’ve dealt with creatives, neither will back-down until a Creative Director enters the fold and sides with, usually, whoever they’re most scared to upset. 

The wrong and the write

Both very much believe they’re right. And, to some degree, they are. From a Copywriting perspective, ‘extra’ is much more interesting than ‘chocolatey’. It opens the creatively rich ‘more’ territory, enabling fun dramatised comparisons i.e. “so chocolatey it should come with a golden ticket”.

Whereas, from an Art Direction point-of-view, the power of ‘chocolatey’ is that it offers a visually arresting space to explore, dialling up rich chocolate colourways, swirls, and pours.

In each of their minds, they’re fighting for the best possible execution of the brief. And to give in is to bow to pressure and forgo creative integrity.

But this entire scenario can be avoided if both parties collaborate on a single idea.

Greater than the sum of its parts

For this laboured example, let’s say that—after discussion—both decide to deviate from the obvious and agree to pursue a real consumer benefit:

Extra Chocolatey Cereal let’s people eat chocolate in the morning guilt-free

Now, there’s a single idea in play that both parties can seek to explore, united in their approach. No party is leading the other, but there’s a shared territory from which both can build. And arguably, the output will be ever stronger because both are appealing to what consumers truly care about.

Art Director will create a breakfast scenario, still emphasising the ‘chocolatey’ texture, but better grounded in the consumption moment. And Copywriting will craft lines that follow that same focus i.e. “because eating KitKats at 8am is frowned upon, choose Extra Chocolatey Cereal.”

Roundup

Not only will this avoid dispute, but it’ll also ensure the execution is clearer, crisper, and consumer focused. So don’t think of creative as a relay race, think of it as a tandem bicycle—the results will speak for themselves.