Putting words at the heart of the work
Ever since Bill Bernbach paired up writers with art directors in the 1960s, copy has played a major role in advertising. But in branding, very few agencies employ writers. Even in the bigger network-owned branding agencies, it’s unusual to find more than one or two writers amongst a sea of designers.
And so writing tends to take a back seat, often starting off as lorem ipsum in a layout. Where dedicated writers are brought in, it’s usually at the end. “Write me a headline for this visual”, or “Can you give me two paragraphs of copy to slot in here?”
At Ragged Edge, we set out to change that.
We’ve always believed that copy and tone of voice are just as integral to brand identity as logos and typefaces. So we built a team and a process to put words at the heart of our work.
There was a lot of friction to begin with. We weren’t used to writers being part of the process. They got forgotten or brought in only when the ideas were set.
But slowly they started to make their presence felt. They gradually forced themselves into every part of the creative process, having conversations about concepts and ideas, not just how to make a designer’s work sound good.
What began with a single writer evolved into a fully-fledged writing team with a similar structure to the design team. One of those writers became a creative director. Unheard of in a branding agency.
And sure enough the work got better. Much better. The concepts got richer. The ideas got stronger. The design stopped having to try as hard, as we allowed language to share the responsibility.
We weren’t creating design systems anymore. We were creating brands that lived and breathed. Brands with personality. Brands with something to say. Brands with a point of view.
Writers don’t just make the words better. They make the work better. It felt like a revelation. But it shouldn’t have done. Because Bill Bernbach had shown us the way 60 years before. Better late than never.
