What Comes First? Copy or Design?

It's a quick answer

You'll either love this or hate this, but either way your website's gonna love it sooo....

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COPY. COPY COMES FIRST.

That’s it. Copy. Hahahaa told you it was a quick answer. But like everything there’s a little bit more nuance when it comes down to it, so let’s crack on.

But sometimes design.

Honestly it doesn’t matter, it just depends on who you have building your website.

I usually work with designers who are flexy, like me. A lot of designers love having the copy and content first, for good reason. It gives them something to get their hands on, something to create with.

Copy first is definitely the preference.

Copy and design both come first? So helpful. Wow.

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How does it work?

One of us will build a basic wireframe and flow (my wireframes are in a copy deck, cause I’m not the design one in this scenario, but I still break the page up into strategic sections and headers). Both of us will focus on the customer journey and UX.

Whoever goes first jumps in, and the second is ready and waiting for their turn.

Then wham bam, we go back and forth a bit if needed. With the designers I work with this is usually just a refining edit because they’re amazing and we trust each other’s professional judgement. If someone suggests a section shuffle, or a copy or design element to make the page pop, that’s when it all happens. That’s the magic part. The togetherness 💘.

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Together, Forever

Your website-building team should be working together, in harmony, like two cutie-patooties who just wanna cuddle and say things like “No YOU’RE the cutest”.

So copy comes first. Sometimes design first. But always holding hands at the end.

Cuuutieeeeees x

I love you. No, I love you.