Dean Rieck, the smarts behind DirectCreative and copywriter par excellence, shares writing duties with me this week as a Maven guest blogger. His topic? Well, clearly (pun intended) he’s covering an area that copywriters need to know, especially when we’re working with graphic artists who may or may not understand direct marketing. Enjoy!

Imagine that you purchase a ticket for the latest blockbuster film. You get your popcorn and soda, find a seat in the theater, and settle in for a couple hours of fun.

But instead of firing up the projector and showing the movie, the theater owner simply hands you the typewritten script, telling you that the words are all that matter anyway. “Copy is king.”

You’d find that a little ridiculous, wouldn’t you? Because you know that the words in the script aren’t a movie until those words are brought to life through cinematography.

The same is true for copywriting. The words you write aren’t a direct mail piece or an ad or a brochure until those words are brought to life through design. This means that, as a copywriter, your job isn’t done when you write the final word of copy. You need to be part of the design process to make sure that the design communicates your message in the way you want.

Based on the design mistakes I most often see, here are a few principles of good design.

1. Make everything reader friendly. Sales messages are transmitted through language. The goal of design, therefore, is to encourage and support readership. If people don’t read it, they won’t respond. And if they don’t respond, the client won’t make money. And if the client doesn’t make money, you won’t get hired again.
2. Create an “active” appearance. Neat, linear layouts make designs feel settled, peaceful, and still. This is not what you want. You want a design that feels active and, therefore, spurs action. Use bursts, callouts, tilted pictures, arrows, or whatever you need to create visual movement.
3. Put headlines above the body copy. Generally, headlines anywhere else will interfere with the natural reading pattern. Also, keep headlines close to the body copy so the reader can move from one to the other easily.
4. Lead the reader’s eye into the copy. People in photos should be facing toward the copy, not away from it. Angles of illustrations should also be headed toward the copy.
5. Call attention to key words. Use underlines, highlighting, boldface, italics, and other techniques. But don’t overdo it. Emphasizing everything emphasizes nothing.
6. Make coupons easy to cut or tear out. Stick to the standard square, dashed-line border. A dashed line says, “This is valuable. This is how to respond.” Odd shaped borders say nothing and make clipping or tearing difficult.
7. Show products being used. This is usually better than static illustrations or tabletop photos, except when showing specific features. People like to look at other people. And it makes understanding and visualizing the product easier.
8. Make phone numbers big and bold. This will almost always increase response. Why? Because a big number gets noticed. It says, “Call me.” Never be subtle with phone numbers. The same goes for Web addresses.
9. Design envelopes to get opened. Sometimes an envelope needs to explode with color and excitement. Sometimes it needs to look like a plain, white envelope. Sometimes it needs to be big. Sometimes it needs to be small. Sometimes it needs teaser copy. Sometimes it doesn’t. There are countless ways to design an envelope, but the ultimate goal is always the same—to get the reader to open it.
10. Make letters look like letters. For most consumer letters, use a typewriter or serif typeface that’s 10 to 12 points. Use a one-inch or greater margin. Keep paragraphs short. Indent each paragraph. Single space between lines. Double space between paragraphs. Break odd-numbered pages in the middle of a sentence, especially page one. And use blue or black for the signature.
11. Design brochures to be read, not framed. The brochure should illustrate features, list benefits, provide proofs, make comparisons, and list technical details to lend credibility to what the letter claims. Use photos, illustrations, diagrams, charts, tables, and other visual aids. Make it exciting, but readable. Usually, a simple, fact-filled layout is better than splashy graphics.
12. Make order forms easy to use. If there are fill-in lines, make sure there’s plenty of room to write. Do a mock-up to make sure the order form fits into the reply envelope without folding. If fax return is an option, make sure the paper is thick enough and big enough to run through a fax without tearing or twisting. Be sure the whole design faxes clearly. Don’t guess. Fax it yourself to be sure.

Good design can energize your copy. Bad design can kill your message. The more you know about design, the more successful you will be as a copywriter.
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Dean Rieck is an internationally respected copywriter and designer who has created direct mail, ads, and sales materials for more than 200 direct marketing companies. For tips on copywriting and direct marketing, sign up for Dean’s FREE Newsletter at www.DirectCreative.com , plus get a FREE 16-page report with 99 Easy Ways to Boost Your Direct Mail Response. Or drop by the Direct Creative Blog at www.DirectCreative.com/blog .

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[tags] dean rieck, directcreative.com, design tips for copywriters [/tags]