设计好，文案差

As designers, we rightfully spend our time focused on aesthetics. We are pixel pushers who firmly believe with the strongest conviction that attractive websites are fundamentally better websites.

作为设计师，我们理所当然地多花时间专注于美学方面。有吸引力的网站可以从根本上改善网站，我们正是这种观念最坚信的推崇者。

We build our mockups with “lorem ipsum” so we can go back and write something better when we have the time. Deadlines approach and still we put off the text until the last possible second. Finally, as our various GTD apps inform us that the time has come to submit the artwork, we hash out some quick text to throw onto our beautiful creations and send them off, without a visual blemish yet still 

marred by the subpar copy

 that appears on every page.

   我们使用“Lorem Ipsum”文本排版生成器建立我们的排版模型，所以我们有时间的时候还可以回头写更好的东西。而截止日期的做法（甚至是我们自己）仍然有可能把文案推迟到最后一秒。然后，各种GTD程序通知我们是时候提交我们的作品了，我们就在漂亮的作品上临急临忙的放些速写的文字，然后就扔出去了。最后每个页面即使视觉上都没有什么挑剔，却依然看到很多美中不足的文案。  

For many of us, this is simply how we’re programmed. We’re visual beasts that thrive on good design. The problem of course is that 

the neglect of solid copy will often cause the finished product to suffer

 as much or more than a poor design. Unless designers are your target market, your user base will be populated largely by individuals that don’t speak design. Show them Dribbble.com and they’ll wonder aloud why anyone would ever create such a service.

   对于我们大多数人而言，如何编程对我们来说简单的很，我们是靠优秀设计成长壮大的视觉怪兽。然而问题是，我们对实在文案的忽视导致我们最终的成品大受影响，影响甚至超过那些差劲的设计。除非你的目标市场是设计师，否则你的用户群中大多都是不跟你谈设计的。你告诉他们Dribbble.com，他们会好生奇怪，为什么有人会提供这样的服务。  

Sure, they can often interpret what is ugly and what isn’t similarly to how we can, but only on an intuitive level. What they really notice is how the website feels. Whether it’s smooth or clunky, easy to navigate or impossible. This is what is meant when designers say that 

great design is transparent

. If your users notice your interface too much, it’s probably because they hate it.

    当然，他们往往可以解释什么是丑陋的，什么是雷同的，就像我们一样，但只能在一个直观的水平。他们真正在意的是网站的整体感觉，是否流畅或繁琐，是否易于操作。这就是设计师所说的，优秀的设计是透明的。如果你的用户对界面很关心，很有可能是因为他们很讨厌这个界面。

This same metaphor of transparency applies to copywriting on the web. It’s worth noting that the average user is in fact trained in reading and writing far more than design, though still only as much as a standard education supplies. To these users, we’ll call them “normal people” as opposed to we visual freaks, browsing the web is a reading experience. Evaluating a service involves skimming the sales pitch and reading the list of features as much or more than evaluating the visual layout of the elements on the page. They’ll even hire a designer based as much on what he says about himself as what appears in his portfolio. If you have strong copy, they won’t notice or evaluate it too much,

they’ll be far too busy being convinced of what it’s saying.

   这个透明的比喻同样适用于网页上的文案。值得一提的是，实际上一般用户在阅读和写作方面所受的教育要远远超过设计方面，虽然依然只是一个标准教育的产品。对于这些用户，我们会称他们为“正常用户”而不是我们这些视觉怪兽，浏览网页对他们是一种阅读体验。他们关注那些涉及到服务的促销广告词和特性列表的阅读，相当甚至是超过关注网页上元素的视觉布局。他们甚至会更愿意聘请这样的设计师——他们自己说什么就做出什么样的设计作品。如果你有足够扎实的文案，他们就不会太在意或诸多评价，他们正忙于确信文案的内容。  

Heads or Tails?

正面还是反面?  

The point that I’m driving at here is that design and copywriting are two sides of the same coin; inseparable in every way. 

The user doesn’t see the design and the text, he sees a website

. A single integrated item that is either desirable or not.

在这里我想说的关键点是，设计和文案是一个硬币上不同的两面，是相互联系密不可分的。用户不是单纯看设计还是文字，而是在看一个网站，一个单独的综合项目的可取与否。  

The trick then is to toss out “lorem ipsum” for as much of the design process as possible. Stop designing without any notion of the goal of the design. To engage in design without copy is to build a box before you know what will be placed inside. To put it differently, consider the following quote from 

Jeffrey Zeldman

有一个技巧是在设计过程中尽可能的扬弃”文本排版“。如果没有任何设计目标的概念，就停止那些设计。如果设计没有文案，在你了解要放什么在里面之前可以先留出一块方框。换种方式讲，应该考虑一下Jeffrey Zeldman下面这句话：

“内容先于设计。没有内容的设计那不是设计，是装饰。”

This is precisely my point. Unless you’re designing purely for the sake of design and not engaging in some professional venture, the design should serve to reinforce the message, not the other way around.

   这正是我的意思。除非你是纯粹为设计而设计，而没有涉及到一些专业风险，设计应有助于加强内容消息，而不是相反。  

As an experiment, try building your next project by first placing in all the content that should be on the page. Throw in the headlines, the copy, the features, the widgets, the navigation; everything you can think of, but do so without design. The first step is merely to put it all in one place. 

Once you’ve got it there, then begin to style it

. Think about different ways you can arrange it, color it, and bring it to life.

   作为一个实验，在你的下一个项目中可以尝试一些把应该在页面显示的内容最先放上去。加上标题，文案，专栏，小挂件，导航，一切你能想到的，不要带设计。首先是把所有内容都放上去，一旦你想好了排版位置，然后开始风格化。你可以尝试不同的方式来编排，加些颜色，让页面活泼起来。  

This will lead to design that is both more effective and more original. 

It will be more effective because the entire page is structured to highlight and communicate your primary message.

 Obviously, to even begin this design process, you’re forced to focus entirely on structuring your communication. Use a simple text editor so that you’re not distracted by how the message looks. Instead pay attention only to how it reads.

   这样做设计不但更有效率，也更具创新。之所以更高效是因为整个页面的结构都突出和表达了你的主要信息。很明显，因为甚至是在设计过程的开始，你就不得不把重点放在结构化你的信息表达。最好使用一个简单的文本编辑器，这样你不会受文字信息的“长相”所干扰，而只需关注它的阅读效果。  

Consider above all else your target audience. Who are you seeking to appeal to with this message? What do they already possess in this area and why ins’t it good enough? And of course the most important question of all: 

Why wouldn’t they want to use the site, buy the product, hire the person, etc.?

 We’ll discuss this question more in a later article so for now just know that this question is the key to great marketing.

   考虑你的目标群体高于一切。你希望谁阅读这些消息？他们在这方面已经具备了什么？为什么还总不够好？当然，其中最重要的问题是：他们希望使用的网站干什么？购买产品？雇用职员？等等。 我们将在以后的文章中讨论这些问题，现在只需要知道这是良好营销的关键问题。

Finally, the method mentioned above will lead to more original design because

you’re not designing by using other sites you’ve seen as a starting point

. Rather than wireframing someone else’s design with your own coat of paint you’re instead solving a puzzle. The puzzle is of course how to best arrange and style the content that is already on the page. The tradition method involves jamming content into a predefined space as is the case when you purchase a pre-built design template. The better route is to tailor and evolve the space to accommodate pre-existing content.

   最后，上述的方法将会产生更多的创新设计，因为你没有使用你已经看过的网站作为一个起点。 你应该解决一个问题——而不是使用别人的设计披上你设计的外衣。而这个问题当然是，如何最好地安排和风格化网页上已经有的内容。在传统的方法，一般只是你购买了预设计的模板，才涉及到给预定义的空间填充内容。更好的方法是根据预先存在的内容剪裁和设计空间。

 注重内容，无论是不是你写的

A common question that arises out of this question is whether or not it’s your job as a designer to write good copy. The ultimate answer sounds like a copout but is completely accurate in real-world settings: it depends. However, no matter what the answer to this question is for you personally, your job is still to focus on the content.

   由此而浮现出一个常见的问题，作为一个设计师，写好文案是是否是你的工作职责。最终的答案听起来像是逃避，但在现实中确实事实如此：它依赖于你。不过，无论你个人是怎么回答这个问题，你工作的重点仍然是内容。

There are cases where designers need never consider writing a single word themselves. These settings exist mostly in traditional brick and mortar design offices that contain both a design department and a copywriting department. I’ve personally seen this setup in most of the big marketing companies that I’ve worked with as well as print-based businesses such as magazine layout departments.

  有些情况下，设计师从来不需要考虑自己写一个字。这情况大都是在传统的设计公司，有各自独立设计部门和文案部门。我亲眼看过和我合作过的这样的营销大公司，比如那些印刷为主的企业，如杂志出版社。  

In this latter situation, magazines employ countless writers and would never expect their designers to be gifted in sesquipedalian locution. However, the mode of operation in these businesses is often exactly that which I suggested for the web design experiment. Magazine designers are daily given new content to work with and “pretty up.” The magazine already has a developed style, but this can and does vary drastically from page to page and each issue presents new challenges for both creativity and spatial requirements. As a result, even though they’re not writers, 

magazine designers often excel at creating content-centric designs.

   在这种情况下，杂志社会聘请很多作家，决不对他们的设计师在语言天赋方面抱有幻想。然而，这些企业的运作模式刚刚是我提倡给网页设计试验的建议。杂志设计师每天都有新内容打交道或者“美化”，杂志已经有一个成熟的风格，但页与页之间也可以不尽相同，而且每一个页面都有创新和空间需求的挑战。因此，即使他们不是作家，杂志设计师往往善于创作内容为中心的设计。

The other common scenario is the plight of the freelancer. In this case, you’re a one man/woman show. There’s no copywriting department or senior editor working in conjunction with a design team, just you. In these circumstances, 

it becomes absolutely necessary for you to hone your copywriting skills

. Whether or not you think it’s fair for clients to expect this of you, the truth is they will.

  其他常见的情况则是自由职业者的困境。在这种情况下，你是单枪匹马的。没有文案部门或资深编辑与你的设计团队一起工作，只有你自己。在这种情况下，无论你是否认为客户这样期望对你是否公平，磨练文采写文案成为你绝对必要的技能，事实是客户也会这么认为。

I apologize for the harshness, but if you can wield Photoshop better than 

Deke McClelland

 but can’t write a great headline to save your life, 

you’re a bad freelancer

. It’s time to drop the excuses and learn to write great copy. Turn your weakness into one of your strongpoints. Make it your competitive advantage, something you can tell potential clients that they won’t find in cheaper designers dishing out templated designs from the other side of the planet.

   我很抱歉，这么要求是过于苛刻，但如果你运用Photoshop比Deke McClelland（畅销书作家、Photoshop权威著作人）更好，但却不能写一个出色的标题来救你的命，那你就不是一个优秀的自由职业者。现在是时候放弃过去那些借口认真学习练写文案了。让你的弱点变成你的强项。让自己拥有竞争优势，你可以告诉潜在的客户一些他们从火星上找到的低端设计师散发的模板设计所不具备的东西。

文案资源

To get you started on your path to becoming a copywriting guru, here are some excellent resources.

   以下是一些优秀的资源，为你入门和成为文案高手做准备。

• Fuel Your Writing (blog)
• How to Write Great Copy for the Web (eBook)
• 10 Tips For Writing Effective Web Copy
• Copywriting 101:
  An Introduction to Effective Copy

总结

To sum up, remember that the goal of your designs is to reinforce the content on the page. If you’re the kind of designer that does it all, make writing strong, convincing copy a primary goal in every job you take.

Leave a comment below and let us know what you thought of the article and whether or not copywriting is a main function of your design process.

  总之，记住，你的设计目的是强化突出网页上的内容。如果你是所有都亲历亲为的设计师，请把编写强大而有说服力的文案作为你每个工作的首要目标。

  欢迎发表评论，让我们知道你对文章的想法，无论文案在你的设计过程是否很重要。

来源：designshack

编译：MazingTech