I still feel I have lots to learn, but I’ve had more than a few calls where someone says something like, “I looked at your stuff and was relieved. Do you know how hard it is to find someone who gets direct market design?”

It’s obviously a pain point for clients.

Dean, you may have a good perspective on this as both a writer and designer, but my feeling has always been that there are very, very few resources available to direct market designers when it comes to learning from the pros.

When I started as a copywriter, there were tons of people to learn from… Bob Bly, Clayton Makepeace, Joseph Sugarman, and so many more.

But name all the experienced direct market designers with books/courses/seminars. There aren’t many. If there are, they’re keeping a very low profile.

I’ve been fortunate enough to rub shoulders just a bit with people like Lori Haller and Rob Davis… two superstars in DM design. Their willingness to share was such a tremendous impact for me. I’ll never be able to repay them for their kindness.

But beyond that, there’s not a lot of those superstar designers sharing what they know with the next wave.

I guess my point relates to how newcomers to the field are going to learn what they need to know that isn’t centered around the “Madison Avenue” design where awards rule the day.

Kevin raises another interesting point. It’s been rare where I get to work directly with the copywriter, which is a shame. Usually the client doesn’t keep the copywriter involved in the design process once the writing is done.

My last magalog was a pleasant exception. I had recommended the copywriter because I’d known her for about seven years. We were able to talk throughout the process and I let her see my drafts and make suggestions before the client got it.

It was one of the smoothest projects I’ve ever done and everyone (copywriter, client, designer) was happy. I wish more clients would let writers and designers talk on their own.

Great post. Unfortunately, there are not enough people in the biz like yourself and Mike who understand that it’s all about results and that the copy and the design work together to achieve a result.

In most cases, I don’t have the benefit of working with a good designer so I lay out what I want the finished product to look like (and I’m a big fan of things like “Copy Doodles”). However, I’ve lost track of the number of times when a client has their “designer” re do the layout and end up butchering the piece.

Thanks for the post and saying very eloquently what I guess most copywriters would like to have said!

Kevin Francis

I had to chuckle a bit at your comments about sketches. Having a copywriter who actually has a vision is gold in my mind.

I know from my writing days that it’s very common to have your own vision for the way the copy should look. But I rarely get layout suggestions from writers I work with. It does seem there’s a fear of stepping on the designer’s toes.

I was thrilled with the last magalog I worked on where the copywriter did have a vision of what she wanted and wasn’t shy about telling me about it.

The only rebuttal I might have relates to order forms. I’ve had so many clients who try to fit way, way too much on an order form. I think if I were doing a letter to copywriters (and more often clients themselves who do their own copy) it might address the need to really consider what has to go on the order form and what doesn’t.

Sometimes it feels like we’re challenging the law of (print) physics trying to cram so much info into an order form.

I touched on this general issue a bit in an article I wrote a few years ago about designers respecting what the copywriter does.

http://mikeklassen.com/blog/2007/09/01/respect-what-the-copywriter-is-doing/