Are Bad Designers Killing Your Fundraising?
Most of my 56 years in the fundraising trade have been devoured as a copywriter. Thousands of appeals, millions of words –all aimed at countering right-wing zealots… saving whales, seas, trees and seals… freeing political prisoners, building houses, promoting or opposing politicians… and battling for human dignity.
Consequently, as editor of The Agitator I’m fascinated and gratified by the amount of mostly good copywriting advice that crosses my desk each day in the form of blogs, Tweets and books.
To cite a few of the fundraising copywriting resources I find most consistently helpful are Jeff Brooks’ Future Fundraising Now … Lisa Sargent’s Tweets and posts and her Thank You Letter Clinic at SOFII.org… Tom Ahern’s site and newsletter …and, of course Jerry Huntsinger’s 87 session tutorial on copywriting, also on SOFII.org
What I find puzzling is the scarcity of serious attention to the importance of good design aimed at assuring that good copy is properly presented in a way that optimizes its readability and emphasizes its key points.
This concern was reinforced by a recent post in Denny Hatch’s Marketing Blog titled Killers of Direct Marketing: Designers! Know-Nothing Designers.
For those readers unfamiliar with Denny Hatch, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to him. Denny is a giant among commercial copywriters and without question the leading, living authority and critic on good copy/bad copy, great direct marketing/bad direct marketing. If you want to know the history of direct response (and every serious practitioner should!) Denny and his blog are both delightful reading as well as “must” reading. For a quick introduction to this human treasure read Agtitator’s How Dirty Are Your Fingernails.
I digress. Back to design.
Frankly, I find it mighty strange –and troubling—that so many organizations go the extreme of either spending endless time fussing over copy or equally endless time fussing over design. If success is the goal, the wise organization will concern itself with both.
Sadly, the attention paid to the purported glow-in-the-dark “magic” of digital has exacerbated this split even more. All too many organizations believe if it’s ‘pretty’, ‘hip’ or ‘edgy’ it’ll work. Surely those mauve or teal banners or backgrounds on the email will do the trick, so why worry about that dull donation page that’s too difficult to change anyway.
I find it immensly ironic that while we’re willing to spend time and money analyzing and critiquing the pros and cons of predictive analytics and vetting the professional and educational backgrounds of data analysts, we pay scant attention to the training and knowledge of designers. And yet, just as in the case statistics and analytics there is a body of theory, empirical research and training that goes into a knowing what makes for successful design.
Just ask the average designer to explain “color theory” to you. Judging from the blank stare you’re likely to receive you might as 
well have asked a cow to explain Mozart.
That’s not saying most designers are bad. They’re not. Even though many are untrained and often too full of their “creative” selves, the fact is that too often they’ve simply been cut out of the creative loop or are unaware of their principal role in the process–that of supporting actor or co-star.
What I’m trying to point out is that while our trade is becoming more focused on the importance of knowledge on one side of the ledger –the words and data that trigger donor action—we’ve neglected the design dimension that can reinforce or weaken the message.
Results-oriented copywriters pay attention to this imbalance. As an example see how copywriter Lisa Sargent and designer Sandie Collette collaborate on donor newsletter design.
Practical Advice on Design and Designers
As Denny Hatch so firmly notes:
“I am not a designer. But I damn well know how I want my copy presented in terms of emphasis and readability. I always give the client a thumbnail for guidance. “
Here is Denny’s verbatim advice on approaching the issue of design to assure the best results possible.
- Before hiring a designer for a project, first determine the purpose of the design. Is it to be a logo, billboard, magazine illustration, sales brochure, annual report, newspaper ad or book cover?
- Communicate to the designer precisely what you want the design to accomplish.
- I have found designers can be very patronizing to executives, saying in effect, “You don’t know anything about creative; leave that to me.”
- If youfeel uncomfortable with the design, then the design is wrong. Period.
- Be prepared to sit on the designer—especially Web designers—and have the job done over and over again.It must satisfy you and your original intent. Not the designer.
- If the designer whines you’re stifling creativity, get another designer immediately.
- Make a black-and-white photocopy of the final design. If it’s difficult to read the type, send it back to the designer for surgery.
- For example, red type sur-printed on a black background will show up as dark unreadable mush. This becomes immediately obvious when subjected to a black-and-white photocopy.
- For text copy, alwaysuse a serif type face for printand sans serif for digital.
“Type smaller than nine-point is difficult for most people to read.”
—David Ogilvy - The only time to use gray type is when you absolutely do not want people to read the text.
- “Never set your copy in reverse (white type on a black background) and never set it over a gray or colored tint. The old school of art directors believed that these devices forced people to read the copy; we now know that they make reading physically impossible.”—David Ogilvy
- “It’s copy that sells, not design. But it’s the design that sells the copy. It makes no difference how persuasive, how benefit-oriented or how well-written the copy is if it isn’t read. It’s the designer’s job to present the copy in a way that will overcome skepticism and people’s dislike of what they perceive to be ‘junk.’”—Ed Elliott
- When I write a brochure, I don’t think about colors or white space or decorative borders or any of the innumerable things that make a brochure sing. But I do have a sturdy piece of architecture in the form of a thumbnail layout to give the designer—with copy that almost fits. The rest of it comes out of working together with the designer all the way down to the signed press sheet. —Malcolm Decker “
Thank you Denny.
We’d all do well to remember that, every great design begins with an even greater story.
Roger
16 responses to “Are Bad Designers Killing Your Fundraising?”
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A fundraiser after my own heart. Good fundraising designers who understand these things are like gold and should be cherished. I have one I’ve worked with for 20 years. After 30+ years as a fundraising copywriter I remain constantly astounded by the distracting and incomprehensible design I see. Yet more frightening is the client’s marketing department that spends hours arguing about putting in a positive happy photo as opposed to a photo that shows need, or wanting to include reversed out copy to put it ‘on brand’.
Hi Jill,
Oh the horror stories we could share! Thank you.
On photos you might want to share this post (http://agitator.thedonorvoice.com/smile-itll-raise-more-money-but-only-if-you-do-it-the-right-way/) with your clients.
As for the ‘reverse out’ ‘on brand’ design I’d recommend that client fire the brand consultant.
Keep up the good work.
Roger
So important – I am constantly fighting off white text on dark background or other non-legible “innovations”. One point made here that I have seen made repeatedly but haven’t fully understood is why sans-serif for digital is a default. Personally (and I fully appreciate “personally I prefer” is not a good reason!) serif, and I can’t tell a difference on-line, but I also acknowledge I have “younger eyes” than most of my target audience. Also, and I have tried to figure out a way to say this without being snarky, but isn’t this blog post in a serif font?
Hi Respecttul…
You’re not one bit snarky and your eyes are indeed sharp. Sharp perhaps because they’re ‘young eyes’ or perhaps because of the Georgia font family used by The Agitator.
We chose Georgia-a serif font– after some user testing because It’s a versatile typeface that works well with text that displays on a screen and renders equally well on both Windows and Mac machines.
Like other serif designs, Georgia has a formalness to it — but it stays readable on a variety of screen sizes.
Georgia was specifically created for on-screen use. Thus you’ll find it often online in magazine or newspaper designs including the Guardian, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal.
Given the various devices on which The Agitator is accessed it’s important that readers can easily scan over lines of text and that it remain readable.
Because text size varies based upon the size of the reader’s screen. Georgia adapts well to smaller font sizes. So it will still appear crisp and readable even on a small mobile device screen.
Thanks for your good eyes and your good comment.
Roger
Excellent choice Roger. Georgia is one of the new generation of typefaces and was designed for both the digital and print spaces.
Thanks Steve…
A particularly reassuring comment coming from someone with decades of successful direct response design PLUS formal training in design. Much appreciated.
Cheers,
Roger
Sans serif WAS the default for readability online before the advent of new serif fonts designed for the web space. In the past serif fonts looked pixelated or stair-steppy (my word.)
This new generation of fonts combined with new higher resolution devices allows serif fonts to be completely legible.
And since we read by recognizing words, not individual letters, serif fonts are still king in my book for body copy in any environment.
[…] the best letter, but using that Roboto font and reverse type is killing your fundraising results. Are Bad Designers Killing Your Fundraising? New from The […]
It’s certainly true that bad design will hinder fundraising. But so will bad copy, bad lists, bad strategy, confusion about the difference between fundraising and marketing… Designers can’t solve all those problems on their own. Good design should seek to be the invisible architecture that amplifies powerful copy. Good design will also shine a very bright light on weak, over-long, chaotic writing and strategy. There are lots of good designers out there. Before you pick one to work with, take a look at their previous work and ask yourself, what does it accomplish?
I am not sure who really said it–it was probably you Roger, but Pru Bovee said it frequently when asked “How long will the letter be?” Her answer: “as long as it needs to be.”
It’s MY job to make that copy as readable as possible and yes I do read it first. Maybe if some less experienced designers read what they are laying out they might figure out the best way to lead the reader to the offer, support the offer with graphic devices and make sure that what they are doing does not in any way hinder the readability of the copy.
Inexperienced writers fail to consider some of the client issues we designers have to deal with, like overly deep letterhead designs and heaven forbid, small sans serif type or an abundance of leading that the brand manager demands, some copy I have received doesn’t account for the recipient’s address block when the letter is the addressing vehicle that flies the package, leaving me struggling to get the ask on page one.
The old guard has seen it all and takes it all into account when writing the letters. And when I drop in copy it usually breaks exactly where it’s supposed to with just a little help and finesse.
I’m not exactly saying copy is king because as someone else said here, let’s not for get the offer, list, the postage etc.
And I never kid myself, except to say that the copy and design together account for maybe 25% of the results, when it’s probably more like 10% but let me have my fantasy for just a few moments more.
Amen to this! We all joke that no one reads fundraising letters. Maybe there’s a reason that happens. If the material is uninviting to look at, why should a person struggle through the dense prose jungle? It’s not a bill or a court order. Donors are voluntarily and willingly taking time out of their day to look at our mail, email, and websites. I’m a writer, not a designer. But I know what good design can do for my copy and for the organization that needs those donor gifts.
Don’t get me started on the proliferation of light grey type and reversed out text online.
Thus has it ever been…
During my formative years in direct mail (that’s what we called it way back when), I worked with a couple of large agencies. No one would have dreamed of having the writer and the designer work TOGETHER on a package.
It wasn’t until I dipped a toe into the world of advertising that that idea presented itself.
Over the years, I have worked with some outstanding art directors who really understood readability and using graphics to direct the reader rather than making photos, illustration or type the focus of the appeal or ad.
Sadly, there are still far too many agencies today where copy is written, approved by the client and only then is a designer brought in.
Oh, and did I neglect to mention that readers — whose attention span is drastically shortened by the over-use of electronic media — skim but don’t really read.
O Tempora! O Mores!
I’m a designer and only work on direct response ad work.
I agree with almost all of the article — except…
1) “For text copy, always use a serif type face for print and sans serif for digital.”
Some rules can be bent and this is one. If using sans serif for digital pick a typeface with a tall “x” height, ie. lowercase letters are tall in relation to uppercase letters. I do prefer serif for digital though.
2) “The only time to use gray type is when you absolutely do not want people to read the text.”
Debatable. 15 pt. san serif type in 75% black has decent readability. Use sparingly.
3) Never set your copy in reverse”
I disagree with “never”. But I believe never reverse out copy having more than 5 words. And make sure the reversed font is large in size.
Steve Gerard
Direct Response Design Service to the Trade®
Steve,
Thanks for a response from the design side!
Well said, all. As a former direct response designer and CD who is privileged to have worked with many of the excellent copywriters and designers in this string—including, decades ago, Craver Mathews Smith!—all I can add is that creative execution (copy AND design) that gratifies the creators almost always fails, while creative execution that gratifies the donor, although not always successful, rarely falls on its face. The message, whether delivered by word or picture, whether online or offline, must be created with her in mind.
Though this conversation is about print appeals, this is why I believe that the Drudge Report is one of the best designed sites on the web.
*ducks head*
(I’m not the only one who thinks this: https://m.signalvnoise.com/why-the-drudge-report-is-one-of-the-best-designed-sites-on-the-web/)