Why we have layouts

This isn't a layout, but we do like its "sketchiness."

Some rules are really, really good
 
We recently worked with a vendor to create a client’s website. They insisted that they could create all of the visuals simply by writing code.
 
Guess how it came out? 
 
Guess how many change orders we requested? 
 
If you’ve ever tried to build something like a website page without a layout (or at least a template), don’t. If someone tells you it’s a faster way to proceed, don’t believe them. 
 
Interestingly, the visual reasons for creating a layout also apply to verbal media, such as the copy for that exact same website. In this article, we’ll explain why this age-old concept is as fresh and useful today as ever, and how you can make it work for you. 
 
What is a layout?
 
Glad you asked. We never like to assume that everyone has the same definition, so here’s ours: A layout is basically a sketch. It’s something that quickly, albeit roughly, conveys the overall look and feel of the finished product. Back in the day, these were actually drawn, by hand, with markers, on a pad of what was actually called “layout paper.” (How do we know? We drew tons of them!) 
 
We don’t know if anyone is using markers and paper to do layouts anymore, and that’s kind of sad. While computers offer tons of advantages over hand-drawing (the ability to simply “Save as...” and create multiple versions leaps to mind), computers are, well, too perfect. It’s easy to mistake a computer-generated layout for the final thing, creating all kinds of confusion, and undermining the purpose of the layout in the first place. 
 
You can’t make that mistake with a marker sketch. It looks quick and rough, and it automatically shifts the viewer (read: “Client”) into the proper mindset for providing feedback. 
 
(To this day, here at Copel Communications, we still hand-draw layouts. We do them monochrome, often in ballpoint pen, and then scan them in black-and-white, so they look like pencil sketches. We’d love to post some of those, here, with this article, but they’re all client-confidential. Alas.) 
 
Why do layouts exist?
 
As we’d hinted above, the purpose of a layout is to get everyone—from the client to the art director to the knob-turning web programmer—on the same page. Glancing at a layout, you can see what’s big, and what’s small. You can see how real estate has been allocated. You can see the colors used (although not in the scans we described above!). You just get a good, quick feel.
 
From there, a talented team will improve upon the layout. We did a layout for a mailer recently which featured an anthropomorphic robot on its cover. The robot was supposed to be thinking; we drew a closeup of a robot with a somewhat knitted brow. Searching the stock libraries, our graphic artist actually found an image of a robot scratching its chin in deep thought! That became the “hero image” immediately. 
 
The piece went through multiple revisions on the road from sketch to printing press. But if you compare the final product to the original layout, you can see its original spirit, intention, and energy. And you can see how it was improved, along the way, by talented team members like the graphic artist we just mentioned. 
 
What is a non-visual layout?
 
A “non-visual layout” is a term we just made up. But what it represents is something that’s been around for a while. It’s an analog to a visual layout: any kind of “sketch” that helps an internal team to perceive what’s inside the mind of that creative person, prior to any big investment in labor or production. 
 
For a writer, this would be something like a narrative concept description—we do these all the time. It’s like a written paragraph that describes, for example, what a printed piece might look and feel like: its form factor (e.g., an 8-1/2" x 11” trifold), its key headline, descriptions of the types of visuals employed (“a perplexed robot”), any cultural references, the thrust and tone of the copy, etc. 
 
We’ve worked with jingle artists (although not enough, recently; see this article) who would submit a musical “sketch” of a proposed composition: Just a quick keyboard-and-drum-machine demo, which would let us, and our client, get a feel for the hook of the tune, and, if the lyrics existed at that point, how they would play. That's a "non-visual layout," too. 
 
Why this rule exists
 
We’re big fans of creative rule-breaking here at Copel Communications. But we always issue the caveat that you can’t break a rule unless you know it inside-out first, and why breaking it, in that instance, would be better than following it. 
 
We can’t think of any good examples of breaking the “do the layout first” rule. Consider our experience with that web-dev firm. Or, better yet, try and imagine any of the projects we’d just described, proceeding without the benefit of a layout. Do you think that that jingle artist could simply bring a bunch of musicians into the studio and expect them to start playing? 
 
Layouts exist for one simple reason: Efficiency. While we’re in the creative business, it’s still a business. This is not art. This is art-for-hire. You need to keep tabs on your budget, and your time. Because they’re not your own. Someone else is paying for them. 
 
Need help with that next layout or creative concept? Contact us. We’d be delighted to help. 

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