Remember the age-old question about the chicken and the egg?
We tasked our creative team with answering a similar – albeit not as hotly contested – question:
Which comes first, the text or the image?
After much deliberation, and more than a little head scratching, here’s what we came up with.
First off, our wordsmiths reside mostly in the “text” camp, which hardly comes as a surprise.
“The majority of the time, the text comes first for me. We tailor each piece or ad to our client and their specific experience or stance. With this approach, the text has to come first to ensure the message is right, both in style and strength.”
–Whit
Our writers are tasked with creating concepts, taglines and calls to action that engage voters and inspire them to act.
“Images certainly enhance the message, but text is the main course.”
–James
“I usually find it easier to create a theme using words. Then the imagery naturally follows. However, there are occasions when the theme immediately comes to mind and I base the words around it – but these are few and far between.”
–Megan
Our design team was more hesitant to pick a side.
As it turns out, they tend to think about each piece individually, looking at the project from all angles and devising a plan of attack before diving in.
“It completely depends on the day. Some days I’m inspired by words, others by sights.”
–Bec
“I lean more toward text. For the most part, you manipulate the visual (image) to fit your concept (text).”
–Camryn
“If I have specific art direction or a great idea for the design, I’ll create the background images before laying out the text. If not, I format the text first so I have a better idea of which images will accentuate the piece best.”
–Erin
Chicken. Egg. Text. Images.
We don’t have the answers.
What we do have is a creative team that looks at every voter contact mail piece and mobile ad as an opportunity to do what we do best.
Learn More From Our Creative Team:
Words Matter: The importance of the tagline
Seeing is Believing: Good photography makes great mail
Political Advertising 2.0: Creativity beyond the red, white and blue