Beer and barbecue. Love and marriage. Soup and Sandwich. Dogs and bones. Some things just go better together…like a copywriter and a graphic designer.

All you need do is watch an episode of Mad Men to see that writers and graphic designers (back then they were called art directors) have been teaming up for ages to create award-winning advertising campaigns.

There is just a special synergy between a someone who is good with words and someone who is good with pictures that produces true marketing magic.

I’ve said more than once: “ Every writer is at the mercy of the graphic designer.” It’s so true! Without the expert eye of a talented graphic designer to take those fabulously crafted words and showcase them in their best light…”the copy,” or content can lose its luster and get lost in a poor design.

Professional graphic designers feel the same way about working with professional advertising copywriters. When they have bland content that doesn’t hit the mark or copy that has no focus or strategy, the entire creative product suffers.

I’ve been fortunate over the years to work with some fantastic graphic designers. One such person is Janice Antley, of Mighty Mouse Productions. We’ve been collaborating for over 18 years because we believe our work is “better together.”

As a writer, it’s important to me that certain sections of content have more emphasis than others… in order to optimize the brand messaging and the impact of those words. I can share my thoughts with the graphic designer, and then let her/him utilize their skills in font selection, graphic elements and artful design to create a visual communication masterpiece.

Really good creative teams switch hats sometimes, too. I’ve found I can often make some pretty insightful design suggestions and that my graphic designer partner has come up with some great suggestions on the content.

Together, we tweak until we get it all just right. We make sure all the necessary elements are included: logos, taglines, disclaimers, NAP (name –address-phone) web address, etc., and make sure that it is all correct, too. We both proofread…me for content mistakes, inconsistencies and those extra spaces that seem to always pop up, and my graphic designer… to make sure that backgrounds, sizing, colors and graphic specifications are all correct.

Bottom line: Great graphic design/copywriting teamwork results in the best possible creative product. To our mind, like the ending of that iconic Campbell’s Soup jingle from the 60’s…Soup and Sandwich…”You can’t have one without the other.”

Written by Valerie Bickley of Bickley Creative. Valerie and I have partnered for over 18 years as a strong marketing team.