Theoretically speaking: if I were working with a subpar copywriter who is not quite where they should be skill wise - what could I do as an Art Director to make us a better team? Any basic resources?

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Same question but for my AD partner

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👆 learn how to use the basics of the adobe suite (photoshop, illustrator and InDesign). This way you can step in when the need arises.

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The fact that you’re asking is great.
Some writers are shy when it comes to writing in front of their partner/people which goes with what CW1 said. I’ve found how my ADs talk about the visual in emotional ways help. It paints a picture beyond the image about what feeling we’re trying to portray which then helps me form verbiage to portray that. A good “what if” game helps too because it’s a conversation open to anything “what if the visual was something simple like blah and the headline was just a word like blah...” or “what if the script was one continuous sentence and the visuals cut in specific words...” it opens up the conversation to both viewpoints. Hope that helped

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Your other option is to speak to your CD about it. Not to get your CW in trouble, but to ask what sort of training is available for both of you. Ask their advice.

A note: copywriting is a much more solitary craft than art directing. ADs have a team of designers, art buyers and more at their beck and call. CWs only have themselves to rely on. This makes it a little harder for CWs to take criticism (of their specific craft) and not feel like they're being personally attacked. I know. I'm a copywriter. So just be careful how you handle it.

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Yeah I’ve done that. It’s more conceptual thinking that’s the problem. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

For yours. I’d recommend chatting through stuff. Some (most?) writers love to work alone when it comes to writing but even just chatting through some different ways to approach a headline or script can help. I’ve written some great things that started with something my AD “took a stab at”.

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For internal presos, and even some to clients, I used to ask my AD to design an editable template in Google Slides. That way we could update the copy easily and often. Personally, I write better when having visuals And this way, you wouldn’t be left scrambling

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I for one would appreciate being told what to do. I've been doing this a long time but often with just a couple of ADs. My career and reel would be a lot better if I just had 5 minutes of direction/education/suggestion. Everybody bluffs continuously about being such a genius and takes offense quickly. There should be a face-saving way for experienced people to learn something new seat-of-the-pants.

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SC-1 has good advice. The copy and visuals need to work together almost every time. So, being totally in sync with both sides as a team will help. Unless they just really aren’t a good writer.

One thing you can do if you REALLY want to go the extra mile is take a class together. And no, I don’t mean a “How to be a less shitty writer so your partner doesn’t feel like they’re carrying all your weight” class.

An improv/sketch comedy writing class is a great way to become a better writer. BUT it’s also fun enough that you might enjoy it too! Plus, it could be a shared bonding thing that might just sync you guys up even more.

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Direct them to the Tutorial Tuesdays and templates on copyhackers.com. Tell them to follow copywriters and CDs on Twitter. It doesn’t have to be you, but if they can have one person to bounce ideas off of, that often helps get the crappy ideas out of the way and gets them to focus on the ones with meat.

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CW1 - the fact you have a handle on the creative suite means you’re already aeons ahead.

We already do chat about things beforehand and it always starts with me taking a stab at some lines. The issue is I’m left scrambling last minute changing and fixing lines because they’re just not high enough caliber and/or they don’t even make sense with what we discussed. I guess my question is how can I personally better prepare myself by adding some copywriting skills into my tool belt? Any quick hacks or 101’s?

@OP is this your partner? 😂😂

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^ CW3 - I’ve spoken to them already and they got quite defensive unfortunately.

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