dummy text « Rantings of a sub-editor

April 17, 2012

Hmm… pinteresting

Filed under: oops! — substuff @ 7:20 pm
Tags: dummy text, funny signs, print disasters

It took me a while to think of a use for Pinterest, what with me not being particularly given to collecting pictures of shoes or cupcakes, or compiling wedding lists. (Why does every article about Pinterest say how wonderful it is for making wedding lists? Who actually does that?)

In the end, I realised it was obvious: embrace geekery and collect this stuff. So I’ve set up four galleries:

Favourite print disasters Can Dec anally match Ant? Well, can he?
Funny signs, notes and labels They’ve got crabs downstairs, you know.
How to rite for retail Get your Welsh lady ass fudge here.
Oh you dummy! CAPTION CAPTION about these pious little bleeders, etc.

All contributions, now and in future, gratefully received.

Comments (6)

January 24, 2012

It’s in the headline!

Filed under: placeholder copy — substuff @ 12:17 pm
Tags: dummy text, filler text, placeholder copy

Ah, dummy copy. So dangerous.

Even more dangerous, though, is a mischievous art desk that doesn’t use generic placeholder text. I once came within a whisker of sending a story about Jamie Oliver to press with a picture caption that read “fat tongue Oliver hugging yet another piglet”. Ta Stu!

Headlines, standfirsts, eyebrows and picture captions: all are in the danger zone. The bigger the font, the blinder you get. It’s huge, so it must be right. Right? But if you’ve left the l out of public or the f out of shift, it’ll be in the headline. Guaranteed. Never trust page furniture.

I’ve half-inched these pics from other people’s websites, because I was looking for a collection to link to and couldn’t find one. To see them in their original homes, just click on them.