Lorem ipsum is just a tool, you shouldn't denounce the tool just because it's sometimes misused.

If I'm designing a product's homepage, I'll take a stab at writing main CTA and body copy, but if I'm designing how a blog will look, I'm going to use lorem ipsum. In the latter example, the copy actually does not matter. It only matters that I show how all the elements would sit on the page.

That said, if someone is using lorem ipsum for things like nav items, yeah, they're doing it wrong.

Lorem Ipsum is an excuse. An excuse for not having to worry about real design issues.

...

The question should therefore be: Why should Lorem Ipsum die? The answer is: because it is an excuse to indulge in decoration without having to think about design.

Couldn't disagree more.

And to those who also disagree, here's a tip I use frequently (using Mac OS X):

In System Preferences > Keyboard > Text , you can add your own auto-fill shortcuts.

Example, if I type lor, then it will auto-fill a few paragraphs of Lorem ipsum text! It's such a convenience to be able to get a few text paragraph down instantly, in any program or website.

To me it's just tool, and a question of priority and resources. And it's convenient to use text, that everyone and your coworkers know, is just a temporary placeholder.

EDIT: I also use shortcut 'abc' to get a large set of characters to test fonts with. If you guys have any tips yourself, I'd be happy to hear them :)

Its fantastic when you have all the content first. However, there are some places where content comes as the client brings it in and the designer has no choice but to use Lorem Ipsum. I've been in places where content is first and in places where a lot of it comes in last and there are deadlines. In a perfect world, Lorem Ipsum wouldn't be needed.

It is as much a UX designers job to define what kinds and how much content to include on a page as the writing department. Content and design should work together and it is through this conversation that great things get built.

If you want to discuss content with your client, use content. If you want to discuss design, use lore ipsum.

This seems like it's been written by someone who has never done work for a client. The fact is, clients can hardly ever produce content and assets for you in a timely manner. So when that happens (which it does, nearly every time), you have two choices.

First option, and the one presented by the author here, is don't do any design work at all and demand that they produce the content upfront. This leads to a bad and stressful relationship with the client in addition to missed deadlines or overtime work because you were sitting around doing nothing and waiting for them to produce content, then they inevitably produce it super late and you have to do the whole thing by an impossible deadline.

Second option is do your design work ahead of time and use lorem ipsum, accept that while it's total bullshit that the client can't produce assets beforehand, this is necessary to keep the project on track, then when they do produce content that inevitably doesn't exactly fit right, take the time to make adjustments rather than waiting to implement the entire design.

That's why lorem ipsum is used in the real world. Don't get me wrong, I think it is 100% required that the client should produce assets before any work starts. I entirely agree that design should be based on the content. In an ideal world, everything would go like this. But as we are all well aware, this is not an ideal world, and therefore this piece is not really useful, and lorem ipsum will not die.

I don't think I've ever worked on an actual real life project where all the content has been available up front no matter what the client. I sometimes wish I worked for a company who only had clients that did provide everything in an incredibly structured and easy to work with way and never changed their minds.

That said, if you're into prototyping and need to use placeholder text check out surprise lipsum

Live and let live man, so many of these articles around here. Do what you will, just do it well.

Huh? I wouldn't go so far to say it has to die I'm afraid.

[Bit of an essay, sorry]

Perhaps Stefan should focus this on web designers in the first paragraph and potentially change the header image to a nondescript website rather than a picture frame as its rather misleading from the start of who the article is intended for.

Sometimes it takes much longer for a copywriter to create the 'content' or have it approved before the design stage which is why placeholder text is implemented. If you're twiddling your thumbs then this is not your fault but rather your client. When they see there’s copy missing they’re more likely to send it to you.

What I think the article's trying to address though is that too many 'designer's' jump straight into the design stage without thinking about the context or the way information is communicated. You also have to remember Lorem Ipsum was never really intended to be used on the web so it may appear inadvertently when published.

Either way having a live website with placeholder text is foolish. If you see it, flag it – maybe they don’t know it’s there, or if they do maybe they forgot to update it.

Choose your ipsum

"Lorem Ipsum is an excuse. An excuse for not having to worry about real design issues. An excuse for not having to worry about content."

I disagree. Of course, design's goal is to successfully communicate a message to a recipient. I agree that Lorem Ipsum doesn't lend itself to the fine details of design, but I believe it is a prerequisite to the details.

Does one need to use actual content to clearly communicate? I don't think so. Lorem Ipsum works great for focusing on the design patterns: visual hierarchy, color choice, and interactions. In those scenarios Lorem Ipsum actually helps. If I ask a user "where is the title of the page?" or "what is the subject of this page?" I don't want people to read the copy; people should be able to know where to find the page header, distinguish a blog entry, a text link, a subheading, or a product configurator. Gestalt principles don't need final copy.

Once the general framework is done, then work on the details using actual copy. For example, is it better to design a spec sheet using a table, bar graphs, a video, or paragraphs of copy? Those are clearly important design tasks, but the designer first needs to establish other design foundations.

As Mr. Cortes remarked, "Lorem ipsum is just a tool..." A good tool is used for its purpose and Lorem Ipsum has a purpose in the design phase.

I will have to argue here, design frameworks are actually a good thing. The example I can give is when you create a news section, you have to give the frame in which you put content. You don't know and you can't deal with every single news content, because news content is dynamic, so... lorem ipsum.

Dynamic = framework Static = you can focus in detail on the content

I think this is one of those "in a perfect world" scenarios. I would love to have clients that care enough to provide content. Half the time I design a website, they ask me to provide my thoughts on content. I happily provide them with that, at an additional cost of course.

Lorem ipsum is a fantastic tool and it won't be leaving my batman belt anytime soon.

Lorem ipsum is a useful tool for designers who live in the real world. Its incredibly useful to me, maybe not others but for me it works well.

Most of the time, I find that I end up writing the bulk of content or squeezing it out of the customer. Its not about client education, knowing them or collaboration. Most clients don't have time and don't want to spend the time : perhaps understandably because they hired a professional to develop the solution for them. That's part of my job.

If I am working on a layout or the "decoration" -- which btw is just as important as the content of the design. Sometimes, I just don't want to create, think about or brainstorm certain content at that moment. Lorem Ipsum is good to place-hold and allow momentum to continue.

As many have already said, its a tool. Using it right is a matter of personal process. I and many designers use it with success and it does not need to die.

I feel like this article is written without the understanding of why Lorem Ipsum was invented in the first place. And it's not because of the laziness of "expert decorators."

"Replacing meaningful content that could be distracting with placeholder text may allow viewers to focus on graphic aspects such as font, typography, and page layout."

This is such a non-problem.