Ah, the great blunder of a typo. For all of you readers out there that can't relate, let me explain what it feels like when you see your work published and catch that typo that for some strange reason you didn't see when approving the art.
I'll give you a blow by blow account of what happens with your bodily functions:
1st Symptom: you get that big ass pain in your stomach
Yep, get ready to be yelled at. This might come from everybody, starting with the Traffic Dept, AE's, designers... Yuck. Also, you might want to be near a bathroom. You don't know what will happen with your intestinal abilities once the news are all over the agency.
2nd Symptom: Anxiety (cold sweats and blisters might occur also)
Can you wiggle your way out with the next time it prints? Can you get the error corrected while no one notices? Will God himself come down and protect you against all those who want to kill and mame you? Hm.
3rd Symptom: You get defensive
Ah, the easy way out: "I got too much work, man, this is a travesty..." you scream. "I'm only human" you whine. Yeah, right. Keep telling yourself that until you believe it.
4th Symptom: What the hell attitude
Well, after all is done, you basically can't do anything else. Just grin and bear it. Yeah mommy, I promise not to do it again. Waaaaaah... waaaaah. Just don't pretend you don't like the spanking. You kinky copy!
Typos are a thing of life. It's like having a white Tshirt and dribbling that ketchup right on the damn center of it. They can be avoided with time and an organized group of people. Also, a system. Like reading backwards, reading it aloud, reading it with someone you trust... Praying while reading. Reading it naked. Reading it naked in front of your co-workers (gotcha).
It just happens. I just say that if it happens too much, then dude, you are not good at copywriting. Really. Just stick to... I don't know, writing blogs? He he.
3 comments:
Isn't it funny how people confuse "copywriters" with "proofreaders"? I recently experienced a career shift from advertising to magazine publishing and guess what; the author of the article IS NOT held responsible for typos or grammatical consistency!!! For this, most magazines and book publishers have an enitre staff of proofreaders. It is this person's responsibility to check and double-check for errors. Yes, even greats like Stephen King have three or four proofreaders who read/correct his stuff before it hits Borders. In the publishing industry, there is a clear distinction between the author (the person who creates/gives birth to an idea) and the proofer (the technical side).
Why, then, should the copywriter once again wear multiple hats in the development of his/her craft?
Ah yes the wonderful blunder of having to say... yes I am the jackass that fucked up. It's like getting hit in the balls but worse because it drags out that much longer. you are shamed for life you might think, but the truth of the matter is that, as said by restrictionsapply, we aren't proofers. Some people might argue that it is a far fetched concept and that we should know better than to need proofers, but sometimes we fuck up. As do designers who use the wrong logo, or reverse the font or don't follow the guidelines to put .5 in space between the logo and your ass. From the big to the miniscule, we can messup any and everywhere, and when you messup, normally your work is typo free for about a month. It's like when you get a speeding ticket.. but rest assured you will speed up and fuck up with the best of them. And there's no shame in that, you simply suck it up like a man or woman and trod along hoping that the current typo is not a foreshadowing of whats to come and that it isn't big enough to be fired because. So to all you copies. Watch out, the Typo boogey man is out to getcha.
OK, I've got to say something on this one. I've worked at several agencies both in-house and not, and why oh why are creatives not held accountable for typos? I have literally heard AE's get lambasted for not catching typos that also got by the copywriter, the production/traffic folks, the creative director, the artists, etc. But the AE is the one getting his/her ass kicked because, hey, creatives don't know how to spell...they did the work, so they know what it's supposed to say, so they probably just glossed right over it... WHATEVER! Accountability for your work people! It's EVERYBODY'S responsible to catch typos, and creatives shouldn't be let off the hook just because their primary responsbility is to "design"...what a crock of BS!
Signed, a somewhat bitter AE who gets tired of being the one to catch all the stupid typos, and have to send back for revisions, thus adding more time and billing to our clients jobs...
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