Ooops that was embarrassing, did they just forget to put the real copy in? Luckily this time no, but this is a question we get asked regularly by our clients!
Well, first-off, here’s the actual text we’re referring to:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
What is ‘lorem ipsum’ used for?
You may (and rightly so) wonder why we don’t just pop in a pretty poem or the lyrics to one of our favourite songs, but there is a method to our madness! So here’s why:
When we present design concepts to clients, we don’t want them to be distracted by ‘real words’ or ‘meaningful language’. Using random text allows them to concentrate on the visuals of a design or the user journey of a website , but with realistic aesthetics.
In fact, using filler text is a crucial part of our initial design stage. Lipsum shows a normal distribution of English looking words and spaces, so we can still test font, typography and layout; it comes in handy for a rough word count when space is at a premium; it’s cost effective when you’re not quite ready to commission copywriters (and you’ll no doubt end up going through rounds of edits); plus it also allows the designer/developer to design with content in mind rather than trying to shoehorn it in later as an afterthought.
So where does it come from?
Lorem ipsum, has amazingly been the industry's standard dummy text since the 1500s, after it was discovered in a type specimen book created by an unknown printer.
Although it wasn’t until the 1960s when Letraset (a company known for manufacturing sheets of typefaces) used it in their adverts and then in the 1980s when Aldus used it in their desktop publishing software PageMaker.
Originally Lorem ipsum was considered as nonsensical made-up text and it wasn’t until 1982 when Latin scholar, Richard McClintock, from Hampden–Sydney College in the US, discovered that elements of the copy had its origins in a well-known Latin book, and went on to publish his findings in 1994.
The book was Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero’s, De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum (The Extremes of Good and Evil) from 45 BC and presents a theory of hedonism - or pleasure and pain to be precise!
And what does it actually mean?
"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit ...," which roughly translates as, "There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain..."
So, there you have it. The most widely used 21st century placeholder text, with 45 BC origins!
