I just stumbled on an interesting thread on Twitter.

It was about minimalist design and how it is taking away some of the identity and beauty that comes with extra detail.

They compared phone booths, bridges, doors, and more. On one side the classic design, on the other the minimalist.

This puts it well:

“The worst crime of minimalist design is how it has stripped all colour away from things. Perhaps minimalist design is so prevalent because we no longer have anything to say. You don’t need me to explain what the Gothic cathedral says, for example. But the skyscraper? It doesn’t say anything, really. It’s just… *there*.” – @culturaltutor

In architecture, it’s easy to see what you lose when you go for minimalism vs more complex and nuanced design.

But it made me think, what does minimalist copy look vs detail-rich copy?

It’s the difference between writing about your customer’s unboxing experience and simply stopping at the product description in ecommerce.

Or between describing the day-to-day at a B2B company for a specific buyer, and simply listing the features your product offers.

Detail in copy is everything.

It’s what makes your reader jump off their chair and wonder how you were able to read their minds.

It’s what selects the right people and disqualifies the wrong ones.

It’s what makes prospects resonate with your message and keep reading.

And, like in architecture, maybe one reason why a lot of the copy out there sucks, is because businesses have nothing to say.

So how do you go about finding something to say?

Easy, you do the research.

One of my goals is to have more and more businesses build research into their day-to-day tasks.

To make it part of their work.

And build a better, (more beautiful and detail-rich) business.

Interested? Learn more here