...And Really Want To Send To This One Copy Editor:
Dear XX,
I feel compelled to write you after what was truly a frustrating and demoralizing process of working with you on this [project]. While I respect your expertise as a copywriter, it seemed time and again throughout the process that you assumed a responsibility to art direct my work, rather than respecting the established team in place — my creative director included.
Your utterly unconstructive comments, "this isn't doing it for me" and "reminds me of a brochure" not only dismissed the creative decisions we make as professional designers, but put us in the uncomfortable position of trying to ascertain what was actually legitimate critique and what was coming from your own aesthetic and/or assumption of control over the creative process. Following up that drivel with notes like, "Looks great!!!!" only added to the condescension.
Unfortunately I am working within an organization that does not value its creative staff; under better circumstances, my defense of my work and the reasoning behind the typographic and other visual decisions I make would not have been trumped by your uninformed commentary, all of which has ultimately led to the mediocre and compromised result we are sending to print today.
I'm writing because I suspect that throughout your career, designers like me have also wanted to tell you precisely what I have, but have lacked the ability, position, or confidence to do so. Or perhaps they have more tact, which is certainly more than we, as designers, can say for writers like you.
