The passage experienced a surge in popularity during the 1960s when Letraset used it on their dry-transfer sheets, and again during the 90s as desktop publishers bundled the text with their software. Today itβs seen all around the web; on templates, websites, and stock designs. Use ourΒ generatorΒ to get your own, or read on for the authoritative history ofΒ lorem ipsum.
The passage experienced a surge in popularity during the 1960s when Letraset used it on their dry-transfer sheets, and again during the 90s as desktop publishers bundled the text with their software. Today itβs seen all around the web; on templates, websites, and stock designs. Use ourΒ generatorΒ to get your own, or read on for the authoritative history ofΒ lorem ipsum.
Until recently, the prevailing view assumedΒ lorem ipsumΒ was born as a nonsense text. βItβs not Latin, though it looks like it, and it actually says nothing,βΒ Before & AfterΒ magazineΒ answered a curious reader, βIts βwordsβ loosely approximate the frequency with which letters occur in English, which is why at a glance it looks pretty real.β
As Cicero would put it um, not so fast. The placeholder text, beginning with the lineΒ βLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elitβ, looks like Latin because in its youth, centuries ago, it was Latin. Itβs difficult to find examples ofΒ lorem ipsumΒ in use before Letraset made it popular as a dummy text in the 1960s, although McClintock says he remembers coming across.
There wasΒ that timeΒ artists at Sequence opted to hand-Sharpie theΒ lorem ipsumΒ passage on a line of paper bags they designed for Chipotleβthe result being a mixture of avant-garde, inside joke, and Sharpie-stained tables. Those with an eye for detail may have caught a tribute to the classic text in an episode ofΒ Mad Men (S6E1 around 1:18:55 for anyone that didnβt).
Second, useΒ lorem ipsumΒ if you think the placeholder text will be too distracting. For specific projects, collaboration between copywriters and designers may be best, however, like Karen McGrane said, draft copy has a way of turning any meeting about layout decisions into a discussion about word choice. So donβt be afraid to useΒ lorem ipsumΒ to keep everyone focused.
Torino showroom
Of course, weβd be remiss not to include the veritable cadre ofΒ lorem ipsumΒ knock offs featuring:
Bacon IpsumΒ β Served all day. βBacon ipsum dolor amet chicken turducken spare ribs.β
Hipster IpsumΒ β In case youβre in need of a βshoreditch direct trade four dollar toast copper mug.β
Corporate IpsumΒ β βLeveraging agile frameworks to provide a robust synopsisβ from eight to five.
Legal IpsumΒ β Fully unlicensed legalese for those times you donβt want to pay $400/hr.
Β
Beige
Blue
Brown
Gray
White
Bamboo Pillows