The Lore of Ipsum

A good website design is more than just pretty pictures. Clients want to see how their text is laid out on the page. But, clients don’t always get you their copy quickly. Delaying the project while you wait on copy is not a good idea. So what can you do? In order to move forward and still show the client how their text will look on a webpage an efficient web designer will provide their own sample copy. Writing copy can take time. To expedite this we use text generators. These generators will create paragraphs of randomized text instantly so web designers can quickly layout the copy on a webpage design.

Text generation isn’t as simple as it may sound. Repeating the same word many times can distract from the overall aesthetic of the web design. For example:

content here content here content here content here content here content here content here content here content here content here content here content here content here content here content here content here content here content here

Doesn’t look too good right? By using a text generator we can quickly produce visually appealing copy like this:

Ut viverra vehicula ultrices. Vivamus efficitur mauris a quam pretium, et consequat neque accumsan. Cras consequat ornare vehicula. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Fusce sit amet massa non turpis hendrerit tincidunt.

We refer to the text above as Lorem Ipsum and every web developer has their favorite Lorem Ipsum generator. The following are a few examples of some of my favorites.

Lorem Ipsum

http://www.lipsum.com/

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

The classic generator and the one I used for the example earlier in this post. Lorem Ipsum has been the go to for dummy content since the 1500s. The randomized copy originates from a piece of classical Latin literature “On the Ends of Good and Evil” written by Marcus Tullius Cicero in the summer of 45 BC. The text used is derived from Cicero’s discourse on hedonism.

The simple use of this Lorem Ipsum generator will class up your web design by 58.3%.

Cthuvian Ipsum

http://ephemer.kapsi.fi/FhtagnGenerator.php

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. Ph'mnahn' nali'hee hrii kn'a orr'e, stell'bsna hai k'yarnakoth 'ai Hastur hafh'drn geb Hastur.

Another one of my favorite random content generators is the Cthuvian Ipsum Generator. This generator brings us text derived from early 1900s horror writer H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos. For those who have not heard of Cthulhu (or been haunted by visions of him when you close your eyes) I will allow H.P. Lovecraft himself to introduce him to you.

“A monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind.”

In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.

Zombie Ipsum

http://www.zombieipsum.com/

Zombie ipsum reversus ab viral inferno, nam rick grimes malum cerebro. De carne lumbering animata corpora quaeritis.

Zombie Ipsum is a fun text generator filled with macabre word use and zombie pop culture references.

What the generator lacks in randomness it makes up for in its “50% More Brains” feature giving you...well...more brains referenced throughout the text. Who can’t get behind that?

If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead series or you enjoy the zombie movie classics like Night of the Living Dead, Zombie Ipsum is perfect for the person with a mild to extreme zombie fetish.

This generator will add a horrifying touch to any design you may be working on.

So, whether you’re into classical literature, cosmic horrors, zombies, or just about anything else there’s a copy generator out there that’s perfect for you.

Was your favorite lorem ipsum generator not listed above? Feel free to share it by adding a comment below.