Clients can't stop reading the fake text. Here's why designers use Lorem Ipsum and a generator that doesn't waste your time.

"Why Is the Website in Latin?"

Client call, 2019. I'm showing a mockup for their new homepage. Beautiful layout—nailed the typography, the spacing, the whole vibe. Proud parent moment.

Client: "This looks nice but... why is all the text in another language? Is this broken?"

Me: dies inside

They'd completely ignored the layout I'd spent three days on. Instead, they were squinting at the placeholder text trying to figure out if we'd accidentally hired a Latin developer.

Here's the kicker: it's not even real Latin. Lorem Ipsum is scrambled text from a Cicero essay that's been chopped up and rearranged until it's meaningless. "Lorem" isn't a Latin word. The whole thing is gibberish designed to look like language without being readable.

And that's exactly the point.

Why Not Just Use Real Words?

Oh, I've tried. Here's what happens every single time:

They edit the copy instead of reviewing the design. "Actually, let's change the headline to this 47-word sentence about our commitment to quality." Congrats, your beautiful two-line header is now a paragraph that breaks on mobile.

The meeting becomes a copywriting session. You wanted feedback on button placement. You get 45 minutes of debate about whether to say "Submit" or "Send" or "Let's Go!" while the actual layout questions go unanswered.

Real content doesn't exist yet. You're designing a blog template. The blog posts haven't been written. What are you gonna put there, your grocery list?

Lorem Ipsum works because everyone recognizes it as placeholder text. The meaning is removed, so people actually look at the design instead of reading the words.

The History (Brief, I Promise)

Type setters have been using this since the 1500s when they needed samples to show off fonts without clients getting distracted by the content. The text comes—loosely—from "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum," a philosophical work by Cicero from 45 BCE.

But our modern version is scrambled beyond recognition. Random sections got cut, rearranged, mixed together. It's like if someone ran Shakespeare through a blender and called the result literature.

Some typography nerds get really upset that it's not "proper Latin." I genuinely do not care. It works.

Matching Content Length (This Is Actually Important)

The rookie mistake: fill everything with lorem ipsum and call it a day.

The problem: your placeholder text is 200 words but the real headline will be 5 words. Your layout breaks when actual content arrives.

Headlines: Test with 5-8 words. Most real headlines are short.

Body text: Match expected length. If real articles will be 500 words, don't test with 2000 words of Lorem Ipsum.

Product descriptions: 2-3 sentences usually. Test edge cases—what happens when there's only one sentence?

User-generated content: This is where things get chaotic. Some users write novels, some write three words. Test both extremes.

The point is using Lorem Ipsum strategically, not just dumping it everywhere and hoping for the best.

The Tool

Lorem Ipsum Generator — paragraphs, sentences, or words. Adjust the quantity. Copy paste. I use this every time I'm building a new component.

No signup, no email capture, no weird tracking. Just placeholder text.

When Lorem Ipsum Doesn't Work

Some clients just cannot stop reading it. I've had stakeholders try to translate it. I've had one insist we were "hiding something" in the Latin.

For those folks, try this instead:

"Content goes here" repeated endlessly. Boring enough that nobody engages with it.

Hipster Ipsum. Same concept but with artisanal craft coffee words. At least it's entertaining.

Actual draft content. Even rough drafts give a more accurate preview. (But prepare for copywriting meetings.)

Grayed-out rectangles. The nuclear option. No text at all, just visual placeholders. Some designers swear by this for early mockups.

Semi-Interesting Fact

The first Lorem Ipsum generator was probably software called "Letraset" in the 1960s—dry transfer sheets for typographers. Then PageMaker (remember PageMaker?) included it in the 80s, and it became standard.

Now it's in every design tool, every CMS, every framework that has a blog template. We're all still using corrupted Cicero from 2000 years ago to fake our websites.

Kind of beautiful, actually.

Generate some Lorem Ipsum and go design something.