Then the question arises: where's the content? Not there yet? That's not so bad; there's dummy copy to the rescue. But worse, what if the fish doesn't fit in the can, the foot's too big for the boot? Or too small? Too short sentences, too many headings, images too large for the proposed design, or too small, or they fit in but it looks iffy for some reason.

A client who is unhappy for a reason is a problem, but a client who is unhappy without being able to put their finger on it is worse. Chances are there was no collaboration, communication, or checkpoints; there was no process agreed upon or specified with the required level of detail. It's content strategy gone awry right from the start. If that's what you think, what about the other way around? How can you evaluate content without design? No typography, no colors, no layout, no styles—all those things that convey important signals that go beyond the mere text. There are hierarchies of information, weight, emphasis, oblique stresses, priorities—all those subtle cues that also have visual and emotional appeal to the reader.