What does this startup screen message mean?

[Jeff Witchel, ACI]

OK! Let's have a little fun!

Since upgrading to CC 2019, I've been reading this bizarre message in my Startup Workspace every day when open InDesign.

"When in doubt, make a layout."

What does this mean?

Is anyone here ever in doubt when designing a layout?

Hmm! Maybe if they're a not designer. Or they've never used InDesign.

In Illustrator, at least, the message is inspirational: "Let's design great graphic today, Jeff."

Come on InDesign team. You have the best layout application in world, please rewrite this silly message.

[Steve Werner]

I don't like using the Start screen, finding it pretty useless.

So this evening after a long way from viewing it,  I checked what mine says. Tonight it's "Ready to go, Steve?"

Looks like some marketing person came up a  bunch of useless phrases as greetings.

Now I have another reason not to use the Start screen.

[MW Design]

RE: Useless Phrases

I once worked for a company I had long contracted for previously. A great bunch of people...but I had never been in the half-hour weekly company meetings as a contractor.

After a few weeks, another designer and I had made up a catch-phrase Bingo card and passed them out to 20 or so of the 54 employees for a particular weekly meeting. Yep. Someone actually hollered Bingo! during the meeting. The meetings were so full of pointless marketing phrases/words that making Bingo took minutes. (I still shudder when I read the word Synergy in company press releases.)

I haven't subscribed in quite a while so haven't seen these sayings but I always shut off Welcome screens in everything that uses them anyway. I actually know what I want to do when I start an application and would, if I used such a Welcome screen, find these sayings annoying.

I thank y'all for providing amusement for my first cup of Joe on this Saturday morning!

[Erica Gamet]

You'd probably get a kick out of the "Office Ipsum" to use as dummy text in your layouts. You can choose between "stuff clients say" and "stuff you've heard in every meeting ever." officeipsum.com is one of my favorite lorem ipsum generators.

[Jeff Witchel, ACI]

Sounds like fun Erica!

I'll take a look for it online.

A lot of years ago when first I switched to InDesign, I worked on a layout for a client who had not switched to InDesign at that point. He looked at my PDF comp and had only one complaint. "I don't like InDesign's fake text. Can you use Quark's Jabberwock?"

So I opened Quark 4, used Jabborwock to generate some text, copied and pasted it into Word and saved it as a .txt file, titled Placholder.txt. Then dragged it into my InDesign application folder. And as if by magic, I have Jabbor as my Placeholder text in InDesign.

Why did my client prefer Jabbor text? I found out later he was a Trekkie and one of the words in Jabbor was Klingon.

[Erica Gamet]

Here's where I go to create dummy text specific to my client...or just to amuse myself. My current placeholder text is HG Wells' Time Machine. It's been Dracula and Hamlet in the past. Sometimes I want something more cheery, though!
https://loremipsum.io/ultimate-list-of-lorem-ipsum-generators/

[Jeff Witchel, ACI]

Thanks Erica!

[MW Design]

Pan Ipsum also has a Klingon Ipsum generator if you ever do more with that client. And a lot more...

https://panipsum.com/

[jane-e]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Jeff+Witchel%2C+ACI  wrote

Why did my client prefer Jabbor text? I found out later he was a Trekkie and one of the words in Jabbor was Klingon.

Makes sense, Jeff

[Jeff Witchel, ACI]

Total sense!

Weird, but a fun client.

[Mike Witherell]

How about sci-fi classic lines like:

"This layout is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it, Jane."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Jeff."

"I'm sorry Barb, I'm afraid I can't do that."

[jane-e]

Mike, going back to our old days, how about:

“You’re at the top of my list!”

[Jeff Witchel, ACI]

Hi Jane,

That's not old. I still say that.

Hmm! Wait a minute. Maybe that is old.

Jeff

[Barb Binder]

How about "Where is the [Windows] Start menu?", Mike.

~Barb

[jane-e]

“Press any key to get started”

[winterm]

jane-e  wrote

“Press any key to get started”

Enhancement by [Jongware]:

Remove keyboard, then press any key to continue

[Scott Citron]

I'm also not a Start screen user, so this daily inspirational message thing is news to me. Don't you want to know whose job it is to write these pity sayings? I, for one, would love to know more about how this "feature" came about, and who is tasked with it's upkeep.

[Steve Werner]

Probably given to an intern!

[Barb Binder]

LOL. I hadn't noticed this. Thanks for the laugh.

~Barb

[Jeff Witchel, ACI]

My question is was this written by someone who never worked on a layout?

I hadn't even realized that there are multiple phrases that come up. I always get just this one silly statement. I think it's because InDesign knows I don't like it.

How about something useful like "I you're even thinking of calling it a layout, you're in the right place. "Or if you're designing a logo, open Illustrator instead."

[jane-e]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Jeff+Witchel%2C+ACI  wrote

I hadn't even realized that there are multiple phrases that come up. I always get just this one silly statement. I think it's because InDesign knows I don't like it.

Artificial Intelligence, Jeff — scary, isn’t it?

Jane

[Laubender]

jane-e  wrote

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Jeff+Witchel%2C+ACI   wrote

I hadn't even realized that there are multiple phrases that come up. I always get just this one silly statement. I think it's because InDesign knows I don't like it.

Artificial Intelligence, Jeff — scary, isn’t it?

Jane

Hope, never to see this:

"I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission."

Regards,
Uwe

[jane-e]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Jeff+Witchel%2C+ACI  wrote

How about something useful like "I you're even thinking of calling it a layout, you're in the right place. "Or if you're designing a logo, open Illustrator instead."

Good ones, Jeff!

And in the Photoshop start screen: “Don’t even think about using Photoshop for page layout.”

[Jeff Witchel, ACI]

How about "Can't figure it out? Visit the forums: https://forums.adobe.com/welcome"

[jane-e]

Jeff, let’s have our own brainstorming contest. What message, bizarre or otherwise, would you like to see instead?

Like Barb, I hadn’t noticed it either, but I will now!