ElementsofNewspaperDesign

SanjayRanade,HoD
DCJ,UOM

S.K.SOMAIYACOLLEGEOFARTS,SCIENCEANDCOMMERCE
TYBMM(JOURNALISM)

20092010

ElementsofNewspaperDesign

PuttingNewspaperDesignintoPerspective

Contentisstillthecarryingpoint.Readerswanttobeabletolookatthepapervery
quicklyandknowwhatthenewsofthedayisandtheydon'twanttobescaredaway.
s
RandyStanodirector,editorialartanddesignMiamiHerald

Nomatterhoworwhennewsbreaks,orhowbigastoryis,theweeklyordailypaper
servesasamajorsourceofnewsinacommunityandthenation.

Howthedesigneditorplaceselementsonthepagesguidesthereaderastowhatisthe
mostimportantnews,andwhatisnot.

Editorsofthe1980shadbecomemoreawareofgraphics,thatmanynewspapershad
hiredgraphicsspecialistsandthattheirsurveysofreadersnowfrequentlyincluded
questionsonappearanceaswellasoncontent.

Itwasfoundthatasresultsdictatedchanges,publishersbecameincreasinglywilling
toaccepttheimportanceofappearanceandallocateresourcestoimproveit.

Mosteditorswillnotputgraphicsonapageespeciallyanewspagerandomlyorforthe
sakeofdecoration.

Graphicsmustbepurposeful.

Formfollowsfunction.

Haveareasonforeverydesignelementyouuse.

Becausenewspaperstylebooksestablishguidelinesnotrulesgraphicjournalistsare
quicktorecognizethatthestandardsofoneeditorordesignerdonotnecessarilyagree
withthoseofanother.

Thereforeformfollowsfunctionmaynotbealwayspopularinnewspapersasinthe
caseofautomobileswheresomeofthebestdesignshavenotbeenfunctional.

Functiondoesnotalwayshavetoinformwhenyoutakethesebigreverselettersthat
featurepagesusetokickoffchapterheadingsasitwerethebigTdoesn'tinform
anything.Butitdoesprovidecontrastorpointsofinterestoralittlesalesmanship.

Withreferencetofashionsections,whereanattemptissometimesmadefora
breakthroughindesign,thepagessometimeshaveweirdlittleborders,orangledbars.

Thesedon'tcontributetotheinformationorunderstandingbuttheydoservethe
purposeof"salesmanship.


Thedesigneditorisfaceddailywiththeparadoxofpackaging
contentsimplybutalsothoroughlyandevenelegantly.
Everydaythedesigneditorisfacedwiththesecircumstances:

Reportershavewrittentheirstoriesphotographershavecompletedtheirassignments,
andthebestpictures,mapsandchartshavebeenselectedforprintingbythepageand
sectioneditors.Afterreporters,photographersandartistshavecreatedcontent,then
designersarefreetowork.Thequestionthenarises:
Howisthenewstobe
presentedbest?
Nomatterwhatthenewsofthedayhasbeen,thereaderanticipatesanappropriate
mixoflocal,nationalandinternationalnewsplusnewsfeatureseachpresented
accurately,clearlyandfairly.Thisexpectationshouldbecomplementedbydesign
thateffectivelyorganizesthedisplayofnewssothereaderwillbeeasilyguided
throughthepaper.

Whetherdesignisachievedextraordinarilybyaneditormakingdecisionsabout
momentousnewsorordinarilybytheoperationofroutinedesign
decisionsnewspapersachieveconsistencyandflexibilitythroughacomplexnetwork
ofdesignprinciples.

WHATTHETOTALPAGECONCEPTISANDHOWITWORKS

ThroughtheTotalPageConcept(TPC),editorsorganizeapagesothatthereadercan
easilyidentifytheimportanceofthenews.TheTotalPageConceptencompassesthe
relationshipofallthepartsorelementsneededtocreateapageinapublication,such
ascaptionsforphotos,headlinesfornewsstories,thetypeandeventhethinborders
usedtooutlinepicturesorplaceaboxaroundstoriesandadvertising.

TheTotalPageConceptarticulatesthefullestconceptofdesign,ontheassumptionthat
designsupportsverbalcontent.

ToimplementtheTotalPageConceptistodesigneachpageasanintegralunit,but
withasimilardesignstylefrompagetopageandissuetoissue.

TheTotalPageConceptbeginswithpageonethepublication's"picturewindow"
andcontinuesthroughoutallthepages,exceptthosedevotedtoclassified
advertisements.

Thefrontpageprovidesadisplayofwhat'simportantoftheday'sorweek'sevents,
withlargerheadlinesrelatingtothenewsthataffectsormaybeofinteresttothe
greatestnumberofpeople.

Newspaperreadersareinitiallyattractedtotheproductwhosetypeandwords
areeasiesttoreadandwhosepicturesandothergraphicsmosteffectively
portraythenews.

Fromthefrontpage,theaudienceisthenluredtoastoryonaninsidepagebyashort
headlinereferrala"referencenote."

Elementsinthereferralincludeastatementaboutastoryandsometimesasmall
photoorotherillustrativegraphicenclosedinabox.

Ineffect,thereferralsellsthenewsitmakestheinsidepagesappearusefulenough
forthereadertomakeatimecommitmenttothem.

Theneedforthis"selling"functionisclear:Iftheconsumerstaysonlymomentarily
withthefrontorinsidepagesofanewspaper,thenitislesslikelythatthe
advertisingwhichpaysthesalariesofallwhoareemployedatthenewspaper
plantwillberead.

TPCdesignmusthelpthereadernotonlythroughdisplay,butalsothroughtheuseof
graphicelements.

Theseelementsbecomeapartofdesigninthewaytheyaretreated.

Graphiccommunicationisaprocessofconveyingmessagesbymeansofvisual
images,whichareusuallyonaflatsurfacelikeanewspaperormagazine.
Twokindsofimagesareusedpicturesincludephotographs,paintingsand
drawings.Wordsarerepresentedgraphicallybyvariouslyshapedpatternscalledthe
lettersofthealphabet.
Lettersandthewordsthattheyformarecalledsymbolsbecausenothingabout
themcanberelatedtocertainobjectsorideasthattheysignify.

Symbolsrepresentsomethingelsebyreasonofconvention
thatis:agreementamongitsusers.

Picture,ontheotherhand,usuallyshowobjectsorthingsasmuchastheyare.

However,onoccasion,picturesmayalsobeusedassymbolsasinthecaseofspecific
days.

Bothpicturesymbolsandwordsymbolsareasarbitraryintermsofrelatingdirectly
totheirreferentsandmustbelearnedinthesamewaythatlanguageislearned.

Picturesandwrittenlanguagesharearemarkablesimilarityalthoughtheyperform
differentfunctionsingraphiccommunication

Oursenses,includingourvision,controlourbehaviourdirectly.

Forinstance,wewouldstepasideifsomethingblockedourvision.

Visualimagesmakeitpossibleforustoconsiderthings,beinplaceswhereweare
not.

Wecandealwiththeimaginary,thingsthataredivorcedfromreality.

Thereceiverofavisualmessagewhoseekstounderstandthe
messagemust
read
it.
Readingmaybedefinedasextractinginformationfromvisualimages.
Thismeansthatbothpicturesandthewordsare
read.

Thisreading,however,isdifferent.

Theeyescansalongawrittenline,makingfrequentstopstotakeinafewwords.
Onlyfourorfivewordscanbehandledateachstop.
Inorderforareadertoextractinformationfromapicture,whichisalargerarea
comparedtothefourorfivewordsoftextatatime,theeyeofthereadermustscan
apicture,makingfrequentstops.
Theinformationtakeninatthesestopsisthensynthesizedintoameaningfulwhole
toextractinformation.
Ofthetwotypesofimages,wordsymbolsaremorebasictoeffectivegraphic
communication.

Languageis,afterall,theprimarymeansofhumancommunication,andwordsplay
animportantroleinthinkinganddecisionmaking.

Thewrittenwordisanextensionofthespokenword.

However,transformingwrittenspeechintowritingbypassesfacialexpression,tonal
inflection,andgestures.

Therefore,itisnecessaryinpresentingawrittenmessagetomakeupforthislossby
puttingwordsinaseffectiveavisualformaspossible.

Printingisthemeansofreproducingvisualimagesformass
communication.

Formisinextricablyinvolvedwithmessagecontentthemeaningsorideasbeing
communicated.

Thewriterworkswithavocabularyofwordsanda
syntax,
whichreferstothe
orderingofwordsintostructuresthatshowthewordrelationships.

Thewriterhascertainideasinmindandstructuresthewordcodessothattheywill

giverisetothesamethoughtsinthereadersmind.

Thedesignerofprintedmessagesalsoworkswithavocabularyconsistingofpoints,
lines,shapes,texturesandtones.

Likethewriterthedesignercanorganisetheseelementsintoastructureorformto
directthereadersthoughtprocesses.

Theeffectivenessofaprintedmessage,then,istheresultofthewriterandthe
designerexpressinga
commonmeaning

Indifferentways,thethreemostimportantdesignsinformal,orcontrastandbalance
braceorfocusedandmodularorquadrantmanifestTPCprinciples

Informal,orContrastandBalance-

Elementsinaninformaldesignaredisplayedaccordingtotheirimportanceorreader
interest,beginningatthetopright(wheretherighthandedmajorityofreaderslook
first),thentopleft,backtoanddowntherighthandside,acrossthebottomtobottom
left,andthentothecenterofthepage.Thisarrangementfollowstheorderthatmost
readerswillusetolookatthepage,beforeexitingatbottomright.

Thegoalistobalancethetextandgraphicsawayfromthepage'scenterinvarying
distances.

Whileanattractiveinformalpagedesignisanachievablegoal,thedifficultyliesin
notcreating"walls"thatwouldsplitthepageintwoorthreesections.

Brace,orFocused

Thekeyaspectofthebracedesignconceptisasingleelementusedtocreate
immediatefocusonthemajorstory.Thetopstoryisbracedbytheotherpartsofthe
pageelementssuchasheadlinesandphotosaresetmuchsmallerthantheNo.1
story.Onallpagedesigns,theNo.1storyshouldimmediatelyarrestthereader's
attention.

Bracedesigndoesthisverywell,butproblemsariseonaroutinenewsdaywhenthere
isnostorythatwarrantsabigdisplay.Unlessjustified,thetopstory'suseasthe
dominantelementwillgiveittoomuchemphasis.

Modular,orQuadrant

Themodularpageisbrokenintomostlyhorizontalshapeswithverticalshapesto
complementthedesign.Adominantrectangleisusuallylocatedabovethepage's
midpoint,withlargephotosandillustrationsadjacent.Whitespaceisusedtocreate
abreather,especiallyaroundtheheadlines.Manyoftoday'snewspapershave
adoptedthemodulardesignbecauseitplacesthestoriesandgraphicelementsin

neatrectangularshapes.
Modulardesignallowsforboldandlightheadlinesnexttoeachother,sometimeswith
oneofthestoriessetinastandardcolumnwidthandoneinanadjacentcolumnsetina
box.Also,modulardesignencouragestheeditortoplacerelatedstoriesandgraphics
adjacenttooneanother.

Inthemodernnewspaper'sefforttohavemassappealwhilealsotargeting
metropolitanandsuburbanmarketswithdifferenteditions,avarietyofgraphic
elementsarebeingutilizedtomakeamoreattractiveproduct.
Theseincludeprintingspecialtopicpagesandsections,printingphotoslarger,a
greateruseofreferenceboxesatoppageoneandoninsidesectionpages,moreuse
ofshortdigestsofinformation,printingsmallthumbnailphotosalongwithstories,
andtheuseofsixwidercolumnsratherthaneightnarrowcolumnsperpage.
Likeanyothercompetitiveproduct,newspapersconstantlylookforwaystoappear
similartotheircompetitioninthattheyproduceavehicletoportraythenews,but
alsodissimilarsotheycanattracttheirowncommittedreaders.
Whentwonewspapersinthesamecityareproducedbythesamemanagement
group,thefactorsthatusuallybringreaderstoonepaperortheotherarethework
schedulesofthepopulationandthedeliverytimeofthepublication.

Therefore,thetwonewspapersmaybedifferentonlyintheiruseofheadlinetypeor
captiontypebutseldomtexttypewhiledesigningtheirpapersaccordingtosimilar
guidelines.Thisisaconveniencefortheeditorsanddesignersbecauseitobviateshaving
twoextremelydifferentdesignstyles.
MAKINGTHEDESIGNSYSTEMWORK
Somenewspapershaveevolvedfromaweeklytoadaily.Othersremainaweekly,buthave
grownlarger.Onallofthesechangingpublications,adjustmentsinstaffandmanagement
philosophyoccur.Eacheditorofthepaperandeachspecializedsectionsetsupadesign
identity,beginningwiththefamiliarstyleofpageone.

Dayafterday,thereaderispresentedwithanorderlypackageofnews,featuresand
storiesinsuchspecialinterestareasassports,businessandlifestyle.

Butifthepaper'stypographyandartaretolookliketheyhaveindeedbeenpublishedasa
singleentity,asubtlebutunifieddesignphilosophyshouldbeobvioustothereader.
Designisthedeliberatearrangementofobjectstoachievea
predeterminedeffect.Ingraphics,thateffectisthetwo-dimensional
representationofanabstractidea

Thenewspaperfailsasavehicleofcommunicationiftheeditorplacestheelements
onanypagebyfittingthemintoapreconceiveddesignpattern.

Itisneithercreativenorresponsivetothenewsmerelytodesignapagewithall
elementslaidintoarigidformat,thenplaceeachday'sorweek'spagesoftextand
graphicsinlocationswherethemeasurementsareexactlythesameasthedayorweek
before.

Thenewsshouldbepackagedwithalogicalsensetothetextandgraphics
relationships,butthepackagingshouldbe
subtle
.

Newsdoeschangefrompagetopageandsectiontosection,andthedesign
shouldbealteredaccordingly.

ButiftheTotalPageConceptistobeconsistent,standardsshouldbewrittentoguide
designersintheirplacementofheads,stories,photosandillustrativematerial.

Withonenewspaper'seditors/designersnumberingasmanyas50,therearetoomany
peopleworkingtoomanyshiftstositdownanddebatehowbesttomaintain
consistentdesign.

Consistencythroughflexiblestandardsservesatwofoldpurpose:Thestaffisabletomake
designdecisions,andthereaderislikelytoseethenewspaperasauniformlycredible
product.

Tohelpthereaderinahurry,anefficientandimaginativenewspaperpackageisvital.
Elementsmustbeplacedoneachpagewithaconsciousawarenessthatthenewspaper
ispublishedtoconveythenewstothereader:localnewsinthecommunityweekly
andlocal,nationalandinternationalnewsinthedaily.Theamountofspaceallotted
fornationalandinternationalnewswillvaryforthedailynewspaper,dependingquite
simplyonthenumberofpagesavailable.

Readerslooktotheirnewspapersforinformationandeducation:toseehowtheirtax
dollarsarebeingspentorwhattheircitycouncilorschoolboardisdoing,tofollowa
sportsteam,ortoreadaboutaneventoracelebrityinanotherstateoranother
country.

Designers/editorswhocomprehendthereasonsbehindareader'sneedforputtingtime
asidetoreadthenewspaperandwhoimplementtheTotalPageConcepttoservethat
needaremorelikelytoencouragethereadertobuytheproductregularly,andits
advertisedgoodsandservicesaswell.

Thekeystosuccessinanybusinessenterprisearetoidentifytheconsumerandthe
competition,todevelopandmarkettheproduct,andtoprovideasystemfor
evaluatingalloftheabove.
Becausethenewspaperpublicationbusinessisindeedabusiness,publisherswhose
jobitistocreateasoundinvestmentworktobalancethenewseditorialneedsand
theprofitlossbalancesheet.Apublisher'sinterestistoattractandkeepthereader
whileatthesametimenotspendingmoreonproductionandfrontofficesupport

thancanbeearnedbythesaleofadvertisingcolumninchesandsubscriptions.
Publisherswhoaresuccessfulquicklylearnthatchangingtextorheadlinetypefaces
orcolumnwidths,addingasyndicatedcolumnistorbuyingacomicstripdoesnot
guaranteereaderloyaltyorreaderinterest.

ThecharactersofHaroldHillinTheMusicManandWillieLomaninDeathofaSalesman
demonstratedfullythecommandmentthatallinthenewspaperbusinessmust
comprehend:Knowyourterritory.

Theterritoryofeachnewspaperisascertainedbylookingtosee
preciselywhoitsreadersare.

Theeffectiveapplicationofdemographicsandpsychographicscanassisteditorsinpresenting
newsthatitsreadershipwantsandneeds.

WhyandHowWeRead

Inanyhumancommunicationsituationthesourceisuncertaintosomedegreeabout
theeffectthemessagewillhaveonthereceiverofthemessage.

Boththesourceaswellasthereceiverfaceproblemswithmessages.

Thesourceknowswhatistobesaid,themeaningthatistobeimparted,theideasthe
readeristoacquire,hasaverbalvocabularyandavocabularycomposedofvisual
elementsandaverbalandavisualsyntax.

Syntaxmeanstheorderingoftheverbalandvisualelementstoshowtheir
relationshipssothattheintendedmeaningiscorrectlyinterpretedbythereader.
Thereadermustfigureoutthemeaningforhimself,hisresponsesarenotpassiveor
automaticandthereaderisengagedinaprocessofdecisionmakingdecidingwhat
meaningsarebeingsignalled.

Ifanyoftheelements,visualorverbalareforeigntothereadersexperience,correct
interpretationwillbedifficult.

Theeffectofaproperlywrittenandproperlydesignedprinted
messageissynergistic.

Unlessyouknowthemeaningofproperlywritten,properlydesignedand
synergisticyouwillnotunderstandthemeaningofthestatementalthoughitisan
accuratestatement.

Oneofthemajorcontributionstowardunderstandingreadinghascomefromstudies
ofcommunicationsystemsintheformofaprecisedefinitionofinformation.

Informationtakesanumberofdifferentformsasitmovesthroughachannelbetween

thesourceandreceiver.

Informationisthereductionofuncertaintyinthemindofitsuser.

Thereaderisengagedindecisionmakingwithrespecttocommunication.

Hehastoselectfromamongalternatives.

Therelationshipbetweentheamountofinformationreceivedandthenumberof
alternativesisnotdirect.

Therelationshipbetweeninformationandalternativescanbeexpressedasa
measurementofinformationcalleda
bit.
A
bit
isequaltoonehalfthealternativesat
anytime.

One
bit
resolvestheuncertaintybetweentwoalternatives.

Two
bits
resolvetheuncertaintyamongfouralternatives.

Three
bits
resolvetheuncertaintyamongeightalternatives.

Therefore,howmanybitsareneededtoresolvetheuncertaintyamong64
alternatives?

InformationandRedundancy

Redundancyexistswheneverinformationisavailabletothereaderfromtwoormore
places.
Amessageisredundantifitcontainsmoreinformationthanitneedsto.

Intermsofinformationtheory,uncertaintyornumberofalternativescanbereduced
intwoormoreways.

Thisimpliesthatashortermessagecoulddeliverthesameinformation.

TheEnglishlanguageinprintoffersanexcellentexample.Sequencesoflettersare
redundantsomelettersshowupmorefrequentlythanothers.

Theletters
e,t,a,i,o
and
n
aremostfrequentwhereas
z
and
y
seldomappear.

Doesanyletterotherthan
u
follow
q
?

IthasbeenestimatedthatEnglishismorethan50percentredundant.

Whataboutredundancyinpictures?

Testshavecharacterisedpredictableshapesinthismanner:

Theytendtobesymmetrical
Theyinvolvestraightlinesorlineschanginginaregularmanner
Theytendtoinvolvefewangles

Amajorpurposeofredundancyistosavereaderstimeanddifficultyinunderstanding
whattheyreadbyincreasingpredictability.
Whydoweread?

Becausewemust.

Humansandanimalsareprogrammedtoa)seekoutinformation,b)selectfromthe
totalandputintoproperformwhatispotentiallyusefultomaketheirwaythrough
life,c)organizetheinformationintoamemorystoreandd)retrieveinformationfrom
memoryforuseindecisionmaking.

Theorganizationofinformationandexperienceinmemoryiscalled
cognitive
structure
.

Thebuildingofcognitivestructurebeginswithperceptuallearningwhichisthe
processbywhichwe.

Determinewhatthethingsandeventsintheworldaroundusareand

Organizethemintoourunderstandingoftheworld.

Thisprocessislifelong.Thisiswhyourworldviewisconstantlybeingchanged.

Therefore,intermsofinformationtheory,aperceptionisthe
reductionofuncertaintyaboutwhatthingsandeventsthatconfront
usare.

However,wecannotperceivetheworldasitreallyis.

Oursensesaregrosslyinadequate.

Theworldexistsasadynamicwhirlofenergyinauniverseofenergybuttheenergy
formwecalllightwavesthatoureyescandetectgivesbutlittlehintaboutwhat
thingsreallyare.

Perceptuallearningleadustotheformationofcategoriesanddiscoveriesof
interrelationshipsamongthem.

Tocallsomethingachairistonoteitssimilaritiestootherchairsandignoreany

differences.

Thesesimilaritiesarecalled
definingfeatures.

Definingfeaturesmaybevisiblefeaturessuchassizeandshape
ortheymaybesemantic.

Onecandistinguishbetweenaknifeandaforkvisually.Whenboththeseare
categorisedastablewareweknowsomethingoftheirinterrelationshipandweareat
ahigherlevelofabstraction.

Definingfiguresserveasinformationbecausetheyreduce
uncertainty.
Wordsymbolsliealongacontinuumfromtheconcretetothehighlyabstract.

Nandinicowlivestockfarmassetsassetswealth.

Wehavemovedfromanametoamoreconcretecowandfromtheretoanabstract
ideaofwealth.

Picturestooliealongasimilarcontinuum.

Photographs,especiallyincolour,wouldbethemostdirectrefeencetotherealworld
whereasillustrations,paintings,drawingsgenerallytendtobelessdirectandare
renderedinvaryingdegreesofabstraction.

Byabstractionwemeanfirsttheenhancementofthosefeaturesofacategory
thatbestidentifyit(makeitrecognisable)andsecond,thesuppressionofthose
featureswhicharenotgenerictothatis,notbasictocomprehendingit
(perceivingitsrelationshipstoothercategories)

Thecommunicatorfacesdelicatechoicesinfindingtheproperlevelofabstractedness

Willatruelifephotographservebest?
Perhapsthesubjectcanbehighlightedandthebackgroundsubduedoreliminated.
Cancirclesorpointingdevicesbesuperimposedonthereproductionofthe
photographdodrawattentiontodefiningfeatures?
Perhapsadiagramcanmoreeffectivelydeliveracomplicatedmessagethatcould
onlybepresentedverballyinadullrecitationoffactsandfigures.

TheHumanIPS

Threebasicsubsystemscharacteriseanyinformationprocessingsystem(IPS)

Input
Informationprocessing
Output

Whatiscomprehension?

Understandingthecontentormeaningofthemessage.
But,whatismeaning?

Thechieforderedthepolicetostopallgambling.
Whatisthemeaningofthisstatement?
Isthemeaningthesametoeverybody?
Meaningintermsofinformationprocessingisthereductionofuncertaintytothepoint
thatthereceiverfeelssatisfiedthatheorsheunderstands.
Ifthesourcedidhisorherjobproperlyandalluncertaintyisreducedatthereceiverend,
onlyonemeaningcanresult.
Thesourceandthereceiverwillbeofonemind.ThiswhatisenvisagedintheIndian
communicationtheoryofSadharanikaran.
Informationstoredinmemory

Ahypotheticalandpartialmemorynetworkthatrelatesthecowtootherliving
organismscanhelpusprocessinformationbetter.Forinstance,cowfourlegged
vertebrateherbivoremammallivingorganism.Informationarranged
hierarchicallyinthismannerfromlowleveltohighlevelabstractioncanbe
processedfaster.

Thestructureofstoredinformationcan,thereforebeconsideredfromthestandpointof
a)thewholeformedbytherelationshipsofsubordinatecomponentsor
b)thepartinrelationshipstothewhole.

Arecowsfourlegged?Theansweryestothisquestionwouldbefarmore
immediatethanthesameanswertothequestionArecowsmammals.

Categories,togetherwiththeirattendantfeaturesseemtobestoredinmemory.When
theprintedimageswordsorpicturesareperceived,thereisareactionwithinthe
totalnetworkofknowledge.

STM-LTM

ShorttermmemoryorSTMandlongtermmemoryorLTMarenotlocationsora
placeinthebrain.TheseareprocessesorsubsystemsofthetotalIPS.

AssoonasinformationentersthehumanIPSanabstractionprocessbegins.

InformationentersasubsystemoftheSTMcalledtheVisualSTMorSensoryStore
whereitpersistsperhapsforasecondorso.

FromtheSensoryStoryabstractedinformationmovestoSTM.

Eitheratthetimetheinformationissensedorwhileitisstillinsensorystage,visual
informationistransformedintoneuralcodes.
Pictureimages,itisbelieved,arenormallytransformedintoiconicorvisualcodes.
Wordimagesaretransformedeitherintoauditoryorsemanticcodeorvisualoriconic
code.

Somesituationsareeasiertoresolveifwordsymbolsaretransformedintoaniconic
codeallowingthereadertoimagewhatispresentedverbally.

WatchtheprocessesinyourbrainasyouanswerthisquestionHowmanystairsare
therebetweenthefirstandthesecondfloorofyourbuilding?AreyouusingSTMorLTM
toanswerthequestion?

ThedurationofinformationinSTMisrelativelybriefandthecapacityofSTMis
limitedtofivetoeightunrelatedunitssuchasrandomletters.

Whenwereadwords,theeyetakesininformationonlyatstopsorfixations.Fouror
fivemeaningfullyrelatedwords(perhaps25to30letters)canbeseen,heldinSTM,
andprocessedthatis,beinterpretedtobecuesforreducinguncertaintyinone
secondbyanefficientreader.

Thentheeyejumpstoanotherfixation.

Itisduringthesejumps,called
saccades
,thatprocessingormatchupwithLTM
informationoccurs.
Thus,processingofverbalinformationinauditorycodesproceedsserially.
Itistheorised,ontheotherhand,thatpictures,transformedintovisualcodes,can
behandledbyparallelprocessing.

Onehastomoveoneseyesalonglinesoftypewithwordsfallingwithinanareaofnarrow
focus.Informationfrompicturesisnotlimitedtothisnarrowarea.
Suchvisualimagescan
bemorequicklyrecognised.
Eachnewspaperisdifferent.

Thestaffsfornewseditorial,advertising,clericalandpressroomareunlikeanyother
paper,regardlessofthesizeofthecommunity.

Evenifthecommunityhasthesamepopulationasanother,itmayhavemoreorfewer
newspapersubscribers.

Employmentopportunitiesaredifferent,aswellastheagesandeducationofthe

people,theweatherandtheleisureactivitiesavailable.

Allthatthenewspaperfacilityhastoofferinpersonnelandequipmentandallthatthe
circulationareaitselfoffersmixtogetherasthenewspaperaimstoserveits
readership.

Thebalanceofnewscontentandpresentationmustcomplementthereaders'needs.

Editorshaverealizedthroughmarketingstudiesandtheimprovementofallmedia
systemsthatpeoplearedemandingbetterproductsfortheirmoney.
Newspapersareaconsumerproduct.Lookingatnewspapersasaproductor
packagehasopenedmanyeditors'eyestothefactthatappearanceandcontent
mustgohandinhandtocompeteforconsumerattentionandmoney.

Newspapermanagement'sgoalistoreachthelargestnumberofhouseholds;toeffectthis,
managementneedstomeetthecommunity'sexpectationsandtobeconsistentinatimeof
tighteconomy.

Thesuccessfulnewspaperusesthemostsophisticatedmarketmethodsinmonitoringits
readership.
Areaderpurchasesaparticularnewspaperforavarietyofreasons,mostlyrelatedtoa
sensedinformationneedorasenseofidentitywiththecommunitythatthepaper
serves.

Thepurchasemaybeoneofconveniencethetimeofdaythatthepaperis
availableorperhapsthisistheonlynewspaperthatcoverscommunitynewsindepth.
Inaddition,thedeliveryornewsstandpricemightbelessthanthatofthecompetition,
orthereadermaylikethepaper'suseofcolor,thestories'lengthsortheamountor
qualityofphotos.

Anewspaper'ssurvivalisdirectlyrelatedtoitsseeingthevalueofastrongproductand
makingacorrectmeasurementoftheproduct'srecipients.

Ifyou'regoingtotrytosurvivewithundereducatedwritersandcorrespondents,with
lowqualityphotos,withsloppygraphics,designandpoorpresswork,you'rekidding
yourself.

Youwon'tmakeitwithadpeoplewhoaremerelypickupclerksratherthan
aggressive,innovativesalesmen.

Survivalwillbedifficultwitheditorsandreporterswhoaren'ttunedintunedinnot
onlytoyourcommunity,buttoyourarea,yourstate,countryandtheworld.

Editorsoftenmakeassumptionsaboutreadersthathavenobasisinfact.


Therefore,researchisnecessarytoestablishwhatreaderswantinapaper'sparticular
market.

Researchthatisspeciallyprepared,becausemanysurveysdealheavilywiththe
paper'scontentratherthanappearance.

Threeimportantfactorsshouldbeestablishedfromdesignresearch
thenatureofthemarketandthelifestylesandattitudesofthepeopleinit

thenatureofthenewspaperand

thenatureofthecompetition.

Readers'needsarefoundthroughdemographicandpsychographiccritiques.

Demographicsarethestatisticskeptaboutpopulationsrelatedtorecordsofbirths,
deaths,marriagesanddiseases.Psychographicsarethequantitativedataaboutthe
activities,interestsandopinionsofapopulationthatdescribesegmentsbythe
individualandcollectivelifestylesoftheirrespectivemembers.However,these
critiquesmustbedonecarefully

Thepapershouldreflectincontentwhatthereadershipwantstoread,andin
designwhateverisappropriatetothespecificaudience'sinterests.

Partoftheenticementtoreadisembodiedinthecontentofthenews:thesubjectsand
storiesthatarewrittenabout,andhowwelltheyarewritten.

Butthenewsdepartmentmustcontendwithmuchmorethanthat.

Tokeepthereaderengaged,anattractivedesignutilizingtheTotalPageConcept
mustbepresented.

Thisiswhyitiscrucialthateditorsknowtheiraudience,knowhowtomakerealistic
decisionsonwhatisrun,andplanhowstoriesandgraphicswillbedisplayedinthe
preciousspaceavailable.

UNDERSTANDINGWHATNEWSIS

Ifnewsisthepaper'scentralpurposeandthereasonreaderspurchasethepaper,thenews
staffshoulddoitsbesttoservethatpurposewithwellwrittenandtightlyeditedstoriesand
theuseofstrong,purposefulgraphics.

Peoplewhoreadthenewspaperfrequentlytakeitastheirownpersonalpossession,
anextensionofthecommunity'spersonality.Readersmakejokesaboutthe
paperaboutitsname,orthetimesome(localoroutside)personality'snamewas

misspelledorawrongphotoidentificationwasmade.
However,thelocalpaperisalsothefirstplacethatpeopletaketheirwedding
announcement,orlookfora"writeup"aboutafamilymemberelectedtoofficeina
communityorganization,orastoryaboutahighschoolorcollegeteam'soutcomein
asportsevent.

Herearesomeinterestinginsightsintowhatnewsis:

Localnewscoverage,nomatterhowyoudefineit,mustnotbeshortchanged.
Localnewsneedsstrongwritingandcapablepeopletoreportit.Itcan'tbeleftto
clerksandstringers.Goodreportersandgoodeditorsareessential.
Readersarebecomingmoresophisticatedeveryday.Theyknowwhenastoryis
coveredandwrittencorrectlyorwhenitisjustlefttoanonprofessional.
It'smorethanrunningthephotoofthehomecomingqueen.

Asthecommunitymarketandthenewspaper'spolicyaresimultaneouslyreviewed,
muchconsiderationmustbegiventowhythepublicpurchasesthepaper.Usually,the
reasongivenis:"Ican'tgetalongwithoutknowingwhatisgoingoninthe
community."

Inadditiontoreadingaboutsocialactivities,thecommunity'scitizenswanttoreadstories
about:
howtheirtaxmoneyisbeingspent
newdevelopmentsintheeducationoftheirchildren
voteroptionsforelections
meetingsofgovernmentalbodies
theeffectsofcommunitygrowthand
implicationsofthelocalcrimerate.

Inthe1520minutestheaveragereaderspendswiththepaper,only10percentto12
percentofthenewsisread.

Researchindicatesthatreadersclassifyinformationinthepaperintotwoareas:
informationthatisinterestingand/orusefuland

informationthatisnotinterestingand/oruseful.

Newspaperreadersfeelthattheirpurchaseofthepaperinvolvesanunspokencontract:The
newspaperisthevehicletheyhavechosenfordiscoveringnewscontent,butfindingit
shouldnotbeamatterofchance.

Interesting,pertinentinformation,especially"hardnews"storiesthestoriesthatreaders
shouldknowabouttobeinformedcitizensmustbecarefullywrittenandcreatively

displayed.
Designpurposemustmakesensetothereaderevenifonly
subliminally.

Excellenceinwritingisnolesscrucial,butthistoocanbehelpedbydesign.Ifthe
story'simportantpointsaremadeintheleadparagraphandseveralthatfollow,andif
subheadsareprintedboldlyenoughwithsufficientwhitespacearoundthemto
providedirection,thenthereadershouldcorrectlyperceivethestory'simportance,
catchitsmainpointsandbesatisfied.

Whetherpresenting"hard"or"soft"news,itisvitalthatreporters,editorsand
graphicdesignersrealizetheimportanceoftellingthestorycompletely.

Thisisbecausepublicationisa
onewaymedium
.Thereaderwhodoesnotunderstandthe
storyisnotlikelytopickupatelephoneandgetintoatwowayconversationwiththewriter
tohavethestoryclarifiedbutislikelytobuyanothernewspaper,ifithappenstoooften.

Editorstakeveryseriouslytheirtaskofpresentingthenewsinaformquicklygrasped
bythebusyreader.

Perhapstheyshouldthinkabouteachstorythatappearsinnewspapersasthoughthey
wouldhavetoselleachoneindividuallyataprofit,ratherthanassumepeoplewantthem
becausetheyarepartoftheentirepackage.

Newspapershavetriedmanyexperimentsontheirinsidepages,onsectionfrontsand
ontheirsofterfeaturesbut,withfewexceptions,radicalchangeshavenotbeentried
onthenewspagesthemselves.

Thisisbecausemostnewseditorsbelievethattreatinghardnewslightlymighttake
awayfromthepaper'snewsintegrity.

Nevertheless,thenewspagessetthetoneforaTPCdesignednewspaper.

Sincenewspagesmustclearlysignalstoryimportance,theyshouldhavenolessvitalityto
themthantherestofthepaper.

Onallofitspagesthenewspapermustberecognizedbyeditorsandreadersasa
visualmedium.

Themosaicofshapesandsizesinaparticularpaperwillbechosenbytheharried
readeronlyifthereisanimmediatelyunderstoodorganizationofgraphicsandwords.

Organizationmakesthenewsaccessible,anditclarifiesthe
paper'ssensitivitytoreaders'needs.

Anewspaper'sphilosophyregardingitsnewssectionscanbedeterminedby
examininghowthoroughlyitsstoriesareedited,howitsphotosandillustrativeartare
displayed,andtherolethattheartdepartmenthasplayedinmakingdecisions.

Theimportantpointisthebeginning
Integrationisachievedwhentheartandnewsdepartmentshavebothgivencarefulthought
tothefinalproductfromitsconceptiontocompletion.

If,fromtheinceptionofthestory,thedesignerisinvolvedintheprocess,hemight
say,"Whileyou'reoutgettingthestoryonthewatershortageandthelongqueues
beforemunicipaltapsperhapsyou'dwanttogetdetailsofhowwaterisconsumed,
howpeopleslivesareplannedaccordingtowhenthewaterwillcomeandgetamap
ofthecityshowingwhenthereisawatercutandwhere.
Wemightdecidenottodothetraditionalstory,butmakealistofthesuburbswith
amapsothereaderwouldgetthekindofinformationheneedsinhisdailylifefrom
thestoryratherthanwritingastoryandsimplyshowingapictureofpeoplein
queues.

Thisisastructuralapproachthathelpscomplementthenarrativeone.

InsettingupguidelinesfortheTotalPageConcept,theartdepartmentisconsidered
apartnerwiththenewsdepartment.
Theartandnewsstaffsmayhavebeenonlylikedistantrelativesatonetime,but
nowtheyareworkinghandinhandonmanynewspapers.
Thenewsdepartmenthasitsownspecialgraphicsneeds.
Papersarenowhiringillustratorswhocancreatedrawingsandmakechartstohelp
tellthenewsstories,justasphotographersareemployedtoportraythenewsin
pictures.

Amongthegraphicdesignquestionsthatdynamic,growingnewspaperstaffsmust
address,themostbasicinclude:

Doesthenewspaper'sartdepartmentactuallyserveasanadvertisingsupport
department,oraresomeartpeoplebeingintegratedintothenewsdepartment?
Isthereaplanfortrainingnewseditorsintheuseofgraphicsandinworkingwithor
asartdepartmentpeople?
Doesthenewspaperhaveagraphicseditororeditorialdesigner;and,ifso,isthis
individualpartofthenewsteam,ornewstrainedenoughtoprovideinputwhenthe
paperisondeadline?
Forapublicationtobesuccessfulinthecomputerage,itseditorialstaffmembers
needtounderstandthefunctionofart.

Likewise,theartdepartmentthattrulycomplementsthenewsdepartmenthasa
departmentheadandstafferswhoparticipateinnewsmeetingswiththenewseditors

andreportersthiskindofarrangementalsoserveswellthepurposeofthenewspaper:
toprovidethefullstory,inwrittenandgraphicterms.

NEWSPAPERDESIGNANDLAYOUT

Ofalltheprintedmediaofcommunication,theonethathasplacedtheleast
emphasisonformthroughouthistoryhasbeenthenewspaper.
Theresulthasbeenpredictable:thedevelopmentofamediumwhoseappearance
haspaledincomparisonwithmagazines,booksandotherprintedliterature.
Designersofprintedmediaforyearshavepointedtonewspapersasthemost
awkward,leastattractiveandleastreadableofthesemedia!

Whynewspapershavebeenmadeupandnotdesigned
Problemsofformat

Broadsheetsareabout15incheswideand23inchesdeep.

Theyareofconsiderablebulkwithscoresofpagesandseveralsectionsbeing
common.
Thelargesizeismoreanhistoricalaccidentandtheyarestillwithusbecausewe
haveinvestedinequipmentthatcandealwithjustthesesizes.
TheBritishnewspapersadoptedthebroadsheetsizetocircumventataxbasedon
thenumberofpages.
TheAmericansfollowedsuit.
ThedevelopmentofthePennyPressintheAmericajustbeforetheCivilWar
resurrectedasmallerpagesizetoattractanewaudienceoffactorylabourers.
Ataboutthesamesomebusinessorpoliticallyorientednewspaperswentto
extremelylargeformatstheyhadpagesthreefeetwideandfivefeetdeepand
werecalled
blanket
papers.
Heavyinvestmentinsteampoweredpressesandrelatedmachinessuchasfoldersthat
wereintroducedinthoseyearsmadeitimpossibletoexperimentwithsizeandwe
werestuckwiththenowstandardbroadsheetnewspapers.

Thetabloid,becauseitishalfthesizeofthebroadsheet,fittedthestandard
equipment,withoneadditionalfoldbeingtheonlyspecialrequirementfor
production.

Unfortunatelyfornewspaperreaders,theuseofthetabloidhasbeenlimitedbecauseit
wastarredwithalabelofsensationalismwhenitfirstcameintouseintheUS.

Letslookatthereasonswhynewspapersarenotonlyawkwardbutalsoleast
attractiveorevenunattractive!

Themeresizeofthebroadsheetmakesfunctional,attractivearrangementofelements
difficult.

Newspapersusemonotypographicheadlines(allfontsfromthesamefamily).

Stringentheadlineschedulesthatprescribelimitedtypographicalpatternshavebeenthe
norm.

Narrownewspapercolumnsandtheresultant
vertical
flowofdesignelementsthat
havebeenacharacteristicofnewspapersforyearshavealsonotbeentheresultof
merewhim.
Primarynewspaperfinancialsupportcomesfromadvertisingand
columninches
and
agatelines
havebeenthebasisforspaceratestoadvertisers.
Thuspracticaleconomicshasfavourednarrowcolumns:narrowingcolumnsresults
inmoreagatelinesandcolumninchesperpage,andwideningproducesfeweragate
linesandcolumninchesperpage.
Becausenewspapershavealwaystriedtosqueezeasmuchinformationintotheir
columnsaspossible,hasalwaystendedtobetoosmall.
Thesamepressurehasalsokeptadequateleadingfromhelpingthereaderandthe
long,narrowverticalcolumnshavemadereadersstrugglethroughunusuallyshort
linesastheyhavesoughtouttheirnews.

Displaytypehasbeencrowdedintopositionwithoutadequatewhitespaceforittodo
itsworkeffectively.

Whyhavenewspapersgottenawaywithit?

Asimpleruleindesignistheimportanceofgraphicdesignvariesinverselywiththe
interestofthereadergreatertheinterestthelessimportantthegraphics.

Thissituationisnowchangingbecausereadersmediaconsumptionischanging.
TimesareChangingSoareNewspapers

EffectsofTelevision

Adirectimpactoftelevisionhasbeenthatnewspapershavelosttheiradvertisingto
television.
Readertimehasbeenlosttoo.
Therehasbeenanincreasingpassivenesstowardmediathedevelopmentof
watchersratherthanreaders.
Televisionnewsismorerealtime.
Newspapersareforcedtoredesign,providegreaterdepthoftreatmentand
additionalanalysisaswellasspecializationanddepartmentalization.

EffectofMagazines

Aresurgenceofmagazines,includingtherevivalofsomegeneralconsumergreatsof
thepastbutespeciallyamongthespecializedandregionaltypes,alsoisaffecting
newspaperdesign.
Magazineshavebeenjoiningsuburbannewspapersandfreecirculationshoppersin
competingwithmetropolitandailiesforlocal,state,andregionaladvertising.
Ifnewspapersaretomeetsuchcompetitionsuccessfullytheirappearancemust
matchthehighqualityofmagazines.

EffectsofNewProductionTechnology

Offsetprintingisthemostcommonlyusedreproductionsystemforallmediaand
hasimpacteddesigninnewspapersoverall.
Withoffsetprinting,illustrationscanbehandledmoreeconomically,moreefficiently
andwithmuchbetterresults.
Arrangementofelementsonapageisnolongerlimitedtotheunbendingright
anglesofmetaltypeengravings.
Coldtypeareacompositionandperhapsmostspectacularly,paginationbycomputer
andcathoderaytubetypesettershaveforcedtotalrethinkingofnewspaperdesign
andmakeuptodevelopingcomputerassistedpagelayoutsystemsandtemplates.

DesigningNewsSpace

Thepublic'sappetitefornewsandinformationisneverfulfilled.

Thepublicwantsallthenews,thebadandthesadalongwiththegoodandtheglad.

Itwantstoenjoythebestofthenewsandlearnhowtocopewiththerestofit.

Itwantstolookbeyondthecolortothecontent,beyondthecosmeticstothe
consistency,beyondthepromotiontotheproduct,beyondtheimmediateemotionsto
thelogicalconclusions.

Itwantsitsmediatokeepupwithitsneedsandadapttoitslifestyleanditdoesnot
buytheoldwaywe'vealwaysdoneitviewsofeditorsandpublisherswhodonot
thinkanythingshouldbetriedforthefirsttime

Pagesarenotjustbroughttogetherbymagicevenbyadesigneditor.Sequence,or
theplacingofelementsonthepageinaprescribedorder,isessentialtodesigning
newsspace.

Whenadvertisementsareincludedonapage,theyareplacedfirst,bytheadvertising
department.Thenthenewsdepartmenttakesover,placingphotosandillustratedart
next,andheadlineandtexttypelast.

Thisplacementorderistherulebecause:

advertisingsizesmustbeexactlyastheyhavebeensoldtoclients

photosandheadlinescanbesizedsomewhatsmallerorlarger,buttheycannotbecut
orenlargeddrasticallytofitaspaceand

texttypecanbesettofitaspace,orthestorycanbetightenedorcontinuedon
anotherpage.

NEWSPAGEDESIGNSTRATEGIES

Newspagesparticularlyneedaspecialdesignstrategytoconveyeachstory
effectively,whichwillnecessarilyberelatedtonewsjudgment.

Thebeststoryofthedaymaynothaveorneedarttoaccompanyitthebestartmay
nothavesufficientimportancetobeonpageoneoranywhereelseamongthestraight
newspages.

Aninsignificantnewsitemorphotoshouldneverreceiveundueplayorbeslantedor
editedwithoutconsiderationfortheintegrityofthenews.

Oneofthemaindifficultieswithelevatingtheimportanceofdesignhasbeenthe
everpresentpressureofthedeadline.Theremaybeastorypartiallywrittenwithits
artyettocome,andthepageisondeadline.Abeautifulpagethatimpelspeopleto
readitbecauseofitscontentanddesignisonething,buteverynewseditoreven
despitethepleasofthestrongestgraphicseditorhastogowiththegraphicsthatare
presentatdeadline.

Areader'sresponsetostoriesisencouragedorimpairedbytheir"play"orplacementon
thepage.

Pageoneisthepagebywhichtheremainderofthenewspaperismeasuredintermsof
storiesanddesign.Itiswherethereaderinitiallybecomesacquaintedwiththepaper,
andwhileitchangeswitheveryeditionandeverydayitslookistheproduct's
instantidentity,positiveornegative.

Thecloseproximityoffrontpagetextandartcancausethemtocompetewithone
another.

Ifthedesignfailstodirectthereaderthroughthepage,hisorherinterestwillbe
redirectedtootheroptionsincludingnotreadingthenewspaperatall.

Newspapershavechangedovertheyearsaseditorshaverealizedthevalueof
incorporatingadesignconceptthatunitesthewholenewspaper.Corollarytothisis
thewayinwhichthefrontpagestorycounthaschanged.

Today,thefrontpageofmanybroadsheetnewspapersrarelyreportmorethana
halfdozenevents.Thisisareductionfromeightadecadeagoandthenumberof
typecolumnshasgonefromeighttosix,ortofiveinsomecases.

Whilehavingfewerstoriessometimesgivesusaharderdecisiononwhichstorieswe
shouldrunonthefront,italsogivesusacleanerlookingpageandtheopportunityto
morevisuallyplayupsomeoftheotherpotentialfrontpagestoriesonothernews
pages.

Segmentingastorybreakingitintosmallerunitsmakesitlessforbiddingtothe
readerthanthesamestoryrunasanashengraymassoftype,andappearinglong.

Thisisespeciallytruefornewsstoriesandnewssections.

Segmentingcanbeaccomplishedinanyoneofseveralways

Itmaybeaphotothatcatchesyoureyeorthecaptionthattellsalittlebitaboutit.
Itmaybethequoteorsplittingthestoryasthreedifferentphaseswitha14point
introexplainingwhatyouaredoing.

Segmentinggivesyoumorechancestocatchtheeyeofthereaderandgethiminterested.
Thedesigneditorisgivenmorechoicestoworkwithwhensegmentingwithina
modularmakeupisthepaper'sstyle.

Themorepartsyouhave,themorewaystoarrangethem,groupthem.Withonelong
story,theonlyoptionmightbetodoanLshapewraparoundapicture.

Anothervalueofsegmentingisthatitcansavespace.

Thoughthenewspaperisamessengerofbothgoodandbadtidings,theconsistency
ofitsdesignwillimproveitschancesofbeingreceivedfavorably,especiallyifits
contentsarewellorganizedandthereforeeasilyread,rightfromthestartonpageone.

FRONTPAGEANDNEWSSECTIONSPECIFICS

Thefrontpage,ineffect,isthecorporateidentity,itistheprimerealestatein
journalism

Pageoneistheentrywaythroughwhichthereaderapproachestheentirenewspaper.
Inordertobeworthwhiletothereader,pageonemustprovidedirectaccesstoitsowncontent
aswellastotheremainderofthenewspaper.

Primecontentandattractivegraphicsareagoodbeginningbut,goingbeyondthat,
theexistenceorlackofaneasytoreadindexandrelatedtypographicalelementswill
eitherguidethereaderintoorsteerthereaderawayfromtheinsidepages.

Aquickindexshouldbeprovidedonpageoneevenifamorecompleteindexcallit
newssummary,briefs,capsulesor"What'sInside"appearsonpagetwoorthree.

Readerswilloftenfirsttakenoticeofasummaryreferringtomoredetailsonaninside

pagethentheyreadthroughthewholenewspaper,andcheckbackwiththesummary
tomakecertainthatnothingofinteresthasbeenmissed.

Editorswhochoosetousenewssummarycolumnsandboxesmayhavethebestof
bothworlds,"Schweitzerreported.

Theymayincreasethereaderappealofthefrontpageandkeepthestorycounthighat
thesametime.

Acorollaryfactwouldbethatsummariesincreasestorycountandenhancea
moderntabloidformatwhichisnottobeconfusedwiththesensationaltabloid
newspapers.

Newssummaryitemsmaybepublishedonpagetwoorthreeoronpageoneasa
twocolumn"chimney."

Someitemsreferreaderstofullstoriesonotherpages,andotherscanbe
completeinthemselves.

Onthedayofanimportantbreakingstory,itmaybeworthwhiletoscrapthe
traditionalpageonesummaries,andtousetheentirepageforfullstoryandart
coverageofthebigevent.

Photographsofindividualfacesthumbnailsizearecommonlyusedonthefront
pageandthroughoutthepaper.

Anactionphototakenduringanewseventevenwhenitshowsfacialexpression
alonewillalwayshavemoreimpactthanaphotomadeofthesamepersonata
professionalportraitstudio.Ineverycase,thepersonshouldstillbeidentifiable
despitethephotoreduction.

Clearoropenpagesarerelativelyeasytodesignifthereareenoughstoriesandartto
use.However,whetherclearorincludingadvertisements,thepagedesignshouldhave
onedominantelementapieceofartor,ifthisisnotpossible,awelldisplayed
storytoprovideaplacefortheeyetobeginreading.

Elementsthatanchorthepagecornerswherethereisnoadvertisingarealsoimportant
forinsidepages,especiallyclearpages,andmaybedonebyavarietyofmethods:
screeningastory,runningashortinformationalbox,orprintingastandingfeatureor
column.

Whiletherestofthenewspaperchangesitscontentdisplaywitheachissue,the
opinions/editorialpageshouldprovidefromdaytoday(orweektoweek)asimilar
designformatincludingeditorials,columns,lettersandotherfeatures,sothatthe
readercancountonatleastthisonepagetolookreassuringlypredictable.
Theop/edpagemightalsocontainthenamesofthekeyeditorsandthenewspaper's
mailingaddress,phonenumberandletterspolicyplacedwheretheycanbeeasily
foundbyreaderswantingtowritealettertotheeditororotherwisecontactsomeone
atthenewspaperoffice.


DESIGNINGNEWS/ADVERTISINGCOMPLEMENTS

Insidepagesareseldomopendisplaypages.Storylengthsandgraphicelementsmust
competeforthebalanceofspaceavailablethedesignerreceivespagesafterthe
advertisinghasbeenplacedonthem.
Pageswithadvertisingespeciallywithmanyadsorafewverylargeonesneedtobe
designedsothereaderwillmissneitherthestoriesnortheadvertising.

Itfollows,then,thatabasicunderstandingofadvertisingisneededinordertodesign
newsspace.
Facingtheformidablecompetitionoftelevision'scolorandmovement,newspaper
advertisingdepartmentshavehadtochangetheiroldwaystoattractreaders.

Advertiserswhoonceexclusivelyusednewspaperstoselltheirproductsnolongerdo
so.

Today,newspaperadvertisementsmustlurethereaderimmediatelytotheadthrough
design.Thereadermustnoticesomethingintheadworthpurchasing.

Whilesomepagessuchasthefrontpage,theopinion/editorialpage,aphotosection
oraspecialsectionpagemaybeadfree,mostpageswillhaveoneormore
advertisements.Sizeanddesignarethekeystoadvertisingreadership,notpositionon
thepage.

Adsshouldalwaysbedesignedwiththeideathatadvertisingisnews,too.

Apoorlydesignedadwillnotonlyhavepoorreadership,butwillalsodetractthereader
fromtheentirepage.

Basedontheadsizesthathavebeensold,advertisementsmaybeplacedhorizontally
acrossthebottomofthepage,verticallystackedasachimneyofsamesizeadsonthe
leftorrighthandside,inaverticalpyramidorstairstepmanner(alsooneitherthe
leftorrightside)orsomecombinationofthese.

ItisuptotheAdDepartmenttodetermineifawellorpyramidrightlayoutshouldbe
used.

ButaNewsDepartmentlayoutpolicywhich,forinstance,hasabriefscolumndown
theleftsideofeachpagemustbeconsidered.

Horizontaladvertisingprovidesthebestpagedesignpossibilitiesbecausejagged
edgesaroundtheadsareavoided.However,horizontaladpagesrequirethemost
cooperationfromtheadvertisingdepartmentsincealladsorcombinationsofadsdo
notnecessarilyfitintoaperfectlylevelhorizontalline.


Ontheotherhand,whatbringspeopletoanadisnotitsplacementonthepage,but
thecontentoftheaditself.

Creatinghorizontaladlinesmayresultin"burying"anadplacingitinsuchaway
thatnopartofanynewsstorytouchesitwhichisgenerallyconsideredundesirable.

Thiswouldhappenifyouhadthreetwobyfourads[twocolumnswidebyfour
inchesdeep]andtwotwobytwoadsacrossthebottomofapage.Thetwobytwoat
thebottomwouldbe"buried."

Thisissomewhatofanoldfashionedidea,andnolongerseemstobethesignitonce
was.

Afterall,theideaassumedthatreadersonlyreadadsaccidentallyastheyfinished
newsstories.

Today,newsandadvertisementsaretreatedintermsofdesigninsuchamannerthat
visuallytheyappearinsynergy.

Newsandadsarenotseparatebutpartofacompositewholeideacalledthenewspaper.

Advertisementsmustnotonlyconformtospacelimitationstheymustbewritten
accuratelyandclearlyiftheirmessageistoreachthereaderandselltheproductor
idea.Poorlydesignedadsorthosewithlanguageerrorsinthemorillustrationsof
poorquality,takeawayfromnewseditorialpresentation.

Advertisementsarebuiltonthemessagethatthetypographysendstoreaders.Asa
complementtothetype,illustrations,logos,drawingsandphotosoftheproductmaybe
usedinads.
Anewspaperwithoneormorestaffartistswhospecializeinadvertisingartislikely
tohavesomelatitudewhenitcomestohowanadvertisementwillbecreated.

Theartistworksdirectlywiththeadvertisingsalesdepartment,receivesinformation
fromthesalespeople,goestothelocationoftheproducttomakesketches,or
combinesadvertisersuppliedandoriginalartwithtypeavailableatthenewspaper.

However,anewspaperwithaverysmalladvertisingstaffandaparttimeoronlyone
fulltimeartistmustworktouseeffectivelytheresourcesoftheartistalongwith
clipbooksandthematerialssuppliedbytheadvertiser.

Puristsmightsaythateditorialworkersdon'tneedtobeawareofwhatadsareona
page.ss

Let'ssayyou'reeditingacommunitynewspaperandyou'rerunningawirestory
tellingthatanautomobilecarcompanywasforcedtorecallamillioncarswithfaulty

brakes.Thestorynaturallydeservescoverage,buttherearebetterplacestorunthat
storythandirectlyontopofyourlocalcardealer'sbiggestadoftheyear.

Thisisnotfavoritism,norisitsacrificingofjournalisticethics.Itismerelygoodcommon
sense.

Thenewsandadvertisingdepartmentstaffsshouldseethemselvesasworkingtoward
asinglecommongoal:providingthebestpossiblesourceofinformationforthe
readership.

Inanidealcomplement,theadvertisingdepartmentalertsthenewsdepartmentabout
specialadvertisingneeds,anddeliverstothenewsroomontimedummiedand
proofedfinalpagesthatareofasizeindicatedonthedummiesandthathaveattractive
artandtype.

Thisrequirescoordinatedeffortfromeditorsandmanagersofthetwodepartments,
whomustcommunicatefrequentlyandmakeoccasionalcompromises.

DesigningTabloidNewsSpace

It'samistaketotreatatabloidpagesimplyasaminiaturebroadsheetpage.Whileyou
can'tfitasmuchmaterialonit,youshouldcreatetheimpressionthatjustasmuchis
happeningasonafullsizedpage.

Somenewspapershavegonetoatabloidorpulloutmagazinefortheirentertainment
stories,thetelevisionlistingsorspecialcommunitydaycelebrations.Therefore,in
discussingtabloidnewspaperdesign,itisprimarytohaveaclearunderstandingthata
tabloidisnotsimplyaminiatureorhalfsizestandardbroadsheetnewspaperturned
sideways.

Indeed,thetabloiddemandsitsownspecialTotalPageConcept(TPC)design
considerations,nolessimportantthanthebroadsheetmainpartofthenewspaper.

Manythingsthathavebeensaidaboutstandardbroadsheetsizepapersforinstance,
intermsofthesizeofartandheadlines,andstorycountarenottrueofthetabloid.
Thesmallpagesizedemandsarethinkingofdesign.Infact,regardingdesign,itcan
sometimesbeeasiertodevoteafulltabloidpagetoeachdepartmentsuchas
businessratherthanworkthesamematerialontohalfabroadsheetpage.

Thereisaconfusionsurroundingnewspapersthatpublishinthetabloidformatmany
peoplemistakenlyclassifyalltabloidsasbeinglikethesensationalpapersavailableat
thesupermarketcheckoutstands.

Ithassomethingofthefeelofamagazine,whichiswhymanybroadsheetpapers
publishsomeoftheirfeaturesectionsintabloidformat.

Atabloidissmallerandeasiertohandlethanthelargerformatwhetheronasubway
oratthebreakfasttable,itsimplyconsumeslessspacewithouthavingtobefoldedin
halvesorquarterstoberead.

Thesmallfeelofthetabloidformatcreatesanotherdesignpossibility,afeaturenot
seeninthebroadsheet:Astoryorasectionsuchassportsmaybestartedontheback
pageandjumpedinside.Thebackpagethenbecomesthebeginningpageforastory,
orasecondcoverpagewithitsownteaserstoattractthereader'sattentiontothe
inside.

Tabloidshavetheirantecedentsinthelargeurbandailiescreatedearlyinthiscentury,
withtheireyecatchingbigphotosandtheiremphasisonasinglestorytosellthe
editionaformperhapsideallysuitedtopresentthemorethoughtful,magazinestyle
storiestoday'sweekliesoftenpublish.

DISADVANTAGES/ADVANTAGES

Thelimitedstorycountonapage,particularlyonthefrontpage,isoneofthe
disadvantagesofthetabloidformat.

Buttokeepthenumberofelementsonthepageuparefer[reference]packageisrun
acrossthetopofpageone,incorporatinganindex,weatherataglancegraphicand
teasersfortwoorthreeinsidestories.

Thewayaroundtabloiddesignproblemsissimplyto"writetight."

Thepurposeofwritingtightistokeepthereaderwiththestory.Toavoidadrablook,
onehasgottorunmorethanonestorypertabloidpage,unlessthereisalotofterrific
arttogowiththatsinglestory.

Gofortwoor,better,threestoriesperpageplusart,ofcourse.

Thismeanseditorsmustrestrainreporters'naturaltendencytowritetoomuch.
Editorsmustrealizethata20inchstorymayberoutineinabroadsheet,butit'slong
inatabloid.

Furthermore,jumpingstoriesisn'ttheanswer,eitherthegraynessitpreventsonone
pagesimplygetsshovedontoanother.

Thewholestoryshouldbeononepagebecause"readershatejumps."

Thefactthatreadershatejumpshasnowbeenacceptedbyamajorityofbroadsheet
newspaperstoo.

Now,insteadofastoryjump,thestoryisbrokendownintosmallerstoriesandplaced
ontheinsidepageswithpointersonthefrontpage.

Whiletherearedistinctadvantagestousingatabloidformatsuchasthesinglepage
containmentofstoriesandtheavailabilityoffullpagesforadvertiserssomeheadlinesize
restrictionsareinevitable.

Sizesaslargeas72and60point(where72pointsequaloneinch)typeshouldbe
usedsparingly.

Theheadlineshouldserveasacomplementtothetext.

Itmustbelargeenoughtocarryorsupportthestory'slength,butnotsolargethatitis
biggerthanthestoryitheads.

Ontheotherhand,atabloidnewspaperwilloftenprintitslargestheadlineat30or
24point.

Whenthepointsizesbeginthissmall,thereisnotmuchfarthertogodown.

Thisdoesnotprovidemuchpagedesignvarietyanddoeslittletofocusreaders'
interestontherelativeimportanceofthenewsstories.

Tabloidstoriescanbepackageddifferentlythanonabroadsheetbecausethesmaller
papercanbeheldopeninbothhands,andthetwopagesthenviewedalmostasone.

Thestoryflowfrompagetopagemakesreadingthetabloidaneasyexperience.

Forpublicationswithfewerpagesthanamajormetropolitandailycollege
newspapers,forexampleatabloidhastheadditionalsubliminaladvantageofgiving
animpressionofmorebulk.It'stwiceasthickandhastwiceasmanypagesasa
broadsheetsectioncontainingthesameamountofspace.

DESIGNINGTHETABLOID

Apostercoverfrontpageorthis,incombinationwiththebeginningofasinglecover
story,areeffectivedesignoptionsforthetabloidpageone.

Thepagemightalsohave"boxcars,"orreferencenoteskeyedtothecoverstoryand
otherstoriesinside.

Afrontpagelikethiswithlargeheadlines,insidereferencesandlargephotosis
seeninseveralnewspapers,althoughcompetitionforthereader'sattentioncan
sometimesbedistracting.

Ineverycase,thedesignershould"thinkabouttheoppositepage"whenplanningout
atabloidsection.

Becausetabloidpagesaresmallereachtwopagespreadformsatighterunitthanina

broadsheet.Everypagelayoutshouldtaketheappearanceofthefacingpageinto
account.

Ratherthanstretchbannersacrossfacingpages,thedesigneditormightleadoffone
pagewithastrongoneortwocolumnheadlinenexttoastrongphoto.

Ifyouuseahorizontalphotoononepageofaspread,lookforaverticalphotoforthe
other.

Articlesontheinsideandsectionpagesofatabloidnewspaperalsohavedifferent
requirementsfromtheequivalentsectionsofabroadsheetpaper.

Becausesubjectsintheirentiretyshouldbecontainedonasinglepage,storiesmust
beeditedtofit.

Somepagesmighthavemanyshortitemsrunasnewssummariesfornationaland
internationalnews,sports,entertainmentandothertopicareas.

Tomaketheinsidepageworkfromareadershipstandpointthedesignershouldlearn
tothinkvertical:Calm,coolhorizontallayoutsarepopularinbroadsheetsthesedays,
buttoomanyofthemrobtabloidpagesofenergy.

Also,horizontallayoutsmakeforshortercolumnsoftype,forcingthereader'seyeto
jumpupanddownmoreoftenthanisideal.Strongverticalelementshelpmake
tabloidpageslooklargerandmoreactive.

Photosthroughoutshouldbeprintedlargeenoughforthereadertodiscernthesubject
immediately.

Photosandheadlinesshouldnotberunhalfsizejustbecauseatabloidpageisonly
halfthesizeofabroadsheetpage.

Withreferencetophotosinrelationshiptoeachothertheeffectivearrangementis
horizontal.

Thisrelationshipalsoknownas"doubletruck"becausefacingpagescanoverlap
acrossthemiddlecanbeveryadvantageoustothedesigner,sincenothingislostin
thecrackbetweenpages.

Thetabloidformisuniquelysuitedtothesequential,magazinelike"flow.

Abroadsheetpagedemandsvarietyvarietyofheadlines,photosandmostimportant,
subjectmatter.

Whilemanytabloidsareverydensethereisanemphasisonthepotentialofthe
tabloidformattorevealthecombinedstrengthsofbothnewspapersandmagazines.

Atabloidis,afterall,anuneasyhybridofthetwo,andwhethertolooklikeoneorthe
otherisoneofthefundamentalquestionsthatconfrontseverytabloideditorandart

director.Asaresult,everytabloidtendsto"tilt"inonedirection.Thosethatare
guidedbyastrongnewsbiastendtolooklikea"newspaper"thatis,adaily
newspaperwhile"softer"weekliesaremuchmoremagazinelikeinappearance.

ContinuityElements

Therehastobeacontinuityfromsectiontosection,pagetopage.

Regardlessofanewspaper'sformat,TotalPageConcept(TPC)continuitybeginswith
theidentifyinglogoonpageone,andflowsfrompagetopagethroughoutthe
newspaper.TherelationshipoftheTotalPageConcepttocontinuityincludesa
conscientiousefforttoplanthemixofallheadlines,topackageeachstorywith
photosandapurposefularrangementofheadlines,andthentoplanstoriesandphotos
thatcomplementoneanother.

Thedesignermustnevertakethereaderforgranted.Throughtheuseofstrong
continuityelements,anewspapercanbedesignedtomakereadingeasier.

Thisisimportantsincereadingintheageoftelevisionisvoluntaryandthereforethe
newsaudiencemustbeseducedintoreadinganewspaperbeginningatthetopof
pageonewithaboxedpackageofteasers.

TheTotalPageConceptseesallpartsofthepaperashavingonegoal:asubtlesimplicitythat
willdirectthereaderthroughthepublication

Weliveinatimeofimagescreatedbyadvertising,television,andcorporatelogo
creators.Logostodaysolidifyandunifypeople'sreactionstheyarethepositive
imagesthatadvertisersandothergroupsprojecttofosterbelievability.

Whenimagesbecomefragmented,credibilitydecreases.Thegreatertheintegrationof
imagesthroughtheeffectiveuseofalogo,thegreatertheacceptanceenjoyedbyits
associatedgroupanditsideas.

THEFLAG

Aninitialindicationoftheimportanceofcontinuityliesinhowthe"flag,""logotype"
or"nameplate"thetypethatdisplaysthenameofthenewspaperisdesignedand
placedonpageone.Inaddition,howthiselementservestocomplementthecolumn
signatureboxes,headlinetypeandinsidepagefoliosisimportant.Theflagshould
identifythenewspapersowellthatthereadercaneasilydistinguishonepublication
fromanother.

Usuallytheflagisplacedinthetopthirdofthepage

Mostoftentheflagisfoundbeneathteasers,althoughothercontentisoccasionally
foundabovetheflag.

Whilemanynewspapershavemovedtheirflagsaroundthepage,amajorityhave
retainedthetraditionaltexttypeface.

REFERENCEPACKAGES

Complementarytotheflagaretheinsidereferenceelements,usuallyacrossthetopof
pageone.Thesearesometimescalled"toppers,""boxcars,""referencenotes"or
"skylinepromoboxes."

Theybalancethehardnewsofpageoneandteasereaderstothebestinsidepage
newsandsofterfeaturestories,oftenusingartproducedbythelocalstaff.

Thenewspapershoulddoallitcantoguidethereaderintothepaperwithasmuch
clarityaspossible.Readers'imagesofnewspapersareusuallywrongwithreferenceto
what'sinthem.

Example:angryreaderscallinguptocomplainthatacertainstorywasn'tinthepaper
whenitreallywasthere.So,accurateandeffectivepromotionisnecessarytolet
peopleknowwhat'sinthepaperandwheretheycanfindit.

Referencenotesshouldbearrangedaccordingtotheorderofthepagesor
sectionsforinstance,A3andthenA5.Severalarrangementscanbeused:twoand
threecolumnboxcombinations,say,withorwithoutillustrations,lineshots,cutout
halftones,mugphotos,reversetypeandspotcolor.

Alsopossiblearehorizontalbarlistingseithersetbythemselvesorbalancedagainsta
calendarlisting,dailynewsbriefs,theindex,alatebreakingstory,apromotional
feature,thesportsscoreboard,stocktablesorthelocalweatherbox.

Thepublication'sissuedateshouldbeprominentlydisplayedonpageone.Itsvolume
andnumberifnotonpageonemaybeplacedonpagetwoorthreewiththe
mastheadlistingofpostalandsubscriptioninformationandthepaper'smailing
addressesallintypelargeenoughtobeeasilyread.

SECTIONTOPPERS

Whenusingsectionflags,pageheaders,labels,logosandtoppersasreaderaids,the
twomostimportantconsiderationsarethetypeselectionandtheplacementonthe
page.Thesemustbeconsistentthroughoutthenewspapersothereaderwillsense
whichpaperheorsheisreadingwhetheritbethereligionpageorthesportssection.

Thewholepapershouldcomeacrossasafamilyunitwithmanymembers,allofits
contentshavingbeenproducedbythesamestaffwiththesameTPCdesign
philosophy.

Whilesection/pagedesignationsmaybeusedforbusiness,food,fashion,leisure,real

estateandamyriadofotherpossibilities,theycanalsobecomelimitingwhennews
mustbeleftoutorcontinuedontoanotherpagebecauseitwillnotfitonthe
designatedpage.Also,regularsectionpagescreatetheexpectationthattheywill
alwaysbetheresometimes,however,theremaybenotenoughspecificmaterialto
publishawholetopicpage.

Ifthe"folio"thepagenumber,newspapernameandissuedateisnotincludedinthe
section/pagedesignation,itshouldbeplacedwhereitmaybeeasilyseen:toplefton
evennumberedpagesandtoprightonoddnumberedpages.Eventhesizeofthe
numbersthemselvesareanimportantconsideration.

SIGNATURE-COLUMNHEADLINES

Aspartofthepackagingprocess,mostbylinecolumnshavea"signature"headline
thatrunseverytimethecolumnisprinted,plusastoryheadlinetodescribethetheme
oratleastthetopitemwhenthecolumncoversseveralsubjects.Newspapersgive
thesesignatureheadlinesdifferentnames:"bugs,""columntitles,""logos,""sigs"or
"standingsigs."

Thesamecolumnheadlinetypestyleshouldbeusedthroughoutthepaper
sometimesselectedfromthesametypefamilyasthenewspaper'sflag.Alsoforthe
sakeofconsistency,columnheadlineformatsshouldbesimilarthroughout.
However,treatmentmightbesomewhatdifferentfortheregularfeatures

Throughthecreativearrangementoftheseelements,thereaderseesanorganized
presentationofthenewsfrompagetopage.Furthermore,thecredibilityoftextand
artisenhancedbythesubtlemessageprovidedbycontinuityelements.Theyprovide
thefeel,thelookandindeedtheshellinwhichthenewsispresented.

Skillfullydisplayed,thecontinuityelementskeepthereaderwiththepaperlonger.
Thoughtlesslycreatedandimproperlylaidonthepage,continuityelementsdoverylittle
fortheimmediatepageandevenlessforthetotalnewspaper.

AddingHeadlines

Theheadlineisanintegralelementofthenewspaperpage.Itdirectsthereadertothe
significantaspectofastory.

Theheadlineisnotjustalabelonastory,anidentifieroranindex.Headlinesareso
importantthatevenapicturestorypageisnotcompletewithoutatleastone.Designed
tocomplementeachotherinsizeandstyling,headlinesgivedefinitiontothe
landscapeofthenewspaperpage.

Theheadlineisthevitallinkbetweenaprospectivereaderandthenewsstory.
Therefore,headlinesshouldaccuratelyconveythestory'sessencethewho,whatand
whywhileatthesametimefittingintothecolumnorcolumnsofspaceavailable.


Whileadvertisementsandstoryartarethefirstelementsthatgrabattention,thereader
alsoreactstoheadlinetypographybeforereadingthestory.Designvariablesinclude
headlinetypefamiliesfromAvantGardetoZapf,andpointsizesusuallyincluding
12,14,18,24,36,48,60,72and84point.

Sincethesizeofheadlinesmakesthemappearsoimportantinapublication,thereader
expectsthemtobeinatypesizethatgradesthestory'simportance.
HEADLINEWRITINGANDPLACEMENT

Theheadlinemustdescribethestoryaccurately;otherwise,theeffortofthewriterisloston
thereader.Itisparticularlyimportantthat,whiledevelopingaheadlinethatwillfit,editors
becarefulnottowritea"cute"headlinethatthenneedstobequalifiedwithsubheads.
WHATAHEADLINEDOES:HOWANDWHY
Aheadline:

providesaplacefortheeyetoland.Ifalltypewere10pointtext,thenewsofthe
pagewouldbelostamidcolumnaftercolumnofgray.
callsattentiontowhystoriesarebeingpublisheditsellsthestory.

makesastatement,withasubjectandaverb,totellreaderswhatthestoryisabout.

mustbewrittenfromtheleadparagraphofanewsstory,andfromapointbeyondthe
leadinafeaturestory.

hasintegrityaccuracyinaheadisnolessimportantthaninastory.

readslikeasentenceindownstylelowercaseletters,withuppercase(capitalsor
caps)usedonlyatthebeginningoftheheadlineandforpropernouns.Somepapers
useanupstylelowercase,withcapsforthefirstletterofeachwordexceptarticles
andallorsomeprepositions.

Becausereadingnewspapersisavoluntaryexperience,anythingthatmakesthe
readingdifficultshouldbeavoided.Toquicklytestthelookoftheheadlines,the
designercanholdthecompletedpageupsidedownoratacrossangleupsidedownso
thatthetopofthepagebecomesthebottom,andthenviewitfromafewfeetaway.
Thiscausestheeyetofocusonanyunattractivewhiteorashengrayplaces,ifthey
exist.Ifthepageisattractivelydesigned,itwillbestrongwhetherrightsideupor
upsidedown.

HEADLINEPLACEMENTANDRELATIVESIZE

Headlinewritersfollowcertainwidespread,consistentdesignprinciplesthathave
beenproventoworkwellforbroadsheetformatpapers.

AdditionaldecisionsthattheyshouldmakewhendesigningaTPCnewspaper
include:

Whetherheadlinesshouldbeflushleft,centeredorflushright,andeitherupstyleor
downstyle

howtoavoidhavingtoomanyhorizontalandsometimestoomany
singlelineheadlinesonthesamepageand

justhowmuchkerning(thespacebetweenletters)willhelporhinderlegibility.

Otherconsiderationsforthepageeditorinclude:

howtodesignapagewithoutburyingheadlines

decidingwhetheraheadlineistoolarge,toosmall,oragoodsizetofitthestoryand

whetherahood(aborderoveroralongsidetheheadline)wouldhelporhinder
legibility.

NEWSGRADINGANDEVENTCHRONICLING

Thetaskofgradingthenewsalwaysbringsuprelatedconcernsastheeditorand
designerarefacedwithhowtochronicleaccuratelytheday'sorweek'sevents.While
headlinesshouldcallattentiontowhystoriesarebeingpublishedandwhytheyare
worthyofbeingread,theprimarypurposeofthenewspaperthenewsitselfwillnot
beenhancedbyimportantlookingheadlines,butonlybystoriesthatarewellwritten
andtightlyedited.

SERIF/SANSSERIFHEADS

Manyoftheearlynewspapershadonlyonetypeface,usuallyonewithserifs(fine
linesprojectingfromthestrokesoftheletters)andtheentirenewspaperstories,
headlinesandadvertisingwassetinthatface.WithBodoniandotherseriffonts,the
typeitselfwascleanandeasytoreadbecauseoftheflowcreatedbytheextra
flourishesoftheserifs.Atsomenewspaperstoday,theheadlinetypefaceissansserif
(lackingthefineseriflines)sothattheheadsareclearlydistinguishablefromthestory
type.

Typefaceselectionsometimescomesdowntoaquestionofattractivenessvs.
readability.Whateverthereasonapublicationdecidestouseatypefont,itisbestto
selectastylethatislegibleoverastylethatisattractiveorbeautifulbutharderto
read.

CONSISTENCYOFFONTS

Sincereadersliketoseethenewspaperasa"family"orcollectionofmaterialall
comingfromthesamelocation,headlineconsistencycangoalongwaytoward
creatingthisimageofcohesiveness.

Therefore,thesameheadlinefontprintingtypeofaparticularfaceandsizeor
complementaryfontsfromthenewspaper'sestablishedheadlinescheduleshouldbe
usedforallheadlines.

Inadditiontotheconsistencyfactor,thereisatleastoneotherpointtoconsider:
Headlinesshouldbebothenergeticallyboldandofcontrastingmediumtolight
typefacesifthereistobeanytypographicaldepthtothepage.

Whilethereadermaynotimmediatelyrecognizehowaheadlinecharacterizesastory
asbeingstraightnewsoranewsorlighterfeature,thesizeoftheheadlineistakenas
acluetotheimportanceofastory,atleastofanewsstory.Usuallyheadlinesthatare
24pointsorlargershouldbeusedonallstoriesexceptnewsbriefstoprovide
legibility.

CAPSANDLOWERCASE

Theterm"case"originatedwhenprintersusedtotakeindividuallettersoutofacase
orfontboxandplacetheminastockorgalleytomakeaheadline,composeastory
andthenassembleanentirepublication.

Somenewspapersuseallcapitallettersforkickerssmallersizeheadlinessetoverthe
mainheadlineorovershort,onecolumnboxedstoriesorforthewriter'snameina
standingcolumnhead.Usedsparinglyforaspecificreasonwithfiveorsixwordsthat
arenotmorethanahalfdozenletterseach,capalthoughnoteasytoread
quicklyprovidecontrasttoafullpageofotherwise"C&lc"(capitalandlowercase)
heads.

Inanycasewhetherwrittenwithallcapsorcapsandlowercasekicker,drop
(smallersizesetunderthemainheadline)andhammer(orreversekicker)headlines
musthaveauniformrelationship(halfplusonepointsizegreater,say)tothemain
headlinecombination.Forinstance,ifthemainheadlineis36pointsphotoseton37
points(allowinghalfapointofspaceforadescendingletterofthealphabeta
descenderandhalfapointofspaceforanascendingletteranascender),itwouldbe
bestforthekickerheadlineordropheadlinetobeatleast24points,setinitalicto
contrastwiththeromanofthemainheadline.

Therelationshipofsizesshouldbeestablishedinthenewspaper'sguidelines.Thesize
combinationsforthehammerheadlineactuallylargerthanthemainheadlinewould
havethehammer36pointsandthemainheadline24points(again,basedon
editor/designerpreference),inmediumfacetype.

Dropheadscontainadditionalinformationforthereaderinwhatwouldotherwisebe
wastedwhitespace.Theyarebettertousethankickersorhammerheadsbecausedrop
headsaredirectlyunderthemainhead.Carelessplacementofakickerorhammer
headaboveorbesidethemainheadcanbenonpurposefulandawasteofspace,a
preciouscommodity.Ifusedatall,kickersandhammersshouldbeonthetopofa
page,wheretheywon'ttrapwhitespace.Anyplacementworksonlyiftheeyeisn't
initiallyattractedtowhitespace.

Thepicaindentationforthemainheadlinecanbemeasuredineitherpicasorems.
(Therearesixpicasinoneinch.An"em"isthesquareofthetypesizeforinstance,
"18em"meansthatthetypeis18pointshighand18pointswide.Emisoneofthe
spacekeysonsometypesetterkeyboards.)Themainheadlineunderakickeror
hammerheadlineshouldbeindentedthesamenumberofpicaseachtimethe
combinationisused,thuscreatingaconsistentstyle.

MULTICOLUMNANDMULTILINEHEADS

Theuseofmorethanonelineofheadtypehorizontalstackingoftypebecomesa
conveniencefortheheadlinewriterandalsoprovidesrelief(airorwhitespace)onthe
page.Adesignercantellwhetherwhitespaceis"trapped"orwhetherit"givesrelief"
bydeterminingifthewhitespaceisconspicuousbyitspresenceitshouldnotbe.
Justasmulticolumnheadlinescreatehorizontalvariation,multilineheadlines
provideverticalrelief.

Imaginehowvisuallyboringitwouldbeifallheadlineswereonlyonecolumnwide
ononeline.Thereaderwouldfinditmentallyimpossibletogradethenewsvalueof
stories,andthepagewouldbelikeamassive"tombstoning"ofsidebysideheadlines.
However,inthewritingofmultilineheadlines,itisimportantthateachlinebeableto
standalonewheneverpossible.

REVERSESANDSURPRINTS

Occasionallyapagedesignwillcallforareverseheadlineorforasurprint.The
reverseheadlineisonethatappearsaswhitetypeagainstablackbackground.A
surprintheadisonethatappearsblackongray,suchasontopofaskyphoto.Both
canbeeffectiveifusedcorrectlyandnotoverused.

WHITESPACE

Whitespaceiscreatedbytheamountofspaceplacedbetweenheadlinedecksand
betweentheheadlineandthestory.Bothprovideexcellentbreathingspace.Butthe
whitespacemustbeconsistentandmustfollowthenewspaper'sdesignstylebook(for
instance,nomorethan1pointbetweendescendersandascendersinmultideckheads,
andnomorethan2picasabovetheascenderorbelowthedescenderofthehead).

Whitespaceinheadlinescanalsobemadebytheamountofspaceleftbetweenthe

mainheadlineandthekickerorhammerabove,orbetweenthemainheadlineandthe
dropheadornutgraphbelowandbetweenthemandthebylineorstory.The
"nutgraph"isusedtosummarizethestorycompletelyinasinglesentence.

Likeallotheraspectsofwhitespace,theairbetweentheheadlinesandstoriesmustbe
consistentifthereaderistofeelanorderlinessinthedesignofthenewspaper.

TextMatterElements

Newspapersarechangingtypographyeveryday...ascomputerizationandcoldtype
allowusmoreandmorefreedomandcontrol.

While headline typography and other display elements usually jump out atthereader
first, information in the stories is the underlying reason for purchasing a daily or
weekly newspaper. Therefore, to bring the predictably gray sea of text type columns
ofstoriestolife,thedesignermustarrangethetypeartisticallyandfunctionally

Texttype considerations include height, letter fullness, justification of columns, column

widthandotherwaystomakereadingthestoriesmoreinviting.

Readingisbeforeanythingelseanopticalexperience;readabilitydependsonasubtle
blendofformandfunctioninthetypeface.Theeditor'sselectionoftypefacestyleimpartsa
senseofthewords'meaningtothereader.Ifthestyleisserifandifthehairlinesthatare
partoftheletters'strokesdonotdetractfromtheformofthelettersthemselves,thiscan
contributegreatlytothespeedwithwhichthewriter'sthoughtsarerelayed.Butifthe
lettershaveconflictingornotenoughornamentation,thereaderwillhavetodealnotonly
withthemessageofthetext,butwiththetypefaceaswell.

Guidelinesinregardtotextlinespacing

Linespacingismeasuredinpoints.Whenthelinespaceequalsthepointsize,thetype
isconsideredtobe"setsolid."

Asageneralrule,linespaceshouldbethepointsizeplus20percentofthepointsize,
i.e.,10pointtypeshouldhave12points(10plus2)oflinespace.

Thecurrenttrend,however,istowardadding10percentofthepointsizeforbody
copy,i.e.,10pointtypewith11pointsoflinespace.

Therearemanyotherthingstoconsiderinthetreatmentofbodycopy.A
readablesizetypefacesetinunjustifiedor"raggedright"columnscanbevery
attractivetoreadersbecauseoftheconsistentletterandwordspacing.Furthermore,
basedonreadability,thenewspapercanstyleitsendoflinewordbreakseitherwithor
withouthyphens.Althoughtherehasnotbeenarushtotheuseofraggedright,

severalnewspapershavechosenitforthetextoftheirentirepublication.

Studieshaveshownragrightandjustifiedtypetobeequallyreadable.

Infact,inmostcases,readersarenotevenawarethattheyarereadingoneorthe
other.Asarule,readabilityonlysufferswhentypestylesarenothandledwithproper
care,allowingproblemstooccurinletterorwordspacing.Sometimesragright
copycancreateunattractivecontoursalongtherightmarginthiscondition,whilenot
particularlyinvitingtothereader,doesnotdetractfromreadability.

Anotherargumentforraggedrighthavingnothingtodowithreadabilityisthatcopy
changesatdeadlineareeasiertomakeonalineforlinebasis,andthiscanhavea
convincingeffectwhenlatebreakingnewsdetailsarrive.

Inadditiontoraggedright,anotherinfrequentlyusedformoftypesettingin
newspapersisblockparagraphingnoindentationfornewparagraphs.Newspapers
thatusethisvariationseparateparagraphswithonelineofwhitespace.

Don'tusetoomanydifferentwidthsononepage.Theytirereaders'eyesandcompete
witheachother.Highlightonestorywithadifferentmeasureandsettherest
uniformly.Runnewsstoriesinstandardmeasureforefficient,fastreading.Set
featuretypestoriesinwidermeasuretoindicateasortofslowingdownandeasing
up.

SUBHEADSANDOTHERGRAPHICBREAKERS

Setaboveeveryfifthorsixthparagraph,subheadscanbeeitherflushleftorcentered
andeitherallcapsorcapsandlowercase,withoneblanklineaboveandonebelow
thesubhead.Subheadsmaybethesamesizeoronepointlargerthanthetexttype
sizeifsetanylargerthanonesizeabovethetextcopy,theymightbeconfusedwith
regularheadlines.

Anotherwaytointroducevarietyintootherwisegraycolumnsistosetthefirsttwoor
threewordsofeveryfifthorsixthparagraphinboldfacetype.Thesewordswillserve
thesamepurposeassubheadswithoutmakingitnecessarytowriteadditionallinesof
typetheymaybedoneinallcapsorcapsandlowercase.

Whitespacebreathersmightbemadetocontainameaningfulphrasetheythen
organizethestoryintothoughtunitsandbecomevaluablenotonlytoenhancethe
lookofthenewspaperbutalsotoprovideguidanceforthereader.

Theuseof"breakers"alsoknownas"breakoutquotes,""quotebreakers,""quote
boxes,""quoteouts,""readouts,""pullouts,""blurbs"or"sandwiches"canbe
introducedintolongerpiecesofcopybyextractingquotesorstatementsfromthe
stories,settingthemin14or18pointtypeandstrategicallyplacingthemwithinthe
columnsoftexttype.Ideally,theseshouldprecedethequotedmaterialinthestoryso
theywillnothavealreadybeenreadwhenthereadergetstothem.Breakersmaybe
usedtoaccompanyaheadshotphoto.

Inadditiontothevariousconsiderationsformakingtexttypeoptimallyreadable,
thereareafewaccessorymethodsofstoryidentificationandreaderdirectionthatare
donewithtypography.Bylines,creditlines,cutlines,continuedorjumplines,and
tabulardisplayofinformationareallwaysbywhichstoriescanbeexpandedorgiven
moreclarity.

Creditlinestylesareestablishedatnewspapersforphotographers'andartists'names,
withthelineoftenbeingapointsizeortwosmallerthantexttype,sometimessetina
boldoritalicsansseriftypefaceandplacedjustunderonesideusuallytherighthand
sideoftheart.Allbylinesandcreditlinesshouldbesetinlegibletype,shouldnotbe
buriedinthestoryorphoto,andshouldnotbeconfusingtothereaderwhowishesto
knowtowhomcreditisdue.

Cutlinessonamedwhencaptionsweresetinmetaltypeandusedwithartwork
engravedonzincareusedtodescribeoridentifythepeopleorsubjectsinaphotoor
illustration.Theyshouldbesetwideenoughtocoverthewidthofthephotoorother
formofart,butnowiderpreferablyaccordingtouniformcolumnwidths.An
exceptiontothisruleoccurswhenthecaptionispositionedadjacenttotheart.
Foranewspage,cutlinesorcaptionsshouldalwaysbesetinaccordancewith
establishedcolumnwidths.Foraphotoordisplaylayout,thewidthmayvary,butin
anycasethepicawidthshouldbenomorethantwicethepointsize.Breathingroom
forthecaptioncanbeprovidedbysettingitapicalessthantheaccompanyingphoto
orotherart.This,too,isagooduseoftheTotalPageConceptsolongastheruleof
consistencyprevailsandthewidthisthesameforeverycaption.

Newspapereditorsknowthatusingcontinuedorjumplinesforstoriesdiscourages
readersfromfindingorlookingfortheremainderofthestory.However,those
newspapersthatdojumpstorieshavetofollowastylewhendoingso.

Thefactthatastoryhasbeencontinued,andwhere,shouldbeobvioustothereader.
Jumpsneedtobeproofreadcarefullytomakecertainthattheyfollowfromthe
originatingpagetothejumppage.Akeywordandthepagenumberareespecially
importantifmorethanonestoryhasbeenjumped.The"continuedfrom"reference
musthaveaheadlinethatmatchesthekeywordandthenbelowthatintexttype,
usuallyboldfacealinethatindicatestheoriginatingpageofthestory.

Somenewspaperstrytojumpstoriesonlyinthemiddleofaparagraph,andothers
makethejumpwhereverithappenstofall.Usuallyatleastonelineofwhitespaceis
placedbetweenthestorylineandthejumplinereference.Storieslessthan5inchesin
lengthshouldnotbejumpedrather,theyshouldbeeditedtightlytofitthespace.

CreativeDesign

Wearelivinginanageofemergingcommunicationstechnologiesthatwill
profoundlyalterthewayhumanbeingsprocessinformation.

Peoplearelearningtoprocessinformationbasedprimarilyonvisualimagesfarmore

readily.Graphicpresentationsofinformationwillprovetobeasusefulandaccepteda
meansofcommunicatingastext.

Howtodoit

LINKINGSTORIESANDART

PAGEORGANIZATION

"How"Graphics:Howithappened,howitworks,howitshouldhaveworked,howto
doit.

Writetheheadlinefirst.Ithelpstoclarifyyourthinkingandallowsyoutofocusthe
graphic.Ifyoucan'twriteacrisp,clearhead,youcan'tdothegraphic.

Makeanewsjudgment.What'sthestoryworth?Bythatjudgmentwe'llknowwhat
thegraphicisworth.Isitatwocolumnbyfiveinchgraphicorafivecolumnbynine
inchgraphic?Thesizeofthegraphicshouldbeproportionatetotheamountof
informationinit.

Makesureyouhaveallthenumbers.Notjustforgraphics,butforyourself...

Remember:interestingisn'tenough.Theencyclopediaisinteresting,butnobodyis
goingtoprintit.

MakesuretheGraphicsDepartment[people]getalltheresourcematerialtheyneed.
Theyshouldhaveaccesstothereporter,notes,photos,sketches,theeditorialVDTs
[VisualDisplayTerminals],etc.

Gettheinformationtothegraphicsdepartmentearly.Don'twaituntilthestoryis
written.Ifyouhaveagraphicidea,shareit.Don'tkeepitasecret.Letthegraphics
editororartdirectorknowaboutit.

Don'tjudgeagraphicafteritisdone.Itistoolate.It'seasytorewritealeadon
deadline.Itmaytaketwohourstoredothegraphic.Makesurethatthegraphicis
editedtothesamestandardsyouapplytoallothercopy.

Threepurposesofdesign

contentenhancement

makingthenewspaperasawholemoreinvitingandmorerichlytextured,andusing
allpossibletoolstogivethereadermoreinformationandserviceand

leveloftypographic,graphicandartisticsophistication.

UNDERSTANDINGTHEGRAPHICPOTENTIALOFAPHOTO

FacesareattheheartoftheTotalPageConcept:Theymirroreventstheytellto
whomtheeventsarehappeningtheytakeamessagetothereaderand,packaged
withstories,theyprovideawholepictureofthenewsoftheday.

Mostphotoassignmentsareroutine,butthephotographerwhoapproachesall
assignmentsasthoughtheyaregoingtoberoutinewilltakeonlyroutineand
boringphotosallthetime.Thefactthatmanyphotoassignmentsarenotexciting
providesthebiggestchallengetoeditorsontheassignmentdeskandtothe
photographersthemselves.

Whilegenericphotosabeautifulsunsetorafreshsnowfall,perhapsmayhaveall
thequalityintheworld,thesearenotexamplesofnewsphotosandshouldneverbe
substitutedfornewsphotos,althoughsometimestheyareappropriateillustrationsfor
afeaturestoryortodocumentanunusualweatherconditionlikethefirsttimeithas
snowedinanareainmany,manyyears.

Manytimesaphotographermaybetemptedtotakethatsunsetorsomeotherphoto
clichd,suchasa"fortherecord"checkpassingbetweendonorandworthyrecipient,
a"lineup"oftorsos,aspeakershotoradriver'slicensestylemug.Equally
unattractivearephotoswithpoorcompositionorpoorlighting.

PHOTOEDITINGTECHNIQUES

Thephotographercanbegintheeditingprocess"bytakingmorethanasnapshotofhis
subjectsometimesthismeansnothingmorethangettingadifferentangleofthe
subjectinsteadofstraightonmoveuponyoursubject.

Thephotographercouldusealadder,chairorcarfendertobecometallerandshootdown
onthesubject,orkneelorlaydownandshootupsotheskyprovides"asimple
backgroundfreeoftelephonewires,buildingsandthelike.

Thephotoeditororpagedesignermustbeskilledinsizing,cropping,doingmarkup
fortheprinter,proportioningandkeyingphotosforlayouts.Theseskillsaredefined
asfollows:

SizingPhotosizeshouldcomplementthestoryinsuchawaythatreadersdonot
wonderwhethertheyarelookingataphotowithastoryorastorywithaphoto.

CroppingShortofgoingtoextremes,photosshouldbecroppedtightly.Thismeans
thatthepageeditorshouldcutoutextraneouspartsofthephoto,including
unnecessarybackgroundandforegroundareasandunessentialpartsofthe
bodybeingcarefulnotto"saw"bodypartsexceptattheshouldersandwaist.

ProportioningSomephotosworkbetterashorizontalsothersarebetterasverticals.
Usinga"proportionalwheel,"thegaugeforreductionshouldbesettoincludethebest
partofaphotoforthedesiredcolumnwidth.Measuringtoenlargeapieceofartis

donebylininguptheoriginalsizeontheinnerscaleoftheproportionalwheel
adjacenttothedesiredsizeontheouterscale.Thepercentageofreductionor
enlargementwillappearinawindowopeningonthewheel.

KeyingPhotoswithLayoutsPhotosandpagesmustbemarkedsothattheindividual
responsibleforplacingthephotosonthepageswillbeabletoplacethemquicklyand
accurately.

ENHANCINGTHEPHOTO

Photosmusthaveintegrity.Forhardnewsstories,cuttingawaypartsofthephotowill
weakenitscredibilityaswellasthecredibilityofthenewsitself.Photographers
seldomtakephotosforhardnewswiththethoughtthattheywillbeenhancedby
editingwithabrushorknife.

Forsoftnewssubjectsonaninsidepage,itissometimeseffectivetocutawaythe
originalbackground,creatingaphotosilhouetteagainstwhiteoragrayscreen.
Specialconsiderationshouldbetakennottocutawayarmsorlegs,therebycreatinga
contrivedappearance.Areaswheretherearedarksagainstdarksorlightsagainst
lights,orcurlyorwavyhair,mustbeexaminedclosely.

Thepersoninthephotocouldbecausedmuchembarrassmentifincorrectlygivena
crewcuthairstyleorifpartofashirtorblouseiscutawayorincorrectlyincluded,
makingthepersonlooklargerorsmallerthanheorshereallyis.Theimportanceof
learningandcarefullyexecutingthesephotoenhancementtechniquesshouldnotbe
takenforgranted.

AirbrushEditingDelicatelytouchingupwithaspecialairhoseandsprayanartist
canapplybrushstrokesofpainttocropoutunwantedpartsofthephoto.

SilhouetteEditingCreatinga"photodropout"or"popup"alsorequiresgreatcareso
asnottomutilatethephotoaknifebladeisappliedtoseparatetheusefulpartofthe
picturefromthatwhichistobethrownaway.

PrintingCompensationInsomecases,photosmayneedtobeprintedlighteror
darkertocompensateforanewspaperplantpublicationprocessthatmuddiesthe
picturesorrendersinflattoneswhatwouldotherwisebecrispprints.Otherphotos
mayneedspecialattentionbecausetheyshowlightbuildinginteriorsoradarkgray
sky."Burningin"or"dodgingout"certainareasduringprintingmayalsobeusedto
compensateforimperfectionsinsomephotos.

UseofBorderTapeOnetechniquethatwillenhanceorpointspecialattentionto
photosiscalled"keylining,""scoringlining"or"toollining"enclosingtheminside
halfto1pointblackbordertape.Thismaybedonebyapplyingtapedirectlytothe
photo,beingcarefulthatthetapedoesnotoverlaporunderlapthephotoedgeandthat
theknifebladedoesnotcutthephotoitmayalsobedonewithamechanical
applicationtothephotointhehalftoneproductionprocessoronacomputerscreen.

Aphotostoryisjustlikeawrittenstorythereaderexpectstoknowwhereto"read"

next.Theeditor'sarrangementcanguidetheflowofphotosinthemind'seyeofthe
reader.

Haveadominantphoto.Itneednotbethefirstorlastphotointhearrangement,but
thephotostorywillhavemoreimpactifthedominantphotoisthebestoneinterms
ofelicitinghumanemotion.

Foraphotostory,letthephotoscarrythestory.Trytokeepthetexttoaminimum,if
possible.Youmaywanttodothelayoutfirst,thenwritethetexttofit.

Alwaysdothewritingforapicturepagewiththephotosinhand."

Donottrapwhitespace.Donotsurroundablankareawithphotographsonallsides.
Usewhitespaceeffectively.Workyourlayoutwithphotosinthecenter,moving
outward.Becarefulalsonottoletthewhitespaceencircleyourpackageofphotos
andcopylikeafence.

Makesureallcaptionsorcutlinestouchsomeportionofthecorresponding
photograph.Donotuseonecaptiontotellallandthen,compoundingtheproblem,
placeitatthebottomofthepage.Awellplacedcutlineunderneathortothesideof
thephotographiswhatcounts.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Illustrationsareanimportantelementusedbynewseditorialstaffsaspageart.As
complementstohardnewscoverage,illustrationsusuallyprovidelesscredibilitybut
moredramathanphotos.Whethertheeditorsendsanartisttothenewsassignment
locationtodoasketchortheassignmentisfromanideaoranalreadywrittenstory,
veryspecificinstructionsshouldbegiventotheartistfordrawingaccordingtothe
editor'sneeds.

ToenhancetheTotalPageConcept,illustrationsshouldbe:

appropriatelysizedandcarefullycolored

attractiveandstrong,notcrudeorinexplicable

cleanorsimpleanduncluttered

imaginativelydrawn,notstale

informativeandcomplementarytothestory

largeanddetailedenoughtoprovideamorecompleteunderstandingofthestoryand

usedeffectivelytoexplainthefocusofthestory.

INFORMATIONALGRAPHICS

Informationalgraphicswhichcanbecharts,maps,graphs,illustrations,and
photosareusedinTPCpagedesigntoexplainthestorythroughavisualimage.

Infographicsaremosteffectivelyusedatpaperswherethenewsreportersare
continuallyanticipating,preparingandcollectingwhennotinacrisis
situationinformationthatwillbeessentialbutunavailablewhentheyareworking
againstadeadline.

Informationalgraphicsshouldneverbeusedonlyasanalternativetoaphotoor
illustration,orassomethingthrownintobreakupanotherwisegraypage.Effective
informationalgraphics(alsocalled"factgraphics"or"infographs")requirethesame
degreeofaccuracyasthestoriesthattheyaccompany.

Theinfographshouldtrulyreflectthenews,anditscontentshouldbeavailablefor
quickretrievaljustmomentsafteranewsstorybreaks.Forthistooccur,anart
stafforperhaps"infographers"mustkeepaconstantlyupdatedandcataloged
libraryofsourcematerialsthatshouldincludeadvertisinglogos,brochures,building
diagrams,charts,clipart,copyrightfreeandoriginalgraphics,floorplans,maps,page
layoutsfromothernewspapers,pamphlets,photos,postcards,referencebooksand
statisticaldata.

Allreportersshouldbeencouragedtogatherallpossibleinformationrelatedtotheir
stories,especiallyvisualinformation.Ifnotusedwiththatparticularstory,itcanbe
filedforlateruse.

Whateverygraphicneeds:

aheadlinetotellwhattheillustrationisallabout

asubheadforadditionalinformation,ifnecessary

ascalelinetotellwhattheinformationisintermsofmeasure

consistentXandYaxeswhendesigningagraph,theXaxisismorenearly
horizontalandtheYaxisismorenearlyverticaland

somesourcewheretheinformationcamefrom.

Howtoimprovegraphics

Keeptheideasimplethedrawingcanbecomplexbutnottheidea.

Usehumanelements/scale/comparisonswheneverpossible.

Typographyshouldbecleanandsimple:nomorethantwotypefonts.Useboldand
lightfaceswithinatypefonttoprovideemphasis,contrastandscale.

Getanagreementonsizefirst,andkeepthingsinproperscaletothefinishedsize:
Youcannotenlargeandreducegraphicslikephotos.

Developresourcefiles:Thekindsofimagematerialsyouneedinordertodo
informationalgraphicsaredifferentfromwhatregularlibrarieshave.

Adddepthtosimplechartsandmapsforgreaterinterest,butnottothepointwhere
theartgetsinthewayofthedata.

Understandcolortheory.Useittoconveyinformation,notjustdecorate.

Appreciatespace.Aneffectivegraphicdoesnothavetobebig.Somestoriesand
circumstancesshouldbeillustratedwithaphoto,somewitha"flavor"graphicand
somenotatall.Informationalgraphicsarenews,notfluff.

Developspeed.Computerscanhelp.

Thebestinfographs:

putthestoryintoperspectivewithtimelynewsinformation

areaestheticallyattractiveandconsistentinstyle

includepertinentinformationtoldthroughavisuallyvalidmetaphorand

enticethereaderintothestorytext.

THEMORTICE

Sometimesaportioniscutoutofapictureortextblocktomakea"mortice,"withinwhichis
setanotherpictureortextblock.Foraphotomorticetoworkasagraphicelement,the
photomusthaveanareathatlendsitselftoaninset(interiorcutoutarea)ornotch(cutout
areaontheedge).Themorticeisatemptingdevicetouse,anditcanbeeffectivewhenit
addstocommunication/clarity.Usedcarelessly,however,themorticecanresultina
graphicdisasterofphotoswithholespokedinthembyconvenienceofthedesignerwith
noconcernforcommunicationorfortheintentofthephotographerwhomadethepicture.
SCREENS

Grayscreensandspecialscreenssuchasmezzotintcanbeworkedintoadesignforeffect,
butcaremustbetakenthatthescreenisnotsuchaheavypercentageofblackthatitwill
detractfromthetextcopy.Blackagainstwhiteisthemostlegibletypographicpossibility;

placingastoryunderascreenofmorethan20percentor30percentgraydecreases
legibility.Ifadesignerbelievesitnecessarytouseascreen,itsuseshouldbeapplied
sparingly.Thedesignermustunderstandthatcolorincludinggraydisplayed
thoughtfullyreflectsinterest,butthatscreensusedpoorlyandindiscriminatelycan
discouragereadership.
Onlythemostdedicatedreaderwilltakethetimetoreadthroughacolorlikeblue,
brown,purpleorred,orthroughagrayscreenprintedat50percentor100percent.In
fact,areaderwhocandothelatterisperformingamiraculousfeat.
BORDERS

Bordersusedtoboxstoriesarecreatedbyapplyingblackcellophanebordertapeduringthe
graphicprocessorwithagraphicsprogramonacomputer.Likescreening,theirusemustbe
purposefultobeeffective.Whennewspaperschangedfromhottocoldtype,mostofthem
discontinuedtheuseofhairline(halfpoint)rulesbetweencolumns.Whiletheserulesmay
stillbenotworththedifficultyorexpenseofplacingthembetweenallcolumns,theyare
commonlyusedtodayforboxedstories.

Color

Asinglespotofcolorisbrightandsplashyandcanbeusedtoenhanceapageandto
enlightenreaders.Lineartandphotosareevenstrongerwhenthe4colorprocessis
used:cyan(lightblue),magenta(redplum),yellowandblack.Blackisaconstant
coloritispresenteveniftheotherthreearenot.

Anewspaperisnotanadvertisingcircular,acerealboxoracomicbook.

Loud,comicbookcolordoesnotlendcredibilitytotheeditorialproduct.Forthis
reason,trytousefullcolorwithcarefullyselectedscreenstoproduceasubtlepalette
ofdistinctive,notraucous,color.

Fourcolorshouldbeusedinthepaperasapartnerinthecommunicationofnews.

Differentcolorsevokedifferentemotionsredisactive,yellowallowsthemostlight
totheeye,andblueismostcalming.Redandyellowexpandonthepageblue
contracts.So,forexcitement,useredoryellowforinformationalgraphics,blueis
morerespectable.

Colorisafterallonlyoneelementindesign.Ifaphotodoesnotrenderastrongand
positiveimageinblackandwhite,itwillnotdosoin4color.Insuchasituation,it
wouldbebettertosubstituteanillustrationorsomethingelseinspotcolororblack
andwhitethatdoeswork.

Theprobabilitythatreaderswillbesatisfiedwiththecolorintheirdailyorweekly
newspaperisdirectlyrelatedtowhetheritspublisherissupportiveandwillingto

spendthemoney,andtowhetherithasexhaustivelyplannedforitscolorusagefrom
cameratopressrun,hasaccesstosuitableequipmenttodoafirstclassjob,hiresa
committedqualitycontrolstaff,andinvolvestheskillsandteamworkofeveryoneat
thepaper.

PAGINATION
Withdesktoppublishing,allorpartsofapagemaybesetintype,editedandintegrated
withgraphicsforprocessingonalaserprinter.Thisprocessofcomputerizedtypesetting
pagemakeupiscalled"pagination."Partsarebroughttogetheronthemonitorscreenand
printedon8inchby11inchsheetsofpaper.Thissizeworkswellforamagazineorother
publicationthatfitsthisformat.Forothersizes,thesepartsmaybejoinedtogetherby
literallypastingtheformattedcolumnsofsidebysidetypeontothenewspapermakeup
page.
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AbouttheAuthor

STEVENE.AMESisthedirectorofstudentpublicationsandteachesjournalismat
PepperdineUniversityinMalibu,Calif.Between1971and1978hewasajournalism
instructor/adviseratMercedCollegeinCalifornia.

Publicationsproducedbyhisstudentshavereceivedcollegiatejournalism'shighest
honorsincludingthenationalPacemakerAwardfromtheAmericanNewspaper
PublishersAssociationandtheAmericanSocietyofMagazineEditorsthenational
MarkofExcellencefromtheSocietyofProfessionalJournalistsAllAmerican
criticalratingsfromtheAssociatedCollegiatePressandGeneralExcellenceawards
fromtheCaliforniaNewspaperPublishersAssociationandtheCalifornia
IntercollegiatePressAssociation.

Dr.AmeswasnamedfouryearcollegenationalDistinguishedNewspaperAdviserby
theCollegeMediaAdvisersin1985,receivedagraphicdesignseminarfellowshipfor
fouryearcollegeprofessorstoattendthePoynterInstituteforMediaStudiesinSt.
Petersburg,Fla.in1986,andwasselectedOutstandingJournalismTeacheratthe
fouryearcollegelevelbytheCaliforniaNewspaperPublishersAssociationin1987.

HeholdsaB.A.injournalismandanM.S.inmasscommunicationsfromSanJose
StateUniversityinCaliforniaandanEd.D.inhighereducationfromNovaUniversity
inFortLauderdale,Fla.