Design101
- 1. journalism NEWS DESIGN 101 scholars day 2011
- 2. WHY DESIGN MATTERS Studies have shown that readers enter a page through the dominant photo, then move to headlines, cutlines/captions and other elements before reading the story. Design matters.
- 3. GOALS OF DESIGN Design isn‟t just about placing stories and photos on pages. It‟s about using those elements to… attract readers tell a compelling story
- 4. TODAY, WE‟LL… Talk a little about how you can accomplish those goals using four basic design principles. Tackle various elements (headlines, photos, etc.) and how they can improve your design. Please ask questions along the way!
- 5. RULES OF DESIGN “Good design” is subjective, but there are pretty standard rules to help accomplish these goals. The best designs use — or break — the rules in unexpected ways. But they still carefully consider the basic principles.
- 6. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE 1
- 7. ASK YOURSELF: How would your audience best be brought into this particular story? How can you best tell them this story? Big photo, catchy headline and 600 words of text? Extra box or pull quote? Maybe it‟s some, all or none of those. Maybe it‟s not a “story” at all but info broken up into small parts with a map, timeline or other graphic.
- 8. TOP TO BOTTOM Readers typically look at a page in this pattern: Important/interesting info goes at top Something good to start AND end on
- 9. MODULAR LAYOUT 2
- 11. GRIDS: 4, 5, OR 6 COLUMNS
- 12. VISUAL HIERARCHY 3
- 13. DOMINANT ELEMENTS Hierarchy is telling readers where to start — and what is most important on the page. Elements (headlines and photos) should generally get smaller as they get farther down the page.
- 15. CONSISTENCY 4
- 16. DESIGN IS PERSONALITY A publication‟s design is its personality — it shapes readers‟ earliest opinions of the paper. The reader should be able to easily recognize that personality. Without the front page, do they know what newspaper they‟re reading?
- 17. CONSISTENT ELEMENTS Establish personality by consistently: Using the same font families (no more than two) Doing bylines the same every time Handling info boxes the same Using similar color palettes for graphics Keep it simple
- 18. TOOLS FOR CONSISTENCY Paragraph Styles Libraries Master pages
- 19. EFFECTIVE USE OF ELEMENTS 5
- 20. HEADLINES Short and sweet: 5-6 words or less Headlines must have exciting verbs and be in present tense Use subheads/deckheads to add more information (they should be at least 10-15 points smaller) Stick to those two font families unless it‟s a really special occasion to use another But don‟t sacrifice readability for beauty
- 21. HEADLINES Headlines should go across the length of the story Keep them as close to story as possible
- 22. HEADLINES Never „bump‟ headlines Use rules, boxes, photos, different sizes
- 23. SPEAKING OF … RULES They can effectively organize a page They should guide, not distract — use 0.5 point lines
- 24. PHOTOS Most newspapers use a 0.5 frame The action of the photo should be toward the story — not off the page Examples: Shooting a gun, everyone looking in a certain direction Do not EVER flip the photo to face the direction you want
- 25. TEXT Alignment: Ragged right typically featurey, opinion, etc. Dropcap: Big initial letter on first paragraph Leading: Two points higher than font(except for small text like body copy)
- 26. TEXT Need to stretch or squeeze your copy? Use leading or kerning/tracking Leading: Kerning: Space between Space between lines of text characters +/-25 +/-0.3
- 27. BREAKING UP THE GRAY Pullquote/readout: Interesting quote or fact from the story Mug: „Oh, that‟s who that guy is‟ Info box: By the numbers, for more information, next meeting Teaser: Box teasing to related story Logo/Column Sig: Identifies special features with label or columnist‟s mug
- 28. BREAKING UP THE GRAY The reader shouldn‟t have to jump over ? these items (or photos) to continue reading Never leave a doubt which direction to keep reading — or they won‟t
- 29. WHITE SPAC E White space can be used very well to provide organization to a page … and bring focus to a design
- 30. RESOURCES Newspaper Designer‟s Handbook TimHarrower.com Newseum.com > Today‟s Front Pages apple.copydesk.org Look at other newspapers, magazines, yearbooks, anything and everything Want to learn how to do something? Google it!
- 31. Questions? JOSH MOORE Email me at • Design • Combined joshrm4@gmail.com copy desks • Student free press rights • WKU I‟ll try to post this PowerPoint at joshrmoore.com
Editor's Notes
- #4: To most readers, a story is only as good as the package it comes in.
- #6: You have to know the rules before you can break them well.
- #11: Looks less cluttered
- #12: Cleaner, more organized and easier to read
- #18: Font families includes various weights (bold, semibold, regular, light)It’s a silent cue to readers what type of information it is
- #19: Explain each
- #22: Keep headline close: if photo is above story, headline goes under photo