Double page spreads
- 1. DOUBLE PAGE SPREADS AS MEDIA
- 2. DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD DESIGN TIPS • Magazine spreads are two pages that are next to each other. Each spread works as one unit. It is not two pages separated but two pages that work together to create one unit. When designing magazines it is vital to look at these two pages as one single element even if those pages are going to contain two different stories. • Readers see a spread as one unit. Since magazines are smaller than newspapers, magazine spread can be “digested” in one view because our peripheral vision encompasses the entire spread at normal viewing distance.
- 3. Gray areas represent the most visible areas of the spread. Darker shaded area is more visible than the lighter shades. Readers eye is drawn to the upper parts that’s why those areas have the most impact.
- 4. ELEMENTS OF THE SPREAD Not all areas of the spread are equal. Some have more importance, some have less. For example, when you go to the newsstand, you pick up some magazine, you grab the magazine by the spine with your left hand, and with your right hand you flip through the pages. • The most visible area at that point is the outer part of the right page. Other example is if you put magazine on the table and start flipping the pages, the lighter (left part) of the magazine will be flipped and folded but the heavier (right part) will stay flat on the table, hence more exposed to the viewer’s eye. The process is reversed if someone is flipping magazine from the last page, than the outer left area of the page is the most visible one.
- 5. THE MOST VISIBLE PARTS OF A SPREAD ARE OUTER UPPER PARTS • You should place your best content on the outside parts of the spread. These are the areas that are most seen. This is the place to put most provocative images and words. Put the best stuff where it will be most visible and where it will make the best impact. Most valuable areas of page spread are top left and top right parts, because when you skim through the magazine these are the areas where you look the most. Make the most of them.
- 6. YOU STILL NEED FLOW • On the other hand, bottom part of the spread, inner corners near the gutter are less important. Have you ever noticed how designers place footnotes and some credits in those parts of the spread? Now you know why. • Everything should have flow. You should work your way from the meaningful top left and then continue to the bottom. Headline, intro copy and then the main copy. That should be your guide.
- 7. IMAGE AND BODY TEXT ARRANGEMENT • When placing big blocks of text, try not to break them up. You should not throw elements on a page just for the sake of throwing them around. Let it have a meaning. A flow. If you put barriers on the page, reader will have hard time following the flow of the story. Keep the flow of the text columns tidy and even. • Things should be simple, and you should simplify the design by aligning the columns at the top and placing images above them. In this way reader will have no problem to follow the text part of the story.
- 8. POOR
- 9. OK EXAMPLE
- 10. THIS IS GOOD EXAMPLE OF TEXT FLOW
- 11. DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD CONVENTIONS
- 12. HEADLINES • First and most important textual element on a page is headline. The headline is as important as the layout. After the reader opens the page first thing that catches his attention is the layout, or some dominant image. The second thing that will draw his attention and lure him into reading the article is the headline. The reader may find layout attractive but if the headline is not appealing and interesting he may skip that article and continue on. • Headlines can vary in size and the importance of the article determines headline size. Positioning of the headline is also vital and you should aim to place your headlines on the top of a page. This is the place where the eye will go first. • The headline should be set in the bigger size regarding other text elements on the page.
- 13. INTRO (KICKER, STAND-FIRST, DECK) • As you can see there are many names for this type element. I prefer to call it “intro”, although most used name is “kicker”. I call it “intro” because this is introduction into the article. After headline catches the attention of the reader, intro acts as a bridge between headline and body copy. It sets the tone of the article and briefly describes what can you expect from the rest of the article. Intro text should summarize the story and attract reader’s attention. • • From the design point of view intro should be set in bigger type size than body copy but in a much smaller size than the headline. You can also make it in different type style. If you set headline in serif type, you can use sans-serif type for an intro. • • You should place intro text just bellow the headline cause they work as a team. Headline draws reader’s attention, gets him curious and intro text solves his curiosity by giving him more information about the article. That’s why they should work as a team and they should be kept together.
- 14. BODY COPY (BODY TEXT) • This is the largest part of any article. Body copy should be as interesting as the design, as the headline and intro text. What’s the point of having great design and headline if the content is not good? No matter how good the design is, if the main body copy is not written in interesting ways, your magazine will lose readers, slowly but certainly. • You as a designer should use column and type choice to reflect the identity of the brand and to present the story in a way that it suits the content. •
- 15. PULL QUOTES • • Pull quotes are very useful and attractive design element and I love to play with them a lot. You should pull out the most interesting parts of the story and emphasize them. Pull quotes serve as a great tool to break up big blocks of body copy and to give a more interesting look to the article. • • You can use them in conjunction with the image so they together can tell a story in their own way. • • Pull out quotes can be taken out directly from the body text or they can be summarized excerpts • • Design related, your pull out quotes should be set in a big enough size that it pulls reader’s attention but this size should not be nearly as big as headline’s. You can emphasize the pull quotes with frames, you can put it in a circle, you can place it inside big exaggerated quote signs and so on. You can play with them. Stretch them across few columns to break up the body copy even more.
- 16. SUBHEADS • Subheads are used to break up the body copy and to give some clever insight into what the reader can expect in the next few paragraphs. The reader may be putt off if he sees long blocks of text and subheads should be placed to break those blocks and to denote a new section or chapter. • • You should set your subhead size just a bit larger than body copy, or you can leave it at the same size as the body copy but emphasize it with some bold font version. Whatever you choose you should distinct them from the body copy. • • Few important aspects should be also taken into account. Do not place subheads just bellow images, do not place them in the last 3 rows at the bottom of the column and do not place them at first 3 rows at the top of the column. Never ever place them at the top of a column. They do not serve any purpose there. Also do not place them bellow pull out quote. Subheads should work as a separate unit and nothing should get in their way.
- 17. IMAGE CAPTIONS • These are parts of the text that should work with the image they relate to. Image and image captions should work as a unit. Avoid placing image captions above the images. This is bad design. • • Images should be placed on top of the page and their captions should be placed below them or on them. You can set image captions in one or two long rows or you can set them in several narrow rows. • The type size should be big as body copy, or around that size. It can even be smaller for a point or two. You can set it in a different style than body copy. Image captions are usually set in sans-serif type for this kind of type has better readability on image backgrounds and at smaller sizes. • As I said rules are there to be broken, but you must have a good reason to do it. Image captions can be set in large type size but then they act like pull out quote.
- 18. BYLINES AND CREDITS • • Treatment of these elements is determined by the importance of the authors and photographers that worked on the article. If you are using stock images and you outsource writing of the article you can place the credits vertically near the gutter. • • On the other hand if the article is written by a famous journalist and images are taken by photographer you should place bylines just bellow headline or below the intro text if intro text is located below the headline.
- 19. RUNNING HEAD (SECTION HEAD) • These are navigation elements that guide the reader. If you set them in brightly colored box and bleed them out of the page they will be visible even when the magazine is closed. Running heads should be carefully designed to reflect the style and tone of the rest of the magazine. • • It takes time to get the right design for them and it should be done in the beginning of the magazine creation. Not all pages need running heads but you can place them at the beginnings of the sections. It would be too much to have them on each page. In this case repetitiveness would be annoying. • • You can have freedom in designing them but do not over do it so that they don’t dominate the page.
- 20. FOLIO • Folio can consist of several elements. Page number is mandatory but others are optional. Others can be publication logo, date, month, section title, web page, but again do not over do it. Few elements are more than enough and you should repeat them all over the magazine. Unlike running heads, folios serve a bigger purpose and should be placed on almost every page. The reader should know in every moment at which page he is or to which page he needs to go. • If you choose to put folio on only one page on a spread, put it on the right page since it is more visible page. I like to put them on all pages if the folio is going to be clearly visible. If it is not going to be clearly visible, then what’s the point of placing it in the first place.
- 21. PANELS AND BOX COPY • Boxes are used as news items or as extensions to a long article in which you can place some other facts or data which are relevant to the article. These types of copy are generally shorter in length and have more factual tone. They can be in a form of a text, bulleted text or lists. • From the design point of view boxed text should be set in a different style than main body copy. Usually in sans-serif type since the box copy is not long and sans-serif type should be avoided for long dense text stories. Size should be around the same as main body copy. These boxes can have their own headlines and kickers. The headline should be few to several points larger than box copy and kicker should be set in the same size as box copy or few points bigger. You can use heavier type for headlines and kickers to emphasize them more.