This document discusses the importance of design in journalism. It notes that readers first look at the dominant photo and headlines on a page before reading the full story. The goals of design are to attract readers and tell compelling stories. The presentation then covers four basic design principles: knowing your audience, using a modular layout with a visual hierarchy, consistency in design elements, and effective use of components like headlines and photos. It provides tips for applying each principle to improve a publication's design.
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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
Notes de l'éditeur
To most readers, a story is only as good as the package it comes in.
You have to know the rules before you can break them well.
Looks less cluttered
Cleaner, more organized and easier to read
Font families includes various weights (bold, semibold, regular, light)It’s a silent cue to readers what type of information it is
Explain each
Keep headline close: if photo is above story, headline goes under photo
