Design Fundamentals

COM 365

Newspaper Layout & Design

Four basic principles

• Contrast

• Repetition

• Alignment

• Proximity

Contrast

• Contrast adds interest

• Occurs when two elements are different– Usually the more contrast, the better

• Many ways to create contrast– Large-small, think-thin, etc.

Mike Tyson holds his two-month old son, Miguel, in his dressing room after his fight with Lennox Lewis.

• Use more contrast, then it looks planned.

Your attitude is your life.

Maximize your options.

Never take anything too seriously.

Don’t let the seeds stop you from enjoying the watermelon

Be nice.

The Rules of Life6 pt.

1 pt.

SportsBriefs

SportsBriefs

SPORTSBRIEFS

SportsBriefs

Contrast helps create a center of interest

Headline goes in here

Headline goes in here

Summary of contrast

• Purpose is to (1) create interest and (2) give presentation a focus

• Make most important thing big

Alignment

• Every item on a page should have a visual connection with something else on the page

• Gives order to a page

Ways of aligning textThis text is flush left. Some people call it ragged right, or you can say it is left aligned.

This text is flush right.

Some people call it ragged

left, or you can say it is right

aligned.

This text is centered. It is harder to read than flush left

text.

This text is justified. It is even on both sides. It can cause problems with word spacing.

James ClarkAntique Dealer

321 Main Street

Center, IL 62026

(618) 346-5252

James ClarkAntique Dealer

321 Main Street

Center, IL 62026

(618) 346-5252

Centered

Flush right

Use grid for alignment

Headline goes about here Cutline goes here and is aligned flush left like this.

Photo

Text

• Align cutlines under photos

The caption for this photo is set centered as and not aligned to the left with the photo.

The caption for this photo is set flush left and is aligned with the left edge of the photo.

Align the tops and bottoms of stories so that they even off

Summary of alignment

• All page designs should have inner alignments– All elements should be aligned

• Purpose is to organize, unify the page

• Best way to keep things in alignment is to use a grid

Proximity

• Group related items together– Physically move them close together

• Items not related should not be near each other

• Elements that are intellectually connected need to also be visually connected

• Problems– Too many separate elements that all go together– Where do you start, how do you proceed to

read all five?

Antique Dealer (618) 346-5252

James Clark

Center, IL 62026321 Main Street

• Good points– Nearness of visual elements implies they go together

– Page is more organized (white space)

– You know where to begin reading, where to end

James ClarkAntique Dealer

321 Main Street

Center, IL 62026

(618) 346-5252

Group related photos together in layouts

Summary for proximity

• Items related to each other should be grouped

• Basic purpose of proximity is also to organize– Easier to read

Repetition

• Repeat some aspect of the design throughout the piece

• Can be anything a reader will visually recognize

• Makes the publication seem like it all goes together

In a newspaper repetition means:

• Using same font for headlines• Using same size, font, alignment for text,

cutlines, bylines, credit lines• This means for each story, on each page

throughout the paper

Summary of repetition

• You can have repetition on a single page (headlines) and even more importantly throughout a document (headlines, page numbers, etc.)

• Also known as consistency

• Makes a publication look like it all goes together