⁄ 1990 TM THE FOCUSED EYE Do those mug shots just . . . sit there? Be bold—crop fearlesslyto pull your readers in. TYPE: THE VISIBLE VOICE In advertising, stage presence is everything. Use type deftly to make y our wo rd s convincing. BEFORE & AFTER ASSEMBL Y PROJECT Build this supereasynewslet ter that alway s looks nice. Pattern inside. COOL STUFF Win ra v es wit h p la stic business cards you make y o ur se lf —i n c o lo r! More! Vol. 1 No. 1 H ow to design cool stuff Original illustration of Duke Ellington by Jay Loucks and Kirsten Soderlind
Original illustration of Duke Ellington by Jay Louck s and Kirsten Soderlind
V ol . No. ⁄ 1 90
Original illustration of Duke Ellington by Jay Loucks a nd Kirsten Soderlind
TM
THE FOCUSED EYE
TYPE: THE VISIBLE VOICE
B EFOR E & A FTER A S S EMB L P R OJ EC T
COOL STUFF
V ol . No. ⁄ 19 0
Original illustration of Duke Ellington by Jay Loucks and Kirsten Soderlind
TM
THE FOCUSED EYE
TYPE: THE VISIBLE VOICE
BEFORE & AFTER ASSEMBL PROJECT
COOL STUFF
V ol . No. ⁄ 1 90
Original illustration of Duke Ellington by Jay Loucks a nd Kirsten Soderlind
TM
THE FOCUSED EYE
TYPE: THE VISIBLE VOICE
B EFOR E & A FTER A S S EMB L P R OJ EC T
COOL STUFF
V ol . No. ⁄ 19 0
Original illustration of Duke Ellington by Jay Loucks and Kirsten Soderlind
TM
THE FOCUSED EYE
TYPE: THE VISIBLE VOICE
BEFORE & AFTER ASSEMBL PROJECT
C OOL S TU FF
V ol . No. ⁄ 1 90
JOHN McWADE
Iuse the same tools you do. It is thisremarkable fact that makes Before& After possible.
I create Before & After at mydesk, on my computer. It is totally desk-top-published. No part of it—not a word,not a line, not a picture, not the itsy-bit-siest bit of this newsletter—is applied byhand, by me or anyone else. And Icreate it almost entirely with just twoprograms: PageMaker 3.02 with ColorExtension and FreeHand 2.02, off theshelf, unmodified.
I didn’t say it was easy.It is a great deal of fun.
I am a designer, writer,instructor; even once before,a publisher. Before & After started five years ago, really,at the Seybold conference inLos Angeles. I was shoppingfor Scitex equipment (elec-tronic page makeup) and hadspent the afternoon designinga magazine spread at the sys-tem’s pricey console. Day done, I washeading for home but first peered into a
room full of Macintosh computers. Theyseemed like toys by comparison! In thecorner was a man sitting transfixed by aMac screen. I went to watch.
On the tiny screen was a block of text and an arrow. When he moved the
mouse, the arrow moved. He placed thearrow atop the text—I wasn’t ready forwhat I was about to see—and moved thetext by eye as casually as if it were onpaper! No codes, no special monitors, nonumbered coordinates; he just moved it.I was stunned.
He was excited, too—not becausethe text had moved but because he had
just made it snap to a guide. Jeremy Jaech, chief engineer of a tiny Seattlestartup called Aldus, sat in that chair
writing a piece of software theywould be callingPageMaker.
Did you see the
Post-it note beforeanything else? Are you reading this
caption first? Very likely. Much of the art of
page layout is in drawing the reader’s attention
to that which you wish him to see. Here, the
familiar object drew your eye. Another design goal: to distinguish kinds of information—note
how this bold, sans-serif font (Franklin Gothic
Condensed) makes a visual contrast tothesur-
rounding, serif text (Century Expanded), telling
you that this information is different from that .
My life changed course right there.I flew home with his promise to
send me a test copy and told my boss Iwas quitting the best graphics job inSacramento to start a new business—adesktop publishing business—by myself that would rely upon a program that didnot yet exist. I was about to make pagesand test software, which sounded likedesign and laboratory work, and I chris-tened my microscopic company with themost fitting name I could dream up:PageLab. It was the first in the world.
I spent months—PageMaker wasreleased the following July—on thephone at all hours of the day and night.“Jeremy, PageMaker must have a hair-line,” I’d say. “We weren’t planning onthat,” he’d say. “It must,” I’d say. Thosewere the days before PageMaker wouldset type. On version 0.8, a line ruled be-yond the page margin would crash theprogram with lights and loud noises—banana-nu-nu land, Aldus called it.
Jeremy sent an engineering versioncontaining a debugger. I’d be laying outa page when zot!—PageMaker would be
gone, replaced by hieroglyphics. I’dphone. “What is the 19th character inthe sixth line?” he’d ask. “17,” I’d an-swer. “Great; change it to 16,” he’d say. Icould tell he was writing it down.
Apple called. “We hear you’re doing
FUSS, FUSS, FUSS. HOW THE COVER EVOLVED.
THE ILLUSTRATION of DukeEllington by Jay Loucks andKirsten Soderlind is firstscanned, then traced andcolored in Aldus FreeHandto match the fine original.
Do those mug shots just . . . sit there? Bebold—crop fearlessly to pull your readers in.
In advertising, stagepresence iseverything.Use type deftly to make
your wordsconvincing.
Build this supereasy newsletter that always looks nice. Pattern inside.
Win raves with plasticbusiness cards you make
yourself—in color!
More!
How to design cool stuff
Do those mug shots just . . . sit there? Bebold—crop fearlessly to pull your readers in.
In advertising, stagepresence iseverything.Use type deftly to make
your wordsconvincing.
Build this supereasy newsletter that always looks nice. Pattern inside.
Win raves with plasticbusiness cards you make
yourself—in color!
More!
How to design cool stuff
Do those mug shots just . . . sit there? Bebold—crop fearlessly to pull your readers in.
In advertising, stagepresence iseverything.Use type deftly to make
your words convincing.
Build this supereasy newsletter that always looks nice. Pattern inside.
Win raves with plasticbusiness cards you make
yourself—in color!
More!
How to design cool stuff
Do those mug shots just . . . sit there? Bebold—crop fearlessly to pull your readers in.
In advertising, stagepresence iseverything.Use type deftly to make
your wordsconvincing.
Build this supereasy newsletter that always looks nice. Pattern inside.
Win raves with plasticbusiness cards you make
yourself—in color!
More!
How to design cool stuff
Do those mug shots just . . . sit there? Bebold—crop fearlessly to pull your readers in.
In advertising, stagepresence iseverything.Use type deftly to make
your words convincing.
Build this supereasy newsletter that always looks nice. Pattern inside.
Win raves with plasticbusiness cards you make
yourself—in color!
More!
How to design cool stuff
I ADD HEADLINES to the REFLECTING the image DEEPEN THE NIGHT. Black MOOD INDIGO. New lighting A GRADUATED FILL dissolvesspace behind Duke’s face solves one problem—text black (100% black plus 50% works—elegance of the ori- it into the background. Thisbut the result is clu tter. now flows towards the face, cyan) is powerful. But yel- ginal, although altered, is is quite common: The draw-Worse, his face draws the carrying the reader’s eye. low and white now seem restored; color headlines ing, editing, fussing proc-eye away, as though pic- But color tones are fighting; stark, drawing unwanted at- settle in. Last detail: copy ess took four hours. Ma-ture and text are unrelated. cover needs a darker base. tention to letters ft in After. is disrupted by bright collar. chine time: four minutes.
in Before & After ). Picas, like type, aremeas-ured in points— a pica has 12. Pica notation in
PageMaker and FreeHand is as follows:
1p0
for 1 pica, 0 points. Or 4p6, for 4 picas, 6points. And so on. Except for paper sizes, picas
and points are the measuring system of the
graphic arts (in the U.S.). If you’re notaccus-
tomed to using them, they’ll probably feelawk- ward at first, but you’ll find them superior toinches, which everyone just guesses at anyway.
good stuff with PageMaker and we’dlike to put you on videotape—you up tothat?” said the voice. They helicoptereda four-man crew to PageLab—a closet-size room (I mean it)—and filmed away;the footage became part of Apple’s firstdesktop publishing video and has beenseen around the world.
Apple called. “Will you do pages
with PageMaker for our national adver-tising?” I did, twice. That work got intoTime magazine.
Apple called. “Will you design aposter for us?” they asked. “What wouldyou like it to be?” I asked. “Don’t know—it’s for a desktop publishing forum; wethought you’d have some ideas,” theysaid. I created “How to Design a Page”Saturday and drove to Cupertino onMonday with proofs. “You did this withour computer?” they asked. I was sur-prised by their incredulity. “No one heredoes this,” they said. “I just used
PageMaker,” I said. “But you’re usingit,” they said, “to design cool stuff.”
PAGE NOTES Left page: Post-it Note art fromFree-Hand; word See? set in Kaufmann bold; fadingshadow made by blending 65% black tint intowhite; rotation angle 7°. This page, far right: Notethat the gray background touches three sides of the page—yet the images inside the gray areaalign with the normal page margins (compare thebottoms of these columns). Designers use thistrick all the time—it makes the page appearlarger and isolates the material effectivelywith-out cluttering the page with lines and boxes.
It’s been like this.I phoned Paul Brainerd to ask if I
could design templates. He said theywere about to ask me. I was flattered. Imade Aldus’ templates; two packages.
Over the short years, PageLab hashad hundreds of clients—people likeyou and me—many of whom have nowbecome desktop publishers, too.
And all the while I’ve been thinkingup Before & After— a newsletter (Ithink of it as a magazine) about how todesign, for people using the computer.
Desktop publishing came to us witha promise: that we could create beauti-fulpages ourselves. Before & After isfor desktop publishers who want to dothat—for those who take pleasure indesign but just haven’t done much of it.
Like I said, you and I use the sametools. So I won’t talk much about com-puters or things that can be found in themanuals (point-click-drag). That infor-mation is provided expertly by others,and you know how to find it.
I’d like to thank my friends and col-leagues throughout the industry who
have encouraged me in this endeavor—their moral support has been priceless.I’d like to thank a few special peoplewho worked to make it happen: PaulBrainerd, for the launch in Aldus maga-zine; Paul Lytle and Larry Azvedo of Lithographics, who provided expert,tireless assistance in turning my pagesinto color proofs and high-resolutionfilm; Bill Hobbs of Falcon Press, the bestprinting rep on the planet, who pushedBefore & After through high water; andmy wife Gaye, the manager and confi-dante who has held the project—and me
—together and who, for me, has alwaysbeen there.I want to hear from you—and I wel-
come contributions—befores and afters.Before & After is published monthly
by PageLab, 331 J Street, Suite 150,Sacramento, California 95814.
One more thing.A common—and funny—response
to Before & After is, “Boy, so-and-sosure could use that!” If you know a so-and-so, an annual subscription is $60.
Now, let’s get to work.
PUSHPUSHPUSH
I saw two charts with nifty, three-dimensional buttons in the Januaryissue of Macworld magazine. Theylook great and are more easilyinter-preted by the eye than flat buttons.They’re simple to make, too; if youuse FreeHand, here’s how:
1. RULER GUIDESOpen FreeHand andcrisscross two rulerguides anywhere.
3. DRAW ANOTHERCIRCLE
From the same cen-ter, make the newcircle about this big.
5. FILL OUTER CIRCLEWith identical fillthat fades oppositedirection (90°).Remove lines.
PUSHPUSH
7. ADD THE LIGHT Clone word. Tint15% black. Move vert 0p1. Send back- ward one step.
2. DRAW A CIRCLEPress option + shift keys to draw a circlefrom the center out.
4. FILL INNER CIRCLEWith Graduated fill:In black tints from70% to 15%, angle270°, linear .
PUSH
6. ADD A WORDType a word in thefont of your choice.Color black. Center.For raised lettering:
PUSHPUSHPUSH
8. ADD THE SHADOWClone again. Tint70% black. Move vert –0p1. Send backward one step.
clipped from a newspaper—is a fine sub- ject for a lesson in how to speak visibly.
One task of a designer is to translatethe spoken word into visual language.This is more complex than just writing—or typing—the words. When workingwith text, the type itself must reflect thespeaker’s changes in tone or topic, as
well as convey a sense of stage presence,
as the ad below illustrates. If you changethe font, or combination of fonts, or size,or other aspects of the type, you willchange the character of the message.
Our eyes process information morequickly than our minds. Compare the adbelow to the version at the bottom left.The ad in the corner is set in one size of
one font only. What was your response to
it? A yawn, probably; the message fadescompletely without the typographic cluesthat let us know we’re being spoken to.
No typefont is always the right one—a font’s effect changes when the wordschange. The idea—and this takes practice—is to match the tone of the type to thepurpose of the message. Watch:
‘‘The Last Great Deals of the Decade’’• Get low 4.8% A.P.R. GMAC financing1 for up to 48 months on the
hot new Lumina sedan and coupe • Special GMAC financing available onmost other models from as low as 6.9% A.P.R. to 10.9% A.P.R.
TOPIC 3
TOPIC 1
Headline wants todraw your interest.Did it? Font: TimesRoman bold italic.
TOPIC 2A change of subject,thus a change of font.Futura condensed ex-tra bold caps.
TOPIC 1A A thought similar tothe first, so the samefont, this timespeak-ing more personally,thus the smaller sizeand quotes.
Red-hot deals at every GM Division
CHEVROLET
The semi-fine print; another font: Century Oldstyle. Some say you can’t mix serif fonts; it’s truesometimes, but not often enough to be a rule. Works fine here.
Red-hot deals at every GM Division
Chevrolet“The Last Great Deals of the Decade”
• Get low 4.8% A.P.R. GMAC financing1 for up
to 48 months on the hot new Lumina sedanand coupe • Special GMAC financing available
on most other models from as low as 6.9%A.P.R. to 10.9% A.P.R.
LESS THAN BLAND, THIS IS NOTHINGIn this all-Helvetica setting (11-pt), the look and feel of the ad betrays itsmessage. Red-hot deals? Special financing? The words are there, sowhat’s missing? The visual clues, which would give the ad a voice and astage presence. We respond to type as we do to real life: Big means im- portant; bold means listen. A 6� 8� , 300-lb pro linebacker is big and bold;in our doorway he would have our attention before saying a word!
Red-hot dealsatevery GMDivision
CHEVROLETThe Last Great Deals of the Decade• Get low 4.8% A.P.R. GMAC financing1 for up to 48 months on the
hot new Lumina sedan and coupe • Special GMAC financing available onmost other models from as low as 6.9% A.P.R. to 10.9% A.P.R.
THIS SETTING HAS THE APPEARANCE OF AUTHORITY The words haven’t changed, but this ad comes straight at you. The head-line and company name—in Futura condensed extra bold—stand rocksolid, absolutely motionless (due to the centering), and convey the feel-ing—or so Chevy hopes—of a company you can lean on confidently. Youneed not change the Chevrolet name to a different font to set it apart—tinting it dark gray does the job—and retains the type’s forcefulness.
• Get low 4.8% A.P.R. GMAC financing1 for up to 48 months on thehot new Lumina sedan and coupe • Special GMAC financing available on
most other models from as low as 6.9% A.P.R. to 10.9% A.P.R.
ENERGY, MOTION, URGENCY By adding italics and capitals to the Futura condensed extra bold head-line, it becomes as vigorous as a simple statement can get. The nameChevrolet is set in a virtually opposite font—Century Old Style—whichcreates a strong—and desirable—contrast between the two kinds of information. But Century, a light, serif font, needs the black box to giveit strength to stand up under that headline.
Red-hot dealsatevery GMDivision
CHEVROLETThe Last Great Deals of the Decade
• Get low 4.8% A.P.R. GMAC financing1 for up to 48 months on thehot new Lumina sedan and coupe • Special GMAC financing available on
most other models from as low as 6.9% A.P.R. to 10.9% A.P.R.
LASER PRINTER BASICSThis ad is completely set in Times Roman and Helvetica, standard fontson virtually all laser printers. Times and Helvetica are excellent type-faces but have very little contrast in weight. A change in tone, therefore,is more difficult—it must be made primarily by varying the type size,using uppercase letters, or reversing the type. In this case, the changeis fairly easy—only the name Chevrolet lacks the pow! of the original ad.
Red-hot deals at every GM Division
ChevroletThe Last Great Deals of the Decade• Get low 4.8% A.P.R. GMAC financing1 for up to 48 months on the
hot new Lumina sedan and coupe • Special GMAC financing available onmost other models from as low as 6.9% A.P.R. to 10.9% A.P.R.
BUT REVERSING THE HEAD RESTORES SOME OOMPHIf you’re stuck with it, though, considerable strength can be gained by reversing the headline—now the black box does all the work of drawingthe eye and setting the headline apart from other copy. The word Chev- rolet in upper and lower case Helvetica is certainly easy to read—it’shelped by the empty space on either side—but it looks generic; there isnothing to distinguish it as worth reading. Ironic, but common.
Red-hot dealsat everyGM Division
CHEVROLETThe Last Great Deals of the Decade
• Get low 4.8% A.P.R. GMAC financing1 for up to 48 months on thehot new Lumina sedan and coupe • Special GMAC financing available on
most other models from as low as 6.9% A.P.R. to 10.9% A.P.R.
A CLEAR, CONFIDENT STATEMENT The headline font, Century Old Style, is an American classic. As usedhere, no one would dispute its authority, even though the Futura fontbeneath it is much bolder. Changing “The Last Great Deals . . .” line toFutura condensed extra bold italic gives that line more importance thanit had before. The line must remain much smaller than the headline andthe company name to avoid overpowering them.
RED-HOT DEALS AT EVERY GM DIVISION
ChevroletThe Last Great Deals of the Decade
• Get low 4.8% A.P.R. GMAC financing1 for up to 48 months on thehot new Lumina sedan and coupe • Special GMAC financing available on
most other models from as low as 6.9%A.P.R. to 10.9%A.P.R.
UPPERCASE HELVETICA IS POOR FOR HEADLINESAn attempt to duplicate the force of the ad at the top left falls short—uppercase Helvetica, even in bold, has no muscle at all; it’s too—what?—thin, sprawled out, each character detached from the others.Helvetica is a beautiful font but it doesn’t work well in display advertis-ing; it speaks best once introductions have been made—in other words,in text, captions, and other low-key copy.
Adorable puppiesforsale.
FANNY’S PET SHOPCuddly Cockers, Beautiful Beagles• For the next two weeks we’re having a special sale—all our puppies
have been marked down 20%. They’re four to six weeks old and all have hadtheir first shots. They’re irresistible! Now’s the time to buy.
IDENTICAL SETTING, DIFFERENT TOPICThe format of this ad is identical to the ad at the lower right of page 4.Was your response different? Of course it was—puppies are not cars.The straight-at-you, no-nonsense tone of the typography is just as effec-tive as before, however—there is no mistaking the sense that Fanny isrunning a good pet shop. If the copy said, “Fanny’s—a great pet shop!”you’d tend not to believe it. The type can say it, however, and it works.
Buildthissimple,do-anything newsletterBEFORE & AFTER ASSEMBLY PROJECT
This slick, half-size newsletter format can wear 100 faces—from high-tech to antique—and it goes together fast!
This newsletter format is one of themost useful I’ve ever seen. It solves acommon problem: how to organize apage or two of basic information into atidy package, quickly.
It works well with pictures orwith-
out, and with a border or without.Experiment freely with variations;
the foundation is two columns on half apage. Just remember to be precise.
I’ve set the entire model in one font:Palatino; the format will work equallywell in nearly any typeface you have.
CaptionAfter the headline, this is the most
important text on the page.
Inside headlineIdentical in sizeand width to the
first one.
BylineThe author’s
name. It can behere or at the end.
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Paradise! Early development of LakePointe is expected to net $32 million over five years
WEEK ENDING AUGUST 19
FORUMLakePointe Acquisition! Name
Any fairly short name is suitable.
HeadlineAlways spans two columns. You’ll haveonly one or two of these.
Body copy Two uncluttered columns. You may addsubheads, callouts and initial caps, butthey aren’t needed in so small a space.
Border Optional. Looks just fine without one.
PictureComes in two widths: one column andtwo. If you don’t have a picture, don’tworry; it’ll look fine.
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The newsletter is laid out sidewayson a letter-size sheet, a lively formatfor any newsletter and ideal for anin-house—or even a personal— newsletter. If your final output willbe from a laser printer, assembleyour pages as follows, since Page-Maker does not recognize half-sheet“pages.” Printers refer to thesefour-page sheets as signatures.
Four pages (1 sheet):
4
2
1
3
Eight pages (2 sheets):
8 1
2 7
6 3
2. PAGEMAKER SETUP
New publication.Letter size, Wideorientation. 2 pages.(Do not select Dou-ble-sided or Facingpages) Margins: Left,Right and Bottom, 2picas. Top, 3 picas.Click OK.
Turn to master page.Move ruler zero pointsideways to 33 picas,which is centered.Select Column guidesand enter 7 columns,0 pica between. Re- position the column guides at the follow- ing points: 17, 16, 2,2, 16, 17. From left,drag vertical rulerguides to: 311 ⁄ 2,161 ⁄ 2, 11 ⁄ 2, 0, 11 ⁄ 2,
161
⁄ 2, 311
⁄ 2. From top,drag horizontal rulerguides to: 11 ⁄ 2, 21 ⁄ 4,and 491 ⁄ 2.
Turn to page 1, theoutside pages.
Drag horizontal rulerguides to 111 ⁄ 4 and12. On the left side(back page), drawborder (Hairline, noShades) on rulerguides as shown. Add6-pt rule along thetop guide.
On the right side(front page), drawborder starting at 12picas. Add 6-pt rule at111 ⁄ 4 picas.
Turn to page 2, theinside pages.
Draw two borders(Hairline, no Shades)on ruler guides. Add6-pt rules alongguides at 11 ⁄ 2 picas.
(Any additional pagesshould be set up tomatch the inside
pages.)
(Vertical hairlinesbetween columns,called column rules,should be added only as each page isassembled.)
sent luptatum zzril delenit aigueduos do lore et molestias exceptursint occaecat cupiditat non simil provident tempor sunt in culpa qui␣offi-cia deserunt mollit anium ib est aborum et dolor fuga. Et harumd dereudfacilis est er expedit distinct. Namliber tempor cum soluta nobis eligendoption congue nihil impediet domingid quod maxim placeat facer possimomnis voluptas assumenda est, omnisrepellend. Temporibud auteuiquinusd et aur office debit aut tum
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Paradise! Early development of LakePointe is expected to net $32 million over five years
LakePointe Acquisition!
3. BLUEPRINT
Right border margin11 ⁄ 2 picas
MastheadPalatino 111 pt
Headline snaps at13 picas or other1-pica increment
Headline Palatino
30/30 centered
Hairline rule at 16picas or other 1-picaincrement
Top of text snapsat 17 picas or other1-pica increment
Body copy
Palatino 10/12aligned left
Bottoms of textblocks snap at
30 picas or other1-pica increment
CaptionPalatino 10/12
Top of caption snapsat 48 picas. Bottomsnaps at 49 picas
1 ⁄ 4 -pica gap betweenphoto and caption
3 ⁄ 4 -pica gap between textblock and photo
DatelinePalatino 10/12Align right
Right page setup
margin 2 picas
3-pica margin for insidepages. Disregard forthis page
The sequence in which page parts areassembled is up to you. The process is acombination of placing text and graphicsfrom other applications, and typingdirectly in PageMaker. I always skip
around—say, from headline to graphicto story to another graphic. Advice:
Prepare text in a word processor . . .
Watch for the following:
ᮣ An inside page (half-sheet) fullof text (Palatino) is about 3,000characters; edit accordingly.
ᮣ Single-space after all punctua-tion—always. Paragraph in-dents are one pica, but don’t tabthem or use the spacebar; use
the paragraph indent function.ᮣ Save each story separately, but,ᮣ Save only the stories, not the
headlines or picture captions(they’re added in PageMaker).
Then in PageMaker . . .
ᮣ Turn on PageMaker’s Snap to rulers function.
ᮣ Use Top of caps spacing.ᮣ Use top of text windowshades
for alignment rather than thetext itself; windowshades snapsmartly to rulers, speeding job.
The one-pica secret
Move text and objects one pica at a time. Always.
This newsletter is built for speed andprecision. Always place or move objectsin exact, one-pica increments.
Note that text and captions are allset on 12 point—that’s one␣pica—lead-ing. Columns have one pica between.The headlines are set 30/30, a measuredivisible by a half pica.
By adhering to the one-pica rule,objects can be aligned quickly and per-fectly in every situation.
5. SETTING A NAME
The newsletter name, or title, is alsocalled a nameplate, banner, or mast-head. One thing is certain: unless yournewsletter’s name is Forum, it won’t fitthe space exactly as Forum does.
A name of similar length will fitfine by adjusting its size a few points.
But a longer name must be adjustedmore dramatically, perhaps set inlowercase type. A very long name—awhole organization name, for example—won’t fit at all. In that case, select a
shorter name as the main title and setthe longer name as a smaller subtitle.
DATELINE 115 POINTS
Crossfire!duos do lore et molestias exceptursint occaecat cupiditat non simil pro
-
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam non-
LakePointe Acquisition
CROSSFIRE! 101 POINTS
IOWA REALTY COALITION
Setting an elegant name requires finesse
TYPED I selected a typestyle—Palatino. When Ityped the name (set Jus- tified ) at 100 points, itdidn’t fit. I then changedthe Desired Letter space to –10 and the Minimum Letter space to –20 . . .
ADJUSTED . . . and extend-ed the text block window-shades outward a half pica each direction, whichpermitted the name to fit.Letterspacing was per-fect, but the name wassmaller than I wanted . . .
ADD A DATELINE OR COM-PANY NAME Type size: 10pt. (Example is all caps .)Snap to 21 ⁄ 4 picas; setAlign right on outsidemargin. Experiment—withsome names the line may look better elsewhere.
AND FINISHED . . . whichproduced the final, sleeksetting. I find this pains-taking work worth thetrouble—a newslettername is highly visible, andfine typesetting sets aquality tone immediately.
KERNED I backtracked to111 points, which I liked.But space between F andO was now too tight, so Iadded one kern space. Ithen removed one kernspace between OR , UM,and two from between RU
RESIZED . . . so I enlargedit in 1-pt increments untilit reached 127 points,PageMaker’s maximum.As it grew, letters closedtighter in response to theSpacing dialog settings.The result was overdone.
Setting a beautiful name requirestwo qualities: patience and a littlemore patience. It’s like painting. Allnames and letter combinations areunique—they’re artwork— and can’tbe just plopped into place.
I rarely devote less than half anhour to setting a name just so. OftenI spend much longer. This sequenceillustrates how I typeset Forum.
MORE ¨
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i i i -
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam non-
i i i i
LakePointe Acquisition!
WEEK OF AUGUST 19
Dateline
PAGE NOTES Left column: Triangles (ᮣ ) are from Adobe’s very useful␣Uni- versal News + Commercial Pi font package (#78). Above: Tiny pages wereoriginally created at full size in PageMaker, printed to disk as EPS files, andplaced onto the pages of Before & After as graphic elements. This processis simple enough (check Options inside the Print dialog, then check Print PostScript to disk, then check EPS ), but it is not without its pitfalls. Oneexample: The original pages contain hairline rules which, no matter how farthey are reduced, will print on a laser printer 1 ⁄ 300th of an inch wide—thethinnest line possible—and will therefore look correct during laser proofing.In reality, however, reducing the size of the page also reduces the width of the line, a fact that becomes visible only when high-resolution pages areprinted by the Linotronic, where greatly reduced hairlines virtually disappear.
Write short; two dozen characters areabout the limit. Size: 30/30, centered.Adjust the Spacing dialog settings tosqueeze in an extra letter or two.
RULE a 2-pt line 1 pica below previous story.
DRAG text block 1 pica below that.
TYPE headline. Size 30/30, centered. AdjustDesired Word and Letter spacing if necessary.
End a story evenly
Edit a few words; if Time magazinecan do it, so can you.
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Vel illum dolore eu feugiat nullafacilisi at vero eos et accusam et ius toodio dignissim qui blandit prae sentluptatum zzril delenit aigue duos do-lore et molestias exceptur sint occae-cat cupiditat non simil pro vident
tempor sunt in culpa qui officia dese-runt mollit anium ib est abor um etdolor fuga. Et harumd dereud facilisest er expedit distinct. Nam libertempor cum soluta nobis eligend op-tion congue nihil impediet doming idquod maxim placeat facer omnisvoluptas assumenda est, repellend.
Temporibud auteui quinusd et auroffice debit aut tum rerum necessitatib saepe eveniet ut er molestia nonrecusand. Itaque earud rerum hic tentury sapiente delectus au aut preferzim endis dolorib asperiore repellat.
Text columns on a page should have the samenumber of lines. Edit to shorten or lengthen . . .
. . . then move next article 1 pica up or down.
Bylines
Add bylines if you wish. A simplebyline blends with the text at thebeginning or end of a story.
By Kendra Jones—Lorem ipsumdolor sit amet, con setetuer adipiscingelit, sed diam nonumy nibh euismodtempor inci dunt ut labore et dolora
At the end of a story, set the byline in italic,preceded by an em dash, Tab Align right. If itwon’t fit, set the byline on the next line down.
inci dunt ut labore et dolora quodramaxim placeat facir possim omnisnonnumy assumenda est, omnisquinusd office. —By Kendra Jones
At the beginning of a story, set the byline inbold, followed by an em dash.
RULE a hairline 1 pica below bottom of textblock. Total depth, rule to rule: 4 picas.
Picture captions
A picture should always be scaled andcropped to fill the width of a columnand snap to 1-pica vertical rulermarks. Picture captions should alsosnap to 1-pica ruler marks.
A captionless picture at the bottom of a pageshould be aligned at 49 picas
In the cases below, picture placement
should be adjusted one-quarter pica:
The top of a picture beneath text should besnapped one-quarter pica higher than usual.
One-line caption at the bottom of a page shouldbe snapped to 48 picas. Bottom of the pictureshould be snapped one-quarter pica above it.
Text beneath a picture caption should besnapped two picas below the caption snap.
sectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diamnonnumy nibh euismod tempor incidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquam erat volupat. Ut wisi enim adminim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamcorper laboris nisl utaliquip ex ea commodo con sequat.Duis autem vel eum irure dolor inhenderit in vulputate esse consequat.
Vel illum dolore eu feugiat nullaodio dignissim qui blandit prae sentluptatum zzril delenit aigue duos do-lore et molestias exceptur sint occae-cat cupiditat non simil pro vident
tempor sunt in culpa qui officia dese-runt mollit anium ib est abor um etdolor fuga. Et harumd dereud facilisest er expedit distinct. Nam libertempor cum soluta nobis eligend op-tion congue nihil impediet doming idquod maxim placeat facer omnisvoluptas assumenda est, repellend.
Temporibud auteui quinusd et auroffice debit aut tum rerum necessitatib saepe eveniet ut er molestia nonrecusand. Itaque earud rerum hic tentury sapiente delectus au aut preferzim endis dolorib asperiore repellat.
10 TM
Paradise! Early develop
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The newsletter does not need apicture to look fine—each page issmall enough that the text and␣head-lines will look presentable withoutone. If you have only one picture,place it on the front page unless itbelongs to an inside-only story. If youhave more than one, organize thestories so only one picture is neededfor the front page—more than onewould crowd things. Experiment withthe following arrangements:
Large pictures should fill their columns fully.
possing accommodarenostros quostu pauloantecum memoritetum etiaergat.Nos amiceetnbevol, olestiasaccess potestfierad augend ascumconscienttofactor tum poenlegumodioqueciviuda. Ettamenin busdam nequenonorimperned libidinggenepularreli guard cupiditatiquasnulla praid om undat. Improb paryminuit,potios im flammad utcoer-cend magistand et dodencendessevideantur. Inviatigitur veraratio
benesanos adzum justiatiam, aequi-
Lorem ipsum dolorsitamet,consectetueradipiscing elit,sed diam non-numy nibheuismod temporinciduntutlaboreet doloremagna aliquameratvolupat.Utwisi enim ad minimveniam,quis nostrud exercitationul-lamcorpersuscipitlaboris nislut ali-
quip exea commodoconsequat.Duisautem veleum iruredolorinhenderitinvulputatevelit esseconsequat.Velillum doloreeu feugiatnulla facilisiatveroeos etaccusam etius toodiodignissim quiblanditprae sentlup-tatum zzrildelenitaigueduos doloreetmolestias exceptursintoccaecatcupiditatnonsimilpro videnttemporsuntinculpa qui officia deseruntmollitanium ib estaborum etdolorfuga. Etharumd dereud facilis esterexpeditdistinct.Nam libertemporcum soluta nobis eligend optioncon-guenihilimpedietdoming id quodmaxim placeatfacerpossim omnisvoluptas assumenda est, omnis repel-lend. Temporibud auteuiquinusd etaurofficedebit auttum rerum neces-sitatib saepeevenietut ermolestianonrecusand.Itaqueearud rerum hictentury sapientedelectus au autpre-ferzim endis dolorib asperiorerepel-lat.Hancego cum tenesenteniam,quid estcurverearne ad eam non
WEEKENDINGAUGUST19
FORUMLakePointe Acquisition!
President Scott Fullermadethefinal deal
Lorem ipsum dolorsitamet, consectetueradipiscing elit, sed diam non-numy nibheuismod temporinciduntutlaboreet doloremagna aliquameratvolupat.Ut wisienim ad minimveniam, quis nostrud exercitationul-lamcorpersuscipitlaboris nislut ali-quip exea commodoconsequat.Duisautem veleum iruredolorinhenderitinvulputatevelit esseconsequat.Velillum doloreeu feugiatnulla facilisiatvero eos etaccusam etius toodio
dignissim quiblanditprae sentlup-tatum zzrildelenit aigueduos doloreetmolestias exceptursintoccaecatcupiditatnonsimil providenttemporsuntinculpa qui officia deseruntmollitanium ib estaborum etdolorfuga.Etharumd dereud facilis esterexpeditdistinct.Nam libertemporcum soluta nobis eligend optioncon-guenihilimpediet doming id quodmaxim placeatfacerpossim omnisvoluptas assumenda est, omnis repel-lend.Temporibud auteuiquinusd aurofficedebitaut tum rerum necessitatib saepeevenietuter molestia nonrecusand. Itaqueearud rerum hictentury sapientedelectus au autpreferzim endis dolorib asperiorerepellat.Hancegocum tenesenteniam,quidestcurverear nead eam nonpossing Paradise!Thedevelopmentwillbeginsoon
aurofficedebit auttum rerum neces-sitatib saepeevenietut ermolestianonrecusand.Itaqueearud rerum hictentury sapientedelectus au autpre-ferzim endis dolorib asperiorerepel-lat.Hancego cum tenesenteniam,quid estcurverearne ad eam nonpossing accommodarenostros quostu pauloantecum memoritetum etiaergat.Nos amiceet nbevol,olestiasaccess potestfierad augend ascumconscienttofactor tum poenlegumodioqueciviuda. Ettamenin busdam nequenonorimperned libidinggenepularreli guard cupiditatiquasnullapraid om undat.Improb paryminuit,potios im flammad utcoer-cend magistand et dodencendessevideantur.Inviatigitur veraratio
benesanos adzum justiatiam,aequi-
Lorem ipsum dolorsitamet,consectetueradipiscing elit,sed diam non-numy nibheuismod temporinciduntutlaboreetdoloremagnaaliquameratvolupat.Utwisi enim ad minimveniam,quis nostrud exercitationul-lamcorpersuscipitlaboris nislut ali-quip exea commodoconsequat.Duisautem veleum iruredolorinhenderitinvulputatevelit esseconsequat.Velillum doloreeu feugiatnullafacilisiatveroeos etaccusam etius toodio
dignissim quiblanditprae sentlup-
President Scott Fullermadethefinal deal
WEEKENDING AUGUST19
FORUMLakePointe Acquisition!
Portrait-shaped pictures should be placed at thetop or bottom of a column. Mug shots shouldnormally face into the page.
sectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diamnonnumy nibh euismod tempor incidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquam erat volupat. Ut wisi enim adminim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamcorper laboris nisl utaliquip ex ea commodo con sequat.
tempor sunt in culpa qui officia dese-runt mollit anium ib est abor um etdolor fuga. Et harumd dereud facilisest er expedit distinct. Nam libertempor cum soluta nobis eligend op-tion congue nihil impediet doming idquod maxim placeat facer omnisvoluptas assumenda est, repellend.
Temporibud auteui quinusd et auroffice debit aut tum rerum necessitatib saepe eveniet ut er molestia nonrecusand. Itaque earud rerum hic tentury sapiente delectus au aut preferzim endis dolorib asperiore repellat.Hanc ego cum tene senteniam, quidest cur verear ne ad eam non possingaccommodare nost ros quos tu pauloante memorite tum etia ergat. Nosamice et nbevol, olestias access potestfier ad augend ascum consci ent tofactor tum poen legum odio que civi-uda. Et tamen in busdam neque im-per ned libiding gen epular reli guardquas nul la praid om undat.
Improb pary minuit, potios flam-mad ut coercend magist and et dodencendesse videantur. Inviat igi turvera ratio bene sanos adzum justia-tiam, aequitated fidem. Neque hom-iny infant aut inuiste fact est cond quineg facile efficerd possit duo conetudnotiner si effercerit, et opes vel fortu-nag vel ingen liberalitat magis con-veniunt, da but tuntung ben evolentsib conciliant, et aptis sim est adquiet. Endium caritat prae sert cumomning nul sit causpeccand quaert enimigent cupidtat a natura proficisvacile explent sine julla inura autenddebit aut tum rerum necessit atibsaepe eveniet ut er molestia non recu-sand. Itaque earud rerum hic ten turysapiente delectus au aut prefer zimendis dolorib asperiore repellat. Hancego cum tene senteniam, quid est curverear ne ad eam non possing accom-
Duis autem vel eum irure dolor inhenderit in vulputate esse consequat.
Vel illum dolore eu feugiat nullafacilisi at vero eos et accusam et ius toodio dignissim qui blandit prae sentluptatum zzril delenit aigue duos do-lore et molestias exceptur sint occae-cat cupiditat non simil pro vident
Layouts are almost always more attractive whenthe pictures are aligned with an edge—top,␣bot-tom, side—or grouped, and therefore alignedwith each other. The pages of this newsletterare sufficiently small for full-page pictures, too,which can be dramatic . These are often difficultto handle attractively on a full-size sheet.
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ate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu
feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto
odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril
delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.
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cing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod incidunt
ut dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim
ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullam-
corper suscipit laboris nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo
consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hen-
drerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel
illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et
accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent
luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait
nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consecte-
tuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euis-
mod incidunt ut dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.
Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci
tation ullamcorper suscipit laboris nisl ut aliquip ex
ea commodo consequat.
Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in
vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum
dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et ac-
cumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent
luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait
nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis
eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id
quod mazim placerat facer possim assum. Lorem
ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed
diam nonummy nibh euismod incidunt ut dolore
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F O R U MT H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F O H I O • O C T O B E R 1 9 9 2
Dr.Rebecca Curry
Book-style layout, legal-size paper This low-key variation is especially suitable forbooks, academic papers and other publications intended for a serious audience;that is, an audience that doesn’t care for razzle-dazzle. Because its headlines areonly one column wide—and it has no ruled borders—it is particularly easy to build;
just pour text until a story ends, then start the next one. This example has beenset in Garamond 3, a classic font with a literary look.
pages. Margins: Left,right and bottom, 3picas; Top, 6 picas.Note: Because most laser printers cannot print so close to the edge of the sheet,this format must be set up normally and reproduced on a conventional printing press. Columnguides, 2; Spacebetween columns,1p6.
Typeface: Garamond3, Headlines, 18/
18, Body copy andpicture captions,10/12.
One characteristic of an attractive page isthat type aligns acrosscolumns, which hereis achieved by␣movingtext and objects only in exact, 1-pica␣incre-
ments. Two-line␣head-line as shown shouldhave 1 pica of space after (Paragraph␣dia-log). One-line headlineshould have 0p6space after to␣main-tain alignment.
Note quarter-picaadjustment for picture.Snap caption in 1-picaincrements to main-tain alignment withadjacent text.
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aliquip exea commodoconsequat.Duis autem veleum iruredolorinhenderitinvulputatevelit esseconse-quat. Velillum doloreeu feugiatnulla facilisiatvero eos etaccusam etius toodiodignissim quiblanditprae
Paradise! Early development of LakePointeisexpected to net $32 million overfiveyears
1. DRAW, OUTLINE, FILLOpen FreeHand and draw a box.Add line (my width is 0p.3, about ahairline); tint line 20% black. Fillbox 10% black.
2. SKEWFrom center, 15° horizontal.
3. ROTATEFrom center, 30°. Note instrexactly because I’ve played I’ve made this explanation␣trlucent, too!
Fun! Make plastic businesscards in rainbow colors
You’ll make business cardswith PageMaker, but this␣dem-onstration was drawn in␣Free-Hand. Here is how to makethe cards appear translucent:
Add light anddimension withtranslucency
Gleaming cards—right from your laser printer—rarely fail to make a good impression.
Idea by Tonni Shaw
This project started out strictly for fun,but the results drew enough ooohs andaaahs that it’s worth passing along. Tomake plastic cards, you’ll print and␣lam-inate a sheet of thin acetate to a smooth,colored backing. It will require a trip tothe art- and office-supply store. Pick up:
• A box of acetate film for plainpaper copiers. (I use Scotch brand #501,which has a smooth side and a roughside, but other brands are fine.)
• Several sheets of Letraset␣Pan-tone colored paper or film in the colors
of your choice. (The␣sur-faces are smooth, which isimportant. The papers areopaque and fairly stiff; thefilms are thinner but translu-cent, which adds an undeniablyelegant sheen.)
• A small can of spray adhesive(only if you use paper—the films havesticky backs).
• A single-edge razor blade or X-acto knife for cutting the printed sheet.
• A metal straightedge.
Xamplex InteriorsSusan Farmington1892 Pan American Plaza, Suite 716Los Angeles, CA 55555555.555.5555
X a m p l e x I n t e r i o r s S u s a n F a r m i n g t o n 1 8 9 2 P a n A m e r i c a n P l a z a , S u i t e 7 1 6 L o s A n g e l e s , C A 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 . 5 5 5 . 5 5 5 5
1. LAY OUT YOUR CARDSolid printed areas will appear black on thefinished cards. A shaded area such as the lineabove will appear as a darkened shade of thebackground paper color. I usually avoid usingshades if 300-dpi output will be my finishedproduct—they look too much like a comic book.
2. PRINT ON ACETATE, MIRRORED
In the Print dialog box, select Change . . . ,then Mirror so the image will print backwards.Manually feed the acetate. Note: The mirroredimage should be on the rough side of thesheet; you may need to run one test sheet totell which you’ll get. Watch for fingerprints.
X a m p l e
x I n t e r
i o r s
S u s a
n F a r m i
n g t o n
1 8 9 2 P a n
A m e r i c a
n P l a z a, S u
i t e 7 1 6
L o s A n
g e l e s, C A
5 5 5 5 5
5 5 5 . 5
5 5 . 5 5 5 5
3. SPRAY ADHESIVE ONTO THE PAPERSpray adhesive is messy and gets on everything.It should be sprayed in an open, well-ventilatedplace (outdoors is perfect). Spray only thecolored paper, never the acetate. Clean yourfingers before continuing (rubber cement thinnerworks best). You’ll know why.
Yields 10 standard-size business cards(with one pica mar-gins) from a letter-sizesheet. Sheet margin iswide enough so allcards will print com-pletely on any laserprinter.
New publication.Letter size, Tallorientation. 1 page.(Do not select Double-sided or Facing pages.)Margins: Left andRight, 5p6; Top andBottom, 4. Click OK.
Select Column guidesand enter 2 columns,2 picas between. Draga vertical ruler guideto 4p6. Drag a
horizontal ruler guideto 3. Move ruler zeropoint to the intersec-tion of the guides.Drag vertical rulerguides to 21 and 42.Drag horizontal rulerguides to 11, 12, 13,23, 24, 25, 35, 36,37, 47, 48, 49 and60. Draw 1p6-longcutting guides (Hair-line, color Black) asshown.
PAGEMAKER SETUP
Card size
X a m p l e
x I n t e r
i o r s
S u s a
n F a r m
i n g t o n
1 8 9 2 P a n
A m e r i c a
n P l a z a, S u
i t e 7 1 6
L o s A n
g e l e s, C A
5 5 5 5 5
5 5 5 . 5
5 5 . 5 5 5 5
5. CUT THE CARDS APART Only a razor and straightedge are up to thistask; scissors are too wiggly, and a paper cutterwill lop off the guide marks! Tips: Put downsomething to protect the tabletop—heavy card-board is usually good. Hold the straightedge firmand guide the blade lightly—three or four lightpasses are better than one heavy one. Make thethree vertical cuts first, then the six horizontalcuts. And don’t cut off the guide marks!
mplex Interiorsarmington
American Plaza, Suite 716les, CA 555555.5555
X a m p
l e x I n t e r i o
r s
S u s a n F a
r m i n
g t o n
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4. PRESS TOGETHER CAREFULLY Be patient; begin at one end and slowly press out any air bubbles. You’ll have only one chance—the toner will peel off with theadhesive if you start over. Once in place, rubthe surface hard until the bond appears tobe very tight. Expect to mess up a few.
CLONE, MOVE, FILLone card; it pops to front. Send to
ack. Move down this far. Removene. Fill. (I’ve used 50% cyan, 50%agenta. In black tints, use 70%.)
5. CLONE THE CLONE. FILL LIGHTERClone bottom card; it pops to front.Fill 10% lighter. (I’ve used 35% cyan,35% magenta. In black tints, use60%. Lighter tint = more opaque.)
SCALE AND CENTER THE IMAGESThe first—and often best—thing to do with an assortment of mugs is tomake them the same size (which puts them the same distance from thecamera) and center them in their frames. While PageMaker’s slick scalingand cropping tools have made this chore a breeze, the visual work can betricky—different head and seating angles, hairdos and facial structures caneasily fool your eyes. Dragging ruler guides to forehead, eye level, chin and
vertical centers, as shown below, may help; I use them often. (The lines areguides, not restrictions.) Most adult heads are about the same size; awoman’s head is slightly smaller, a large man’s is slightly bigger. Center theimages intuitively—according to interest or eye contact—rather thanmechanically—on everyone’s nose, for example. Be natural and patient;you know what people look like in real life.
Every interesting portrait was once a mug shot.Crop fearlessly and you’ll capture your reader’s interest
by focusing his attention.
Four straight from the camera
If these mug shots look familiar it’s becausethey’re real. And it’s a typical assortment: Threewere taken at professional studios, one wasnot. Each is a different size. The men are looking
into the camera; the woman is not. One man isback from the camera, another is quite close.The backgrounds are different but uncluttered—a bit unusual. The designer’s job begins here.
f all printed images, the most
Alone on a page of text, a portrait willinstantly draw the eye. Mixed in with
two dozen nature scenes, it is the singlehuman face that will attract attentionfirst. It is the human image that simply
impresses us the most and remainsvivid in our memories the longest.
Why, then, are so many portraitphotographs so forgettable? Often, forthe same reason some people are—they
sit silently, anonymously and blend in.But the printed page is a public
stage; when we see people in print, we
expect them to have something to say.As a designer, you can meet the reader’sexpectation. You do this by making yourportraits step forward from the page sothe speaker (the person in the picture)
meets the reader’s eye and appearsworth reading. This is usually possibleeven with everyday photos. Some ideas:
O familiar and most quicklyrecognized is the human face.
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Jeff Pyatte
YEARBOOKS, ANNUAL REPORTS, ROSTERS, CONFERENCE BROCHURES . . .The images above are the same size as the ones on the previous page, butlook how much strength they’ve gained! Not only is there more room fortext, I’d find a seminar that featured these speakers more intriguing thanan ordinary one; the speakers now appear confident and in command, andso I feel confident. One caveat: The photos above are part of a tightly
arranged layout—copy starts at eye level (did you notice?) and conforms tothe shape of the pictures; headlines are set with care (note Mr. Jennings);photos are the same size and placed along the same line; space betweencolumns is consistent. These details are crucial. If you don’t take the samecare with your layout, the cropping effect may be weakened or lost entirely.
. . . to energize your layouts like this:
Be bold! Crop dramatically like this . . .
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ARE THESE NEWSCASTERS?It sure looks like a team of some kind—administrators, reporters, corporate
officers. In different clothing they might beballplayers (OK , coaches ). In any case, it isdefinitely a group. Because it is focusedand compact, this arrangement wouldmake a strong brochure cover for anythingthat features several prominent characters.
CHEEK TO CHEEK—A BIT TOO CHUMMY In most professional settings the cheeky placement of the pair on the left would be
inappropriate. If the group were a theatertroupe or musicians, the intimacy it sug-gests may be more desirable. Note, too,that the angle of the woman’s head disruptsthe arrangement slightly—as does the dark-er background of the man on the right.
OOPS! SCALE AND CROP WITH CAREThis version is weaker—it’s what happens if thefaces are not identical in size and carefully
aligned. Here, the crisp focus of the image isdisrupted—it now looks more like a collage thana cohesive presentation. Not all mug shots lendthemselves to such tight arrangements—oftenthey’re just too different. What to watch for? Eyedirection, backgrounds, lightness, focus.
THE BIG-CITY NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST His back turned confidently on his own name, that droll, I-know-who-I-amlook sends a message of aloofness and general cool on which newspapercolumnists seem to thrive. Picture has been posterized with Image control.
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By Sherman Block
MOVE INTO THE READER’S SPACEThe fully framed picture on the leftlooked better as part of the groupon page 14. Alone, the suit, necktieand empty background tell us noth-ing about the man—they’re suchfamiliar objects, in fact, that wemay fail to even see them. On theright, cropping has brought the faceinto our space— now we’re practi-cally nose to nose—and the bold
typeface (Helvetica Ultra Com-pressed) tells us in no uncertainterms that this man has authority and that his column is probably worth reading. It is a visual effectover which the designer has totalcontrol: In real life, Mr. Block is theSheriff of Los Angeles County.
THINK ON YOUR FEET Often, a picture just won’t stretchto fill a column. Be ingenious—try adding a horizontal or vertical box.Here, Ms. Ayres, last name was aperfect fit—a bit of serendipity.
For column and department headings in publications . . .
BARBARA AYRES
ED JENNINGS
THE OMSBUDSMAN OR DIPLOMAT He’s no cheerier, but the regular halftone looks natural—like a real face—and the columnist is now facing his readers, which suggests an opennessand agreeability. Size and cropping are identical to the image at left.
