Newsletter and Newspaper Page Layout

Basic Design Secrets That Journalists Take Years to Learn

May 15, 2009

Designing newspapers is not so much an art form as a science. This guide gives you a tried and tested method for drawing a page from scratch.

This is for amateurs who want to rustle up a smart newsletter on their PC, or for the many journalists who can use layout templates, but don’t know where to start if faced with a blank page.

Headlines, captions, pictures and stories all have parts to play in the success of a page, but it starts with design. A rookie mistake is to make design fit around content, not the other way around. They may start with a 1,000 word article and draw the page in such a way to fit it all in. They end up with a wodge of grey text that puts off readers completely. It may be the most sparkling copy in the world, but if it doesn’t look good, no-one will read it.

Cut the copy right down to make it pleasing on the eye and attract readers. It’s like following a recipe, you need the right quantities of ingredients. You wouldn’t try to make a cup cake with a sack of flour would you?

So, be strict about design. Get the page looking perfect, then pour in the copy and trim off the excess. Most newspapers are ‘modular’, which means a lot of straight edges. The best way to think of it is that the page is carved up into rectangular boxes. Each box then contains more boxes - one for the story and others for headlines, captions and pictures.

Think Inside the Box

From a blank page, start by simply drawing boxes on to it. Their exact shapes and positions can be tweaked later, especially when you add pictures (see below).

Travel Around the Page

The next thing to think about is ‘movement’. A brilliantly-designed page does not look static; it encourages your eyes to travel around, from top to bottom and right across it. Make each box a different shape and size and throw in some tall skinny ones and fat, squat ones.

This makes a page interesting to look at and also helps to indicate the hierarchy of stories. For example, the lead goes in the largest box, regardless of where that is on the page, although usually somewhere in the middle and ‘above the fold’.

A great way to begin is to work from the outside in and create a ‘frame’. You could stick a tall skinny box down one side (a ‘wing’) and a wide shallow one across the bottom (an ‘anchor’).

The Right Image

Before you go much further, think about your ‘bull pic’. This is the leading image, will probably go with the lead and its shape matters. Generally speaking, if the bull pic is ‘landscape’ shape, the lead headline must be broad, say two decks, running across four columns. If the picture is ‘portrait’ shape, the headline is likely to be a narrower ‘stack’, say four decks, across two columns. If your bull pic doesn’t go with the lead, the layout will be roughly the same, only the picture story will have to be paneled off in some way. When doing this, avoid ‘dog legs’ when was the last time you saw an L-shaped box?

And Finally...

To recap, make content fit around design; create movement with varied boxes; work from the outside in and show off your main image to best advantage.

The copyright of the article Newsletter and Newspaper Page Layout in Graphic Design is owned by Jacqueline Wake. Permission to republish Newsletter and Newspaper Page Layout in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.