Page Design

Fundamentals
What is Page Design or Newspaper
Makeup?

 According to Ceciliano-Jose
Cruz, page design is the
arrangement of illustrations and
types on a page or spreadsheet
which is to be reproduced
graphically. Makeup is a happy
marriage of aesthetics and
mechanics.
 Makeup maybe defined as the
arrangement of the display elements
on a printed page, including
headlines, body text, illustrations,
photos, white spaces and rule or
columns lines. Makeup refers to the
page design of a newspaper, while
layout is that of a magazine or
advertisements.
By: Alito Mendoza
Journalism for Filipinos
 Newspapers like people
have their own
personalities. The
personality of a newspaper
emerges in part through the
nature and quality of its
makeup.
-Dewitt C. Rederick
Effective Makeup may be
planned using two procedures:
1. By headline and text arrangement

2. By way of text and photo combinations

 BASIC QUESTIONS

• What size of newspaper format am I

going to plan? Tabloid size?
Newsletter/magazine size?
• For what type of readers am I
laying out the newspaper?

Keep in mind your answers to the above

questions when you lay out the newspaper.
 Front Page Make up
by Headline
and Text arrangement
1.Perfect Balance
or Symmetrical
Makeup
Ex. A large headline placed
in the upper first two
columns of front page is
balanced with a
corresponding large
headline in the 4th and
fifth upper columns. Other
headlines are similarly
arranged.
A one column-cut at the
upper 2nd column is
balanced with another one
column cut at column 4. This
kind of makeup gives static
monotonous appearance to
the paper. It should not be
made from issue to issue.
Perfect
Balance
or
Symmetrical
Makeup
2. Brace or Focus
Makeup
 Headlines are diagonally
arranged from the upper left to
the lower right hand corner or
vice-versa just like a brace
supporting a house. Balance is
obtained by various devices such
as two column heads, boxes , and
cuts which are used to offset the
weight concentrated in the upper
right of upper left hand corner.
 This kind of makeup is
desirable when one story is
more important than any
other because the readers
attention is directed to the
upper right hand corner or
occasionally to the upper
left.
Brace or
Focus Makeup
3. Broken Column
Makeup
 The page is broken into several
units to give space to many
stories. Symmetry is obtained
by carefully arranging the
contents so as not to cancel
each other by their nearness.
Large heads and cuts are placed
where they give the page a
pleasing pattern.
 This kind of makeup is
developed primarily to be able
to print as many short stories
on page one as possible.
Broken Column
Makeup
4. Contrast and
Balance Makeup
 This type groups are arranged
at varying distances from the
center like two boys on a see-
saw. It is sometimes called
occult or hidden balance
because the type groups with its
headline may be balanced with
a picture, an illustration, or a
box., or instead of a type group.
 No attempt is made to achieve
perfect balance. This is one of
the most popular kinds of front
page makeup since it permits
great variety from issue to
issue.
Contrast

and Balance Makeup

5. Streamlined
Makeup
 The format is similar with that
of the contrast and balance
makeup. However, the
nameplate is usually floated,
headlines are flushed up in cap
or lower case, and large body
types are often used. Many
closely cropped pictures are
also used. Instead of boxing
stories in full, the three quarter
boxes are resorted to.
 Often bullets, asterisks, and jim
dashes are employed to
introduce lead stories. This kind
of makeup is commonly used by
high school papers than by the
national dailies.
Streamlined
Makeup
Makeup by way of Text
and Photo Combination Layout
for Front page:
 The X Format
 The Curve Format
 The L Format
 The J Format
 The Umbrella Format
Makeup of Inside Pages:
 While it is true that the front
page of the newspaper is its
show window, attractive
makeup should not be confined
to this page alone. The inside
and back pages should be given
the same tender care, treatment
and attention by the layout
artist.
For Inside News pages
 Inside news pages should
be laid out as facing page
units rather than as single
pages. The principles for
contrast and balance used
for front page makeup
should also be considered.
Editorial Pages
These pages should have a
distinctive dignified and formal
appearance. The masthead which
should be relatively small, may
anchored on any corner.
Traditionally, the main editorial or
editorials appear in the fist two
columns. Like headlines of news
stories, the titles of editorials should
be of masculine appearance, not the
italic or script type.
Feature / Literary Pages
 These pages must have a
feminine appearance. The
columns are often wider.
Roman and italic types are
used for text. Feminine types
like the coronet, mandate and
liberty families may be used.
These pages have bolder but
livelier appearance than the
others. Their makeup should
suggest action, speed and
color. Large bold heads are
used.
Sports Pages
 These pages have bolder but
livelier appearance than the
others. Their makeup should
suggest action, speed and
color. Large bold heads are
used.
PRINCIPLES OF
LAYOUT / PAGE
MAKEUP
 Primary
optical
area

Reverse
S
Sweep

Terminal
optical
area
 Principle #1

Rank your stories. You must know what

the stories are about and evaluate their
news value. Don't be lazy; read them. Once
you have ranked them, generally place
them in descending order on the page
according to their importance. Story
placement is a nonverbal cue that indicates
their importance to readers. Don’t sacrifice
accuracy in favor of aesthetics.
ABOVE FOLD

BELOW FOLD
 Principle #2

When you design, start with the art and

build your page around it. Pages are
built around photographs and graphics.
Your design options often will become
clear once you place photographs and
graphics, especially if they go with stories.
 Principle #3

Have one dominant element (Center of

Visual Impact), usually a photo with a
story. You must give the reader a reason to
stop and look at the page. Often the
dominant element is a story with a photo, but
it can have more photos, quotes and
graphics to provide the reader with more
points of entry onto the page. Your central
package must dominate the page so that the
reader's eye is drawn to it.
 Principle #4

If you only have one photo, play it BIG.

Eye-Trac research shows most readers enter a
page by looking at photos. If you have only one
photo, make it big enough to catch the reader's
attention. Photos can be smaller if you have
more of them.
If you have an open page, the dominant photo
generally should be:
• At least 3 columns if it is vertical.
• At least 4 columns if it is horizontal.
 Principle #5

Vary the sizes and shapes of the photos

and graphics to add variety and visual
appeal to the page. Photos that have
similar shapes and sizes are dull, giving the
reader little reason to sample them. If they are
nearly the same, none stands out. Avoid
square photographs. Never ever cut the
photos to be submitted to the printing
press!
Increasing photo size in layout
Decreasing photo size in layout
Bleed
photo to
maximize
page
layout
 Principle #6

Use a mixture of vertical and horizontal

elements to add variety to the page
and to move the reader's eyes around
it. Cross the page at least once with type.
Don't leave vertical gutters that run all the
way down the page and divide it visually.
Avoid stacking, or pancaking, stories on top
of one other. None of them will stand out.
`
 Principle #7

Use photos and other graphic elements

to break up the gray and to avoid
tombstoning headlines. Secondary photos
and graphics (subheads or pull quotes/stats or
drop caps) are wonderful ways to break up
headlines and to add life to the bottom of your
pages. This is especially true with jumps. Make
your art work for you.
 Pull
Quote
 Pull
Quote

subhead
Table/
fact box
Pull
stats
 Principle #8

Honor the hierarchy of type. Generally,

headlines should decrease in size as
you go down the page because the
stories are less important. Use three-line
headlines above two-line headlines.
 Principle #9

Color is more effective when used

sparingly. Use half-tones for boxed
stories.

No color in your school paper? No problem.

You have black, white and 10-15 distinctive
shades of gray.
Half tone
red for
boxed
story
Half tone
blue for
boxed
story
 Principle #10

Use legible conventional serif/sans

serif fonts in front and other pages;
fancy fonts in literary/feature pages.

Serif font samples: Times New Roman g y t G Y T

Sans Serif font sample: Arial g y t G Y T
Fancy font sample: Jokerman g y t G Y T
 Principle #11

White space can be your most

powerful design element. The eye is
drawn to it, and then to the elements
around it. White space should be
adjacent to the outside edges of the
page, not trapped in the middle and
surrounded by photos and type.
Do’s and Don’ts in Page Makeup
 Avoid tombstoning-
Placing two or more headlines
on approximately the same level
in adjacent columns especially if
they are of the same point or
types.
 Avoid bad breaks
Do not break cut stories to the
top of columns. The top of the
column should have a headline
or a cut.
 Avoid separating related stories and
pictures.

 Avoid gray areas (sea of gray) Break

this up with used of subheads, pull
quotes or half tones.

 Keep long columns of 6 points type

and tabular material to a minimum
especially on front page.
 Avoid using a banner headline
unless the story deserves it.
Screaming headlines should also
not be used. Screaming headline
is one that is too big for a short
or unimportant story.
THANK YOU!