Layout guidelines 1

Layout guidelines

1. Read the copy for the page. Get a feel for for it and establish the length it is worth.

2. Always be thinking headlines. Especially for the lead story on the page. Don’t design yourself into a corner where your headline doesn’t fit. The best headlines are usually written first.

3. Look at the pictures. Consider leading on the picture if it is the best selling point on the page. What is the best crop, vertical or horizontal? What about headlining the picture?

4. Consider the adverts. If you can see them on the page, check for large slabs of colour, pictures, large type. Will they clash with your design?

5. Have you everything you need? Is there enough copy, or too much? Is the picture ready or is it going to arrive in time? Have any graphics been ordered from the art department? Can you construct a fact file, if required?

6. Be aware that your page is just one in the publication. Is it news or a feature? Is it a busy one after a couple of slabby ones? Check the page of the pair to make sure the headlines don’t clash. What is the deadline for the page? Find out and stick to it.

7. Look at the page as whole. Try to imagine the finished product in your mind. See it as the reader will. It might seem like a jigsaw but think about the relationship of stories, headlines and pictures.

8. What’s the main attraction? Headline? Picture? Whatever it is, that is where you begin. Remember that readers see pictures first, but a strong headline can also grab the attention.

9. Start at the top. We read from left to right, so top left is the place to start. If there is something interesting there you have the reader hooked. The main headline or picture should never be on the bottom half of the page.

10. Dynamic shapes grab the attention. Doesn’t matter if it’s a picture or a headline - make it interesting. A square is boring. If you start the page with a strong horizontal picture or a deep vertical the rest of the page will probably take care of itself.

11. Don’t don’t put your foot into awkward holes. Adverts can be the bane of a design sub’s life. If you have a strong horizontal picture and it leaves you a 2 or 3cm space above an advert, what are you going to do with it?

12. Follow a step by step system to the layout. Establish in your own mind what you want the reader to see first, then second, third and fourth. Scale the items down the page accordingly.