Layout of newspapers and magazines. How to make up a newspaper

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

The number of sections and headings, speaking professionally, is the composition of the issue - this is the foundation that underlies the formation of corporate identity and guarantees recognition among the masses. The layout of newspapers and magazines is an integral part of the production process. She is responsible for optimizing a specific page and for the overall design of the issue, that is, for the competent combination of text and graphic elements, for the ease of perception of fonts, for ease of navigation…

Benefits of sustainable composition

Systematic circulation sooner or later leads to the fact that a newspaper or a magazine develops its own unique composition. From issue to issue, all significant bands, basic sections and thematic headings retain a certain look and structure. This is not done by chance: a product made according to a template is easier for the reader to perceive, and subsequently develops a certain model of expectation among the target audience.

However, the layout of newspapers according to pre-established standards does not at all imply the inviolability of schemes. On the contrary, compositions that are easily transformable are a sign of the high-quality implementation of creativeideas.

In other words, the stylistic bias and format of the newspaper/magazine should not depend on point corrections and adjustments. If the responsible editor falls into a stupor every time a few hours before the release of the issue it becomes necessary to retype individual pages or even pages, then the basic composition does not justify itself, and it needs to be changed.

What is the fundamental difference between layout and layout?

Compositional preparation and layout of a newspaper are two interrelated processes with similar algorithms of actions. However, the tasks that designers and layout designers face cannot be called the same type - the differences lie in the subject development (optimization) of already edited materials. The priority direction of layout is a detailed study of the content structure: the sequence of pages, the configuration of publications, the "embedding" of images, and the like. The purpose of competent layout is to make sure that the layout of the material on the pages not only does not cause difficulties for the reader, but also in the most natural way focuses his attention on the most significant information messages.

The material that has passed the layout has a common thematic core. However, this is not enough to form a full-fledged edition number. A kind of finishing line is the layout, which organizes the content and organizes the individual elements (posts) into a single whole.

Newspaper layout: norms andpatterns

The main guideline for choosing a typical layout structure is the content of the issue. All techniques and technical design options are dictated by the content to one degree or another. The term “front page material” reflects the essence of the above in the best possible way: it is used when they want to emphasize the significance of an article (that is, it is the information load of such a note that plays the role of a “stencil” for the entire issue).

However, you need to understand that the so-called general layout standards are rather arbitrary. The target audience of each publication is its own, specific. Therefore, if all newspapers end up in the same person, demanding readers will not be able to find the product they are interested in, which will certainly lead to a drop in sales with the ensuing consequences.

And most importantly: the specifics of layout are largely determined by the history of periodicals, the stages of its development, the traditions of the work team, national preferences and other factors that are not directly related to the technological process.

A3 size: computer layout

Layout designer is a specialist who operates with ready-made text and already selected graphics. His professional duties include posting material based on approved templates. At the dawn of “typographic evolution”, the work of a specialized worker was difficult, and the time spent on completing the tasks was enormous. Modern computer prototyping is a completely different matter…

Typographic formats used today are derivatives of the standardDIN A0. The most popular in printing business are A5, A4 and A3.

Standard layout of an A3-format newspaper is carried out using the template wizard (the software shell may be different, but the functional set of utilities is comparable). Among the undoubted advantages of computer layout is the availability of correction of the content of the issue at any stage of its preparation, as well as minimizing the number of errors.

Software Brief: PageMaker and QuarkXPress

Prepress number on a PC involves the installation of a software product. Initially, there were few proposals worthy of the attention of professional typesetters. In fact, there were only two of them - PageMaker from the world-famous Adobe company (the reincarnation of the assembly of the same name from Aldus) and a functional analogue called QuarkXPress from the modest organization Quark Ink.

For a long period of time, the developers of both programs went, as they say, toe to toe, so the computer layout of newspapers - meaning its final result - practically did not depend on the batch script being implemented. The release of updates broke the established balance, but did not determine the leader. For example, QuarkXPress demonstrated a phenomenal architecture of auxiliary modules (extensions), but could not get rid of the clumsiness in the field of table editing. And PageMaker relied on universalization, but lost several positions in the functionality rating (the arsenal of special effects suffered especially).

Helplayout designers: getting to know Adobe InDesign

Adobe was not going to lose in the field of creating products for software layout. The appearance of a fundamentally new package was only a matter of time…

The InDesign application is a much more serious competitor for QuarkXPress than the obsolete PageMaker. More precisely, the question of rivalry is no longer an issue - it all comes down to how many users the utility will “steal” from Quark.

So, how does the layout of a newspaper in InDesign differ from the previously described scenarios?

Intriguing is a completely redesigned graphical interface, which is "sharpened" for the average user. Here, in order to annoy competitors, there is even an option to activate hot keys used by default in similar programs - layout designers who worked on Quark will not have to rebuild! The functionality is also impressive. In this regard, InDesign is a viable hybrid, allowing you to solve complex prepress tasks with a simple press of 5 to 6 key combinations. And, finally, the layout in InDesign is justified from the point of view of the natural development of printed publications: the updates to the package that are being released simplify the material layout process as much as possible, reduce the time for preparing publications, offer options for ready-made templates and layouts, depending on the stylistic reference of the issue…

Good Newspaper Layout: Three Essential Rules

Modern layout has a computer basis. But this does not mean at all that the programs automatically fulfill all the requirements for competent layout. From the mastera specialist still depends a lot.

So, what does a classic newspaper layout look like?

An example of the correct algorithm of actions is as follows:

• When preparing the issue for printing, the uniformity of the pages must be ensured. If the typical structure is violated (headings and impositions differ from each other, or there is non-compliance with font design, graphic imbalances, etc.), then, therefore, the composition of the collected material is chosen incorrectly.
• Layout of the output (header) page excludes the use of footers, norms and signatures; Full edition details are provided in the front page.
• According to the results of the layout, there should be a mandatory match between the lines of the main text located on the front page of the newspaper and the lines on the back (even if the scenario of a changeable font size was implemented, and the basic content of the publication was diluted with materials of secondary importance: footnotes, comments, clarifications, etc.).

Magazine layout: some nuances

The rules for the layout of a newspaper are somewhat different from the requirements that are imposed on specialists responsible for submitting magazine products to print.

Multi-page editions often consist of columns of different formats, while the number of illustrations in them is measured in dozens. It is much more difficult to ensure the correspondence of the lines "face" and "turnover" in such conditions. Therefore, magazine layout designers, as a rule, operate with functional additions (applications) to the main ones.software packages, and the linked issues are printed on higher-class printing equipment.

Types of layout: the basics of classification

There have been many attempts to create a unified classification of layout types. However, almost all of them were not successful, as they ignored the geometry of the placement of the finished material on the strip.

For this reason, it was decided to separate the types of layout of newspapers not by style, but on the basis of three groups of features: the first included those that were identified by the configuration of text and graphics, the criterion for the second was the direction of the layout (vertical / horizontal), for the third - the degree of symmetry on the strip.

In newspapers, regardless of subject matter, simple bar layout is most often used (information is presented in structured horizontal rectangles - “bars”). Much less often resort to a "broken" layout - when columns with ledges are formed due to rectangles of variable height.

Type of layout and target audience. Is there a connection?

It is well known in professional circles that the layout of newspapers is not just a search for optimal forms for content. The final compositions must first of all meet the needs of the target audiences. If you look at printed publications aimed at young people, you can find examples of lively and bright design, realized through the use of a "broken" layout. The bar scheme dominates in newspapers, whose readers are mostlypeople of mature age. But purely informational publications are distinguished by an original (usually complicated) form of presentation of material: many columns of different geometry, plus a “dynamic” font.