Newspaper Layout

Newspapers today look a lot different from those published just four or five years ago.
Nearly all daily broadsheet newspapers in the Philippines (even the traditional one like The
Manila Bulletin) are using large and dramatic colored photos, spot colorful weather maps, strong
art and graphics. Much of this change came about through the modern newspapers like The
Manila Standard Today, Business Mirror and Philippine Daily Inquirer. Many doubted that these
papers would last or that the experiment to make a national newspaper would be accepted by the
public. But it has. And its dramatic use of graphics, photos, art and color have had an impact on
all aspects of print media.
Even more dramatic is the impact of desktop publishing. Computers are changing the
way newspapers are written, edited, designed and laid out. Before, we are using Microsoft
Publisher, QuarkXpress and Adobe PageMaker in layouting and designing the pages of the
newspaper. But now, Adobe InDesign CS3 to CS6 is the priority computer program that is
required by majority of printing presses which also updated their printing machines. That is why
more and more elementary, high school and college publications are now prepared for printing
using Adobe InDesign because such program is really journalist or layout artist-friendly because
after layouting and editing the copy, you automatically convert it into press quality PDF file and
send it to the printing press via e-mail. In fact, these days anyone with a high memory computer
with Adobe InDesign and Photoshop can be a publisher.
Desktop publishing not only saves money but also allows you the opportunity to
experiment. Try it. We will provide you some guidelines for page design, but like all rules, they
are meant to be stretched. Who says a newspaper has to have six columns—or four—or two?
Who says it has to be rectangular? Has anyone tried a round newspaper? Why not design your
newspaper to follow a magazine format?
Remember, you need to learn to walk before you run. Once you do that, you can
determine which design rules to stretch or break and which to follow.

Page Design
Most modern newspapers prefer horizontal make-up, which means that they use lots of headlines
wider than one column so that the general "movement" on the page is from side to side, not up
and down. Before 1900 most newspapers used vertical make-up; some modern newspapers still
do.
Horizontal make-up has the advantage of guiding the reader's glance in a natural left-to-right
movement. It also makes stories (and therefore, easier to read) than they really are.
When handling page make-up, the editor must compile a list, called a schedule, of everything
planned for each page. The editor must know how long each story will be and the size of each
picture. Copy can be converted into inches in type this way: seven line of typewritten, double-
spaced copy equal two inches of type, provided you are using a traditional newspaper column of
just under two inches wide and the copy is prepared in the usual fashion.
Sometimes the occasion arises to do something really different with page design, such as a
special edition or feature section. Today, magazine style layout has become an option for
newspaper design. One of the latest trends is the center spread, such the one on the next page
from the Ang Mandaragit team of New Era High School that won 1st place in the On-The-Spot
Layouting Contest in the 5th SPAM National Convention, August 6, 2011 at the University of
the Assumptions, Pampanga.

Sample of a Center Spread Layout

Journalistic design is relatively a new field in newspaper publishing. Today, many papers
are increasing their use of charts, diagrams and maps, and publication art departments are
expanding as a result. There are several areas of specialization in an art or design department,
including:
Art production. Cropping or retouching photographs using Photoshop and Corel Photo-
Paint, cutting silhouettes, and preparing final pieces of art among the activities in this area.
Maps and charts. News stories concerning national and world events are increasingly
being accompanied by maps showing where the event occurred.
Graphics. This area includes diagrams to accompany stories about science, medicine, or
complex technical subjects. Bar graphs and pie charts are other examples of graphics.
Artistic and graphic designers work under the supervision of art directors, who coordinate
their activities with those of the editors and photographers.

Seven Important Guidelines in Page Design

An outstanding design not only provides a pleasing appearance but also makes reading
inviting and easy. In page design, a working knowledge of typography will be valuable. Listed
below are the things a layout artist/editor should keep on mind.
1. Serif vs. Sans-serif font type. Serif typefaces seem to be more legible and are preferred
by readers over sans-serif type. Because serifs define individual letters more sharply and make
them easier to recognize, serif fonts are generally easier to read than sans-serif fonts. Most
readers can read a message in a serif font more quickly—and with greater comprehension and
retention—than they can read the some message in a sans-serif format. When they are not
contradictory, but supportive to the tone of the message, they should be made first choice.
The following letters are in a serif font:
AEFGHLMNZ
These letters are in a sans-serif font:
AEFGHLMNZ
Times New Roman, Bodoni-Black and Garamond are some of the examples of a serif font. Arial,
Calibri, Franklin Gothic Book and Tahoma are some of the example of a sans-serif font.
2. Upper case vs. Lower case typography. The use of the upper case to emphasize a point
is not advisable. Wherever possible, the use of type set an all upper case should be avoided. For
emphasis, boldface should be used instead.
3. Justified vs. Unjustified typography. In general, there seems to be a significant
difference in legibility of either justified and unjustified typography. Unjustified type, however,
provides a contemporary relaxed typographic style. Unjustified type is very common in the
features page of the newspaper and magazine.
4. Italic vs. Bold type. The use of italics tends to slow down the reading speed.
Application of italics when compared to boldface, reduces reading speed by almost 13-15 words
per minute. Boldface then is more legible than italic, but it should be applied in limited amounts
since it tires the eyes easily. For text matter, a type face of medium weight like Times New
Roman should be selected. Usually, italics should be used for scientific names, captions and
quotable statements, while boldface type should be used for headlines and titles.
This is italic type.
This is boldface italic.
This is boldface.
This is underlined.
6. Points of font used. The size of a typeface is measured in points:
One point = 1/72 of inch. Hence, 72 point type is one inch in height—as measured from
the top of the ascender (e.g. the rising stroke in l) to the bottom of the descender (e.g. the
plunging stroke p). Thus, for instance, the word lip in 36-point size will to exactly 1/2 inch from
the top of the l to the bottom of the p.
This is 36-point Garamond.
This is 32-point Arial.
This is 28-point Tahoma.
This is 24-point Times New Roman.
This is 20-point News Gothic.
 Generally speaking, readers prefer to read documents in 12-point type. As a rule,
anything larger than 14 points seems loud and aggressive (like reading page after page of
headlines).
On the other hand, anything smaller than 10 points looks tiny and forbidding—like the
small print on a legal contract or insurance form. But in a daily newspaper and campus paper in
elementary, secondary and tertiary, the normal font for typeface in every page of a newspaper/
newsletter is 9 to 10 points.
7. Screen. In using a screen (either colored or black and white) keep in mind that in
layouting only one screen in every page can be used. Avoid using so many screens in every page.

How Technologies will Affect Publishing

The pace of technological change is affecting publishing in sweeping, often dramatic
ways. The ferment of technological progress today is the greatest it has been since 1830s, and
what it will mean eventually no one can accurately determine. All we can certain of is that
information and entertainment are going to be conveyed to readers in a variety of ways. Whether
the newspaper as a physical object, as we have known it since the fifteenth century, will survive
is by no means certain. Most of the present generation of publishers would be aghast to think it
might not, because for centuries the feel of a newspaper in the hand has been an aesthetic
enjoyment. But the next generation of publishers may find that the printed page can be
transmitted to readers more easily, economically and eco-friendly than its traditional form. As
what Dr. Lolita M. Andrada, Director IV of the BSE-DepEd Central Office said during the 2012
National Conference and Seminar-Workshop for the NSSPAA National and Regional Officers,
August 17-19, 2012 at the Grand Regal Hotel, Bacolod City, “….We need to try an eco-friendly
paperless campus journalism in the Philippines to avoid using paper.”
Back in the 1970’s, many futurists predicted already the advent of “paperless society.”
That society has not yet arrived. Although computers have radically changed life in most
Philippine business offices, they have not replaced memos with computer paper, and though the
life cycle of a piece of paper may be shorter, most people are still used to hard copy.
“The paperless office is a fantasy as long as a perfect integration and wider networking of
computers are not a reality,” says Yuichi Murano, an assistant with Dataquest in Japan.
In spite of warnings that the electronic media might replace newspaper altogether, there
seems to be an increase of interest in the page printed with pictures and text. A form that has
survived for five centuries is not likely to disappear overnight, or perhaps at all, but the form of
its transmission may change.
Every new technology, from photography to television, has created new inducements to
read newspapers, books and magazines. Even books on audio and video cassettes can entice new
readers. The computer itself has provided a highly popular subject for newspapers, magazines
and books.
What is Next in Publishing
For decades, now, we have been hearing that the day was rapidly approaching when
people would sit ,in their living rooms before consoles and television screens and summon
printed matter—newspapers, books and magazines—before their eyes, paying for them
electronically and never having to stir from their homes. Similarly, business would be done at
home, and workers would no longer have to communicate to their no-longer needed offices.
Everyone would be accessible to anyone else through the electronic world. The technology now
exist, for the most part, to bring this staggering revolution about.
Will it happen? Thousands of people in the media business shudder at even the possibility
—the entire distribution system wiped out, a large category of occupation rendered obsolete.
Then reason takes over. What about the million upon millions of people who are in motion from
one place to another, on airplanes, trains and buses? Many of them are reading as they travel,
having purchased some kind of printed matter before boarding.
The computer scientists have an answer for that one. There are already in existence lap
readers, devices which can be carried and opened up to reveal a screen on one side and a device
for microfiches on the other. Laptop computers, allow the user to read a book-length Manuscript
or the content of a newspaper, magazine, book, including uploading photographs from a digital
camera: Even CD-I technology, which stands for Computer Disk-Interactive, suggest that video-
type magazine will be available, complete with living color, text, still and motion pictures, and
CD-quality stereo sound.
Whether we will adapt our reading habits to this new technology on a massive scale
remains a disputed question. Whether people will learn with eagerness to abandon the easy
mobility of the newspaper, magazine, or book held in the hand for the mechanical reproducing
system remains to be seen.