Design Fundamentals

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Design Fundamentals

• COM 365
• Newspaper Layout Design

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Four basic principles

• Contrast
• Repetition
• Alignment
• Proximity

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Contrast

• Contrast adds interest
• Occurs when two elements are different
• Usually the more contrast, the better
• Many ways to create contrast
• Large-small, think-thin, etc.

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Mike Tyson holds his two-month old son, Miguel,
in his dressing room after his fight with Lennox
Lewis.
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• Use more contrast, then it looks planned.

6 pt.
The Rules of Life
Your attitude is your life. Maximize your
options. Never take anything too seriously. Dont
let the seeds stop you from
enjoying the watermelon Be nice.
1 pt.
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SportsBriefs SportsBriefs SPORTSBRIEFS SportsBrief
s
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Contrast helps create a center of interest
Headline goes in here
Headline goes in here
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Summary of contrast

• Purpose is to (1) create interest and (2) give
  presentation a focus
• Make most important thing big

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Alignment

• Every item on a page should have a visual
  connection with something else on the page
• Gives order to a page

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Ways of aligning text
This text is flush left. Some people call it
ragged right, or you can say it is left aligned.
This text is centered. It is harder to read than
flush left text.
This text is flush right. Some people call it
ragged left, or you can say it is right aligned.
This text is justified. It is even on both sides.
It can cause problems with word spacing.
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James Clark Antique Dealer
Centered
321 Main Street Center, IL 62026 [phone]
James Clark Antique Dealer
Flush right
321 Main Street Center, IL 62026 [phone]
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Use grid for alignment
Photo
Cutline goes here and is aligned flush left like
this.
Headline goes about here
Text
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• Align cutlines under photos

The caption for this photo is set centered as and
not aligned to the left with the photo.
The caption for this photo is set flush left and
is aligned with the left edge of the photo.
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Align the tops and bottoms of stories so that
they even off
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Summary of alignment

• All page designs should have inner alignments
• All elements should be aligned
• Purpose is to organize, unify the page
• Best way to keep things in alignment is to use a
  grid

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Proximity

• Group related items together
• Physically move them close together
• Items not related should not be near each other
• Elements that are intellectually connected need
  to also be visually connected

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Antique Dealer
[phone]
James Clark
Center, IL 62026
321 Main Street

• Problems
• Too many separate elements that all go together
• Where do you start, how do you proceed to read
  all five?

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James Clark Antique Dealer
321 Main Street Center, IL 62026 [phone]

• Good points
• Nearness of visual elements implies they go
  together
• Page is more organized (white space)
• You know where to begin reading, where to end

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Group related photos together in layouts
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Summary for proximity

• Items related to each other should be grouped
• Basic purpose of proximity is also to organize
• Easier to read

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Repetition

• Repeat some aspect of the design throughout the
  piece
• Can be anything a reader will visually recognize
• Makes the publication seem like it all goes
  together

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In a newspaper repetition means

• Using same font for headlines
• Using same size, font, alignment for text,
  cutlines, bylines, credit lines
• This means for each story, on each page
  throughout the paper

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Summary of repetition

• You can have repetition on a single page
  (headlines) and even more importantly throughout
  a document (headlines, page numbers, etc.)
• Also known as consistency
• Makes a publication look like it all goes together