Beyond the Copy: The Look of the Page Headlines, Layout & Design

Purpose of a Headline A headline must grab the reader’s attention. The headline must convey clear, concise thoughts. It must be accurate in facts and tone.

Consider this headline-- How does it grab the reader’s attention? What is accurate and what is misleading?

Tips for Writing Headlines Read the copy. Read through the whole thing before you try to write a headline. Think about the most important idea. That’s the idea you want to get across in your headline. Take two key words from the copy– nouns that represent the main idea, especially the main action or result. Incorporate those into the headline. Consider the space to fill. That affects the wording of the headline. Is it a banner headline? Does it have a subhead stacked under it?

Be Sure to Avoid: One word headlines – it looks like a label instead of a headline. Butting headlines together. This is known as tombstoning and can be very confusing to the reader. Cliché headlines that don’t convey the facts in the copy.

What’s Wrong With These? Cliché is in bad taste Confusing Word Choice

What is wrong here? Police chase winds through three towns Dead cats protest Clinic gives poor free legal help

What is wrong here? Police chase winds through three towns Dead cats protest Clinic gives poor free legal help Winds is confusing: noun or verb? No verb –readers may make the noun protest into a verb Is poor a noun or an adjective?

Newspaper Page Layouts Newspaper pages contain: headlines, bylines, copy, photographs, cutlines/captions, photo credits. Old newspapers were in single column format. Not done today. Terms: Black space=photos Gray space=words White space=empty area All items must be placed in an organized manner so that everything is clear to the reader. Avoid crowding elements or too much white space.

Yearbook Page Layouts Pages are viewed as double page spreads (DPS). So pages must be consistent and complimentary. Avoid placing words or photos across the gutter (the center binding area). The arrangement of pages is organized in a ladder (the listing of pages). Pages are printed as signatures: large sheets of paper, with 16 yearbook pages on each signature.

Dummy: A drawing that represents a layout Use columns to arrange the elements. Stories are measured in column inches. Photos are shown with an X.

Page Must Be Eye-Catching This front page has only one story. It has a boring layout with too many repetitive columns of text. Does not draw reader into the paper.

Don’t Overload a Page This page has no logical order. Unclear which story the photo accompanies. Too many columns Need lines or boxing to separate stories clearly.

Sample Yearbook DPS Has a headline. Has a dominant photo Uses white space to separate elements Eye-catching design. Has captions for all photos.

Reminders Each page should have a dominant photo. It’s the largest & most interesting. Mug shots are NOT dominant photos EVER. Photos are the most important features on a yearbook page. Use eye-catching, action photos. Font sizes: Headlines are in largest font size. Captions are in smallest font sizes. Copy needs to be a standard font and size, consistent on all pages. Use color and/or graphic elements to demonstrate the book’s theme.