Layout or Makeup Journalism

If the page is the Show Window,

And the page 1 is the

main window,

then the Makeup or Layout is the Window Dressing.

First, let’s take a short Quiz-

The Philippine Star Philippine Daily Inquirer

Manila Bulletin

Libre

Layout &

Makeup

It has been often said that MAKEUP is a happy marriage of

AESTHETICS & MECHANICS

It is the arrangement of

illustrations and types on a page

or a spread which is to be

reproduced graphically.

A newspaper should be carefully and properly laid out

1. To give prominence to the news in

proportion to is importance.

2. To make the different contents easy to find

and to read.

3. To give the pages an attractive

appearance.

4. To give the paper a personality of its own.

An effective makeup may be planned using two procedures:

1. Page makeup is a matter of personal taste.

There are no absolute criteria for laying out

the page or pages of a newspaper or a

magazine; therefore, the layout artist may

experiment freely on page makeup until he

gets the pattern that is acceptable to him.

2. There are many forms of front

page makeup, it’s good to know

them, but this does not mean that

the staff can’t devise its own.

Types of Front Page

MakeupBy Way of Headline and Text

Arrangement

The Scholastic Journalism by Earl

English and Clarence Hach gives the

following types of front page makeup

by way of headline and text

arrangement.

1. Perfect Balance Makeup

(Balance or Symmetrical Makeup)

-A large headline placed, for example in the right-

hand column front page, is balanced with a

corresponding large one in the first and second

column.

-Other headlines are similarly arranged. A one-

column cut at the top of the column four.

This kind of makeup gives a static,

monotonous appearance to the

paper. It should not be made from

issue to issue although The New York

Times is noted for this.

v

2. Brace or Focus Makeup

-Headlines are diagonally arranged from the

upper left to the lower right hand corner or

vice-versa just like a brace supporting a

house.

-balance is obtained by various devices

such as two-column heads, boxes, and cuts

which are used to offset the weight

concentrated in the upper right or upper left

hand corner.

This kind of makeup is desirable to use

when one story is more important than

any other because the reader’s attention

is directed to the upper right-hand

corner or occasionally to the upper left.

3. Broken Column Makeup-the page is broken into several units to give space to many stories.

-symmetry is obtained be carefully arranging the contents so as not to cancel each other by their nearness. Large heads and cuts are placed where they give the page a pleasing pattern.

This kind of makeup is developed

primarily to be able to print as

many short news stories on Page

1 as possible.

4. Occult Makeup

-type groups are arranged at varying

distances from the center like two

boys on a see-saw.

-it is sometimes called occult or

hidden balance because the type

group with its headline may be

balanced with a picture, an illustration

or a bow, instead of another type

group.

No attempt is made to achieve

perfect balance. This is one of

the most popular kinds of front

page makeup since it permits

great variety fro, issue to issue.

5. Streamline Makeup

-the format is similar to that of the

contrast and balance makeup.

However, the nameplate is usually

floated, headlines are flushed up in

cap and lower-case (clc) type, and

large body types are often used.

-instead of boxing stories in full, three

quarter boxes are restored to.

Often, bullets, asterisks, or jim

dashes are employed to introduce

lead stories. This kind of makeup is

more commonly used by high

school papers than by the national

dailies.

6. Circus Makeup

- it is broken-column carried to the

extreme. The page is broken up with no

attempt at regularity, symmetry, or

order.

-Many headlines of all size; boxes and

cuts are scattered all over the page,

each clamoring for attention, and

screaming as barkers carnival circus

do. There is no focus of interest.

This kind of makeup is not desirable for high

school papers. The Peoples Journal, a

metropolitan daily, has adopted this kind of

makeup.

Makeup By Way of

Text and Photo

Combination

1. The X Format

2. The CurveFormat

3. The L format

4. The J Format

5. The Umbrella Format

The work of putting out an attractive newspaper is jointly the efforts of the editors and his staff

around him.

• The staff is composed of what we call in newspaper parlance as deskmen.-they are the makeup maen and layout men. -they decide on the general appearance of the newspaper.

• Dummy sheet-a piece of paper which has measurement in length and in depth and will determine more or less the pages.the main consideration in preparing the page is that it should be as attractive as possible.

Types of Layouting

1. Quadrant Makeup- divides the page into four parts. Each quarter has its own eye-spotting story.

2. Horizontal Makeup-the appearance of the page is horizontal rectangles. The effect on the eyes is made by using multi-column heads; the eyesight travels horizontally.

3. Circus Makeup- which is really like a circus. All harmony is thrown to the winds. No symmetry, and there are sensational pictures or boxed human interest stories.

4. Brace Makeup the brace is characterized by angular shelf-like arrangement of content. The deskman usually projects the effect by making a four-column head, that is what you call a red-out or a drop-head of, two columns or three-columns.

Make up of Inside Pages

1. For News Pages-

Inside news pages should be laid as

facing page units rather than as

single pages.

The principles of contrast and

balance used for front page makeup

should also be applied in planning

the makeup of facing pages.

2. For Editorial Pages

These pages should have a

distinctive, dignified, and formal

appearance. The masthead or

editorial box which should be

relatively small, may be

anchored in any corner as done

in streamlined newspapers.

Traditionally, the editorials

appear in the first two columns.

They are of larger types. Heads

or titles of editorials, just like the

headline of news stories should

be of the masculine appearance,

not the italic or the script type.

3. For Feature and Literary Pages

These pages must have a literary

and feminine appearance. The

columns are often wider. Roman

and italics types are used for

text.

4. For Sports Page

These pages have a bolder but

more lively appearances than

other pages. Their makeup

should suggest their content,

action, speed, and color. Large

bold heads, even streamers are

used.

Principles to Follow to Achieve Effective MakeupScholastic Journalism

English & Hack

1.Unitythe content of every page and of every double page spread should blend into a harmonious unit. No one part of the page should overshadow another.

the headlines should complement each other and the picture should not distract the eyes too much.

2. Balance

balance should be whether it be

perfect or occult. This can be done

by having like or unlike units

balance each other. A cut may be

balance with another cut, or with a

group of headlines, or with a

boxed story. A two-column head

may balance a box and a single

column head.

3. Emphasis

in order to achieve emphasis,

news should be displayed

according to importance. The

news value of every story must

be determined as to what page it

should find print, its position on

the page, and the style and size

of its headline.

News stories should be graded according to value or importance to the public and should be given the corresponding size and style of headline they deserve.

the conventional way of positioning the news stories after they have been graded is to place them in the order of their importance: first, on the right half position of the page above the fold; second, on the left half portion of the page below the fold; and fourth, on the left half portion of the page below the fold following a big letter “S” shape.

4. Movement

there is no movement in perfect balance. With occult balance, the eye is directed from one part of the page to another—from the most important to the least important.

5. Proportion

the picture must sized properly to keep up with other shapes on the page, Square cuts are undesirable. The length of the stories should be considered. A long story may ruin the proportion of the page.

Although it is best to avoid jump stories, a jump story is better than a poorly proportioned page.

6. Contrast

Each story and cut should have an individuality of its own. This can be achieved if units blends together as one. Every head and cut on a page should contrast with adjoining materials. Contrasting adjacent headlines will help emphasize between heads are sometimes good makeup devices.

Do’s & Don’ts

in Page Makeup

1.Avoid tombstoning-placing two or more headlines on approximately the same level in adjacent columns especially if they are of the same point and types.

2. Avoid bad breaks-breaking stories to the top of the columns. The top of every column should have a headline or cut.

3.Avoid separating related stories and pictures.

4.Avoid gray area. Breaking these up with the use of subheads; indented boldfaace paragraphs; and use of short articles with short headlines.

5.Keep long columns of 6 points types and tabular material to a minimum especially on the front page.

6. Avoid using a banner headline unless the story deserves it. Screaming headlines should not also be used. A screaming headline is one that is too big for a short or unimportant story.

7. Don’t make the page top-heavy, i.e., making the top half of the page heavy with cuts and big headlines. A spread head beneath the fold will help prevent this.

8. Avoid many headlines of the same size on a page.

9. Avoid placing small heads on rather long stories.

10. The average number of stories on page 1 of a tabloid is from seven to nine stories.

-END-Thank you for Listening!