Designing women (and men)

By: Joe Strupp APME panelists address appearance of small papers

MEMPHIS, Tenn. ? Design in small newspapers should provide a balance between striking, clean images that grab readers and clear, detailed information that is easy to find. That was the consensus of a panel of four newspaper design experts who addressed Page One layout issues during a seminar at the Associated Press Managing Editors national convention here Oct. 13.
The group offered tips on front-page layout by critiquing about two dozen small daily newspapers from around the country that had been submitted for review. The critiques ranged from headline size to placement of photos to graphics.
"Think about variety, not having the same thing every day," said Randy Stano, a journalism professor at the University of Miami who participated in the event. "You need variety in the way you play stories and photos."
Stano suggested that one of the easiest ways to offer variety is in the number of teasers and promos at the top of the page. He said they can range from one to three a day, depending on the importance of each story. "Everyone should look at that," he said. "Don't be tied down to one number."
Jim Jennings, vice president and editorial director at Thomson Newspapers, agreed. He said one good story is often enough for a Page One promo.
"Many times we find ourselves asking, 'What is the third promo?'" Jennings said. "If you have to ask, maybe you don't need it. Approach the promo the same as every other piece of content."
Jennings also urged designers to look at Page One from a single-copy sales point of view, with the idea that only the top half of a broadsheet paper will be seen in a news rack. "Don't look at the page full screen," he said. "Look at it like the reader would look at it in the box."
For Naomi Halperin, photo editor at The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa., a key issue was captions. She advised editors to make sure captions provided clear identities of subjects and important information.
"Captions should be informative, but not redundant," Halperin said. "Don't repeat what is in the photo. Photojournalists must be good journalists and find out information."
On the issue of space layout and jumps, Assistant Managing Editor Julie Shirley of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif., said planning is the most important thing. She said letting writers know how much space they have to work with well in advance avoids the need to cut to fit, which can result in poor editing.
"You also need to look for art early in the day," said Shirley. "Then you are not just using art to fill space ? you give yourself time to get it."
Panelists said headline size needs to be handled carefully so that it is not too large for a story of small importance, or too narrow and difficult to read. "Headline inflation has hit newspapers," said Jennings. "God forbid, if we ever have a real major story, we won't be able to tell."
Jennings also stressed the importance of keeping some things ? such as contents, index boxes, and weather reports ? in the same space each day so they are easy to find.
"Don't make it a bouncing ball," he said. "There is nothing more irritating for a reader than having to go looking for something."
Other panelist tips for page design included focusing on:
?Attractiveness ? Grab the readers' attention and pull them into the page.
?Community ? Communicate with readers; don't talk at them.
?Content ? Do not distract from readers' understanding of the news.
?Creativity ? Break the mold. Look for opportunities to stretch creative bounds.
?Organization ? Map out a visual path for readers to follow.
?Production ? Make it easy to produce each day.

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