When filling out an article in a magazine, a layout designer must solve several problems at once. Emphasize the features of the content of the text, without drawing attention to the bright design. Separate the article from others, but keep the style of the journal consistent. An experienced specialist will be able to kill all hares. Basic rules of typography and design will help a beginner.
Instructions
Step 1
Determine how much of the magazine page you will use for text, illustration, and headline.
Step 2
Choose an illustration for the text. Its content should fully correspond to the topic of the article and supplement it, and not duplicate it in a straightforward manner. The reader will appreciate the photo as successful if its proportions are close to the golden ratio, and the location on the strip will comply with the composition rules. Add infographics if needed. The main criteria for its design are brevity and information content.
Step 3
Pay attention to the transfer rules when designing the title. Do not separate prepositions, conjunctions and particles from the words to which they refer. The position of the heading in relation to the text depends on the goals of the journal and on the content of the article. As a rule, it is undesirable to place it in an array of text - this splits the article into random fragments and creates the illusion of a headless publication.
Step 4
Choose a font for your headline, lead, and body text. If the style of the magazine is not experimental, use a classic typeface - Academy, Bodoni, Franklin Gothic, Goudy, Helvetica, Petersburg, Times New Roman, etc. The font size of the main text should be legible - in the range from 8 to 12 points. The standard difference between the title and the text of an article is two points.
Step 5
Pay attention to the line spacing. If not absolutely necessary, do not change it. The same rule applies to character spacing.
Step 6
Highlight the lead and main phrases of the text. Use bold, or mix opposing typefaces. However, do not get carried away with fonts - their abundance makes the text fragmented, chaotic and disorienting the reader.
Step 7
The combination of font and background color also affects readability. Therefore, if you decide to highlight a line or paragraph by changing the background shade, choose a contrasting option.
Step 8
The distance between the columns of the text and the standard elements of the page (title, lead, photo) is set at the stage of approval of the layout of the publication and does not change from issue to issue. All parts of one article are separated by one such space, elements that do not apply to the article - two or more.
