Dissecting Design Design

What makes magazines, newspapers, yearbooks and other print and online media products visually appealing?

Creating visual appeal There are a few common elements that create visual appeal in nearly all media products. Typography Color use Column grids / organization Modules and packages Art (photos and illustrations)

Typography A lot of information can be communicated through type. Type helps establish: Tone Mood Emphasis Hierarchy

Tone: This type design gives readers the sense that an editor is making corrections — thus setting the tone for the story. Typography Hierarchy: The varying sizes of type displayed within the word bubbles creates a visual hierarchy informing the reader where to start reading first, second, third, etc. Blend magazine, Ball State Journalism Workshops

Mood: Since most people associate word bubbles with comics or social media, this design style sets a fun and lively mood for what this story is about. Likewise, exclamation points also help establish a fun, exciting mood. Typography Emphasis: The sheer size of this headline indicates this is likely the main story of the issue. Blend magazine, Ball State Journalism Workshops

Color use Color undoubtedly draws attention. It makes people stop and take notice. Whether it’s a sparkling new car, a stop sign, the yellow arches (McDonald’s) or a hot pink T-shirt, people are attracted to color.

Color use Blend magazine, Ball State Journalism Workshops

Column grids Orderly designs utilizing a column grid structure make it easier to navigate and extract information.

Column grids This is a 3-column page. Blend magazine, Ball State Journalism Workshops This is a 3-column page. Column grids: Using columns to organize text and other elements helps the reader easily navigate the design, determine story flow and extract information. Pages that don’t utilize a column grid structure are often confusing and chaotic.

Modules and packages Modules help create organization, establish a hierarchy and develop well-defined packages.

Modules Modules: A module is a rectangle or square. In design, each module consists of all the elements that go with a single story, i.e. headline, photo, caption, byline, story, etc. The above illustrations depict individual story modules consisting of a photo (black boxes), headlines and body copy (gray boxes).

Modules Modules: The left illustration shows an example of a full page with three modules. The right illustration highlights the three modules in blue.

Art (Photos and Illustrations) Art creates interest and provides a visual reference for a story. Using art helps establish focus, page flow and story hierarchy.

Illustrations: Illustrations are often a good way to visually enhance a story when the subject matter is difficult to photograph or when the story is better told through a graphic or another alternative story form, e.g. a step-by-step story about shooting video. Art / Photos Blend magazine, Ball State Journalism Workshops Photos: Photos that set a scene, show emotion or feature several faces (like the example above) draw attention because they provide a visual reference for the story.