Journalism Training Blog

One of the most important things I’m having drilled into my head in this program is not to do things just for the sake of doing them. This applies to headlines, photos, design, videos, data projects, you name it. Don’t use “clever” language in a headline if it’s actually just confusing. Don’t take a photo just for the sake of taking a photo — make sure it is something that will enhance the story. Don’t make a video just for the sake of making a video — make sure there’s some element of the story that needs video for proper telling. Don’t run text over a faded photo just for the sake of doing something different with your design. Don’t do things because you can but because you should.

Last week, J. Ford Huffman, a former deputy managing editor of USA Today, took us on a tour of the Nevada Museum of Art and spoke to us about visual communication. So why visit a museum? Huffman explained that it gives one a chance to get out of the newsroom (or classroom, in our case) and see forms of art other than newsroom photos, graphics and page designs. The museum visit was an opportunity to get ideas for photos and graphics by studying fine art, and to get ideas for thinking visually in a variety of forms. It also gave us a chance to see how curators and exhibit designers work to organize art, much like page designers must organize and display stories and art on a page.

The next day, Huffman critiqued our newspapers and spoke to us about design. He explained that design is about organization, not decoration, and that good content is what drives good design. Here are some of Huffman’s design tips:

• Think of your page as a poster you’re designing. You should be able to frame it.
• Stick to the grid.
• Each page needs a dominant element to tell the reader where to focus.
• That dominant element, or lede, can be anywhere you want it to be.
• Each element on the page needs a dominant part. For example, if the centerpiece has three photos, one needs to be bigger than the others.
• Readers look at photos first, then headlines, so things should be kept in that order when possible. That is, in general you shouldn’t put your headline above the photo, because it disrupts the normal reading pattern. The reader will look at the photo, then up at the headline, then back down, instead of just flowing from top to bottom.
• Again, think about design as organization, not decoration. Be careful about adding things to your page unless there’s a need for them.
• Type is type. Don’t add color, shadows, outlines, screens, etc., to your newspaper’s typeface.
• Use contrasting elements. For example, big and small, horizontal and vertical, open space and filled space.
• Content is key. The best designs come from the best content.
• Write the headline, then make it fit. If there’s art with the story, the headline and art should work together to tell the story, and they should make sense when looked at together. On long-term stories, think of a working headline early on so you can come up with the concept for the art based on that.
• Think of the concept first, then form and mode of execution (photo, drawing, etc.).
• Simplify. The design should call your attention to the content, not to the design itself.
• Bad color is worse than no color. Avoid the message that comics colors send — for example, Huffman says, imagine a locator map for a tragic event that has bright green land and bright blue water. Those bright colors mislead a reader who has been conditioned to think that bright colors belong on the Sunday comics page.
• Crop photos.
• Edit photos.
• Keep a file of layouts you like and borrow those ideas.
• You don’t need gimmicks. Headlines, art and visual structure should tell the reader what the story is about. For example, Huffman says, a story about a basketball player doesn’t need a little drawing of a basketball with it.
• Buy yourself a treat — go to a newsstand to see how other paper’s handle their formats.
• Put your readers in the paper — find opportunities to use photos and illustrations that reflect your readership and potential readership. Don’t just use photos that reflect racial diversity with stories that deal with race. Use them with “normal” stories. And avoid perpetuating stereotypes.
• Don’t duplicate words, phrases or images. If the numbers are in a graphic, they don’t need to be in the story. Don’t use the same words in the headline, lede and cutline. Words to explain a map or graphic should be in the map or graphic. Don’t use three photos of the same person doing similar things.
• Don’t duplicate images unless you’re trying for visual continuity.
• Word editors should learn about art, and art editors should learn about language.
• Bad display can ruin a good story.
• Newspapers are visual media. We need to make readers look at them.

Huffman also gave us copies of some great design and photo checklists that I’ll share when I get back to the Bay Area. I’ve also got tip sheets on glance boxes and writing great cutlines.

I am happy to say that Huffman had some good things to say about the Tribune’s design. I showed him the “Yusuf Bey IV Indicted” paper from April 30:

His first response was, “I wonder what you guys will do for World War III.” But then he said he actually liked seeing a big deal made out of local news when warranted. His only design tip on this page was to move the project logo and the text next to it down to somewhere else on the page. Again, he emphasized that the reader’s eye wants to move from top to bottom. When we put something small up on top, the reader looks elsewhere first, then up, then back down, disrupting the normal flow. He noted that the red used was an appropriate red — not something too bright.

I also gave him the May 6 Tribune for critique:

His comment on the front page was that he didn’t like having the text run over the photo in the centerpiece package, nor did he like having the photo fade out. He said if that part of the photo isn’t important enough to see, it should just be cropped out. Why run text over it and risk making it harder for the reader to see the text? This A1 centerpiece raised the concern that the design was being used as decoration rather than helping sell the content of the story.

He had a similar comment on that day’s Food & Wine front (I’m just showing part of the page):

Huffman’s question: Why feather the photos in the centerpiece instead of just cropping and bordering them the normal way? He thought it was just decoration.