Introduction

“Do not judge a book by its cover, but by its content.” I guess many believe on the truthfulness of this old saying. How
about this one, “First impression lasts.” I again guess, many would favor this. There are still plenty of sayings around that
contradict with each other and yet often, we cast our belief for both. This afternoon, I would spark another quote, “The
letters that make up the word listen are also the same letters that make up the word silent.” I hope you get what I would
want to mean.

Try to imagine a bare window. That would sure leave a disgusting impression of abandonment and neglect. Unappealing!
Naïve! Artless! But you can make-it-up. What are you going to do? Dress up the window: put up curtains, draperies,
laces… etc. A single page of a campus paper or any other paper of similar purpose is much like a bare window. It is artless
unless it is dressed up. If the page is the window, the layout is the window dressing. And that’s the very topic I am going
to share with you this afternoon.

No amount of beautiful stories and fresh news can salvage a poor layout. “First impression lasts.” I am convicted to say,
that however good the staff writers are, if the layout artist lacks knowledge on how they would present their works as a
whole, then the outcome is below satisfaction.

Layout Defined

Layout is the make-up or the window dressing of a page. It consists the arrangement of illustrations, texts and graphics
on a page which is to be printed including the selection of font styles, sizes and colors. Laying out a page is a matter of
personal taste. There are no criteria set for it. Therefore, the staff may experiment freely on page makeup until they get
the pattern acceptable to them.

In this age, the broadsheets like PDI, PhilStar, MB … etc. are the most common sizes used in many campus papers.
Others used the tabloid size like Romblon Text. However, a more convenient size that multinational companies, agencies
and even other universities used today is the newsletter. It is very convenient because it can be published on your
desktop computer with minimum printer requirement.

So what can a good layout give a paper? Layout does so much good to a newspaper because it gives prominence
to the news in proportion to its importance; it makes the pages appear attractive; it gives the paper a
personality/individuality of its own; and it makes the different contents easy to find and read. Boxes for pictures, arrows
for texts and lines for leads are among the symbols used in layouting.

Conceptual Model of An Excellent Layout

Factors of an Excellent Layout

Proportion – deals with the ratio of one part to another and of the parts to the whole. Example: Pictures must be sized
properly to keep up with other shapes on the page. Square cuts are undesirable. Length of stories must be considered. A
long story may ruin the proportion of the page. A jump story is better than a poorly proportioned page.
Unity (Harmony) - the agreement between parts. Content of every page/double page must blend as a harmonious unit.
No one part of the page should overshadow another. The headlines should complement each other and the pictures
should not distract the eyes too much from the type.
Balance – a feeling of equality in weight; suggests the gravitational equilibrium of a single unit or a space arranged with
respect to an axis or a fulcrum.
Occult balance/assymetrical balance = “felt” balance. Visual units in the other side of the axis are not identical but are
placed in positions so equated to produce a felt equilibrium.
Emphasis – gives proper importance to the parts and to the whole. It involves the differentiation between the more
important and the less important. Example: News/articles must be displayed according to importance. The news value of
every story must determine to what page it should find print, its position on the page, and the style and size of its
headline.
Contrast – is the blending of units as one. Every head and cut on a page should contrast with adjoining materials.
Contrasting adjacent headlines will help emphasize the importance of each other. Boxes and pictures between heads are
sometimes good makeup devices.
Extraneous factors that harm an excellent layout

Tombstoning (placing two or more headlines on approximately the same leveling adjacent columns specially if they are
of the same point and types.
Bad breaks – breaking stories to the top of columns. The top of every column should have a headline or a cut.
Separating related stories and pictures.
Gray areas (sea of gray). Use fillers instead.
Screaming headline - is one that is too big for a short or unimportant story.
Heavy tops. Don’t make the page top heavy.
Fit them all. Avoid many headlines of the same size on a page.
Placing small heads on rather long story.

Pointers in laying out some parts of a newspaper

1. Front Page
-make the top story distinct
-use the principles of contrast and balance
2. News
-facing page using the principles of contrast and balance.
3. Editorial/Opinions
-distinct, dignified and formal appeal
-small editorial box that can be anchored in any corner
-font types of titles are of masculine appearance
4. Feature and Literary
-literary and feminine appearance
-wider columns and italics font types
5. Sport
-bolder and lively appearance
-suggestive of content (action, speed and color)
-bold font types
6. Photo Essay
-well captioned-pics
-story and pictures combined

Synthesis

Layouting is a skill as important as any journalism skills. It can be learned better through practice. Knowledge of
design principles in laying out a page goes a long way because in any pieces of written works you may engage in the
future, you know how to present them creatively. The best newspaper in the world has never been laid out yet nor the
best issue of The Spectrum. I therefore challenge you to break the limits you imposed on yourselves and set free your
creative mind. Only when the mind is free that campus press freedom is best felt, eventually, building a bridge that links
to right information is not a burden at all. Thank you!