MAGAZINE SPREADS –

GOOD AND BAD PRACTICES

HiepHD collected, edited and translated from the author Nikola - Magazine Designing

Magazine spread is two pages that are next to each other. Each spread
works as one unit. It is not two pages separated but two pages that
work together to create one unit. When designing magazines it is
vital to look at these two pages as one single element even if those
pages are going to contain two different stories. Even if one of the
pages is containing an ad or even if one story is ending on left page
and another is starting on the right page (if possible you should avoid
situations like these but sometimes they are unavoidable).

Readers see a spread as one unit. Since magazines are smaller than newspapers,
magazine spread can be “digested” in one view because our peripheral vision
encompasses the entire spread at normal viewing distance. On the other hand
newspaper, especially large format broadsheet newspapers are scanned in several takes.
Because of this you have to consider what will be on the other side of your spread. Will it
be an ad, will it be beginning of another story or maybe full bleed image.

Gray areas represent the most visible areas of the spread.

Darker shaded area is more visible than the lighter shades.
Readers eye is drawn to the upper parts that’s why those areas have the most impact.
Elements of the spread
Not all areas of the spread are equal. Some have more importance, some have less. For Readers eye direction
example, when you go to the newsstand, you pick up some magazine, you grab the When influencing on the reader your design should have meaning. Readers concentrate
magazine by the spine with your left hand, and with your right hand you flip through the on the top parts of the spread. This is the first place where their eye will stop when they
pages. skim through the pages, so you cannot start your story by placing headline on bottom
The most visible area at that point is the outer part of the right page. Other example is if right page. This is not natural starting point.
you put magazine on the table and start flipping the pages, the lighter (left part) of the I have seen this in so many examples, but try to avoid it. It is not good design if the
magazine will be flipped and folded but the heavier (right part) will stay flat on the table, reader has to search through the page to find most important thing (if there is no image
hence more exposed to the viewer’s eye. The process is reversed if someone is flipping on the page), and that’s the headline. It is even worse if you put the headline at the
magazine from the last page, than the outer left area of the page is the most visible one. bottom and you put beginning of the story on top of it.
This is not a natural way of reading the story. Everything should have flow. You should
work your way from the meaningful top left and then continue to the bottom. Headline,
intro copy and then the main copy. That should be your guide.
THE MOST VISIBLE PARTS OF A SPREAD ARE OUTER UPPER
PARTS
You should place your best content on the outside parts of the spread. These are the
areas that are most seen. This is the place to put most provocative images and words. Put
the best stuff where it will be most visible and where it will make the best impact. Most
valuable areas of page spread are top left and top right parts, because when you skim
through the magazine these are the areas where you look the most. Make the most of
them.
On the other hand, bottom part of the spread, inner corners near the gutter are less
important. Have you ever noticed how designers place footnotes and some credits in
those parts of the spread? Now you know why.

In this case it is OK to place the headline at the bottom.

Reader will have no problem following the story, besides, it would be
awkward to place the headline on top of the model’s head.

This is the natural way of viewing things, unless designer pulls his attention away by
placing elements on the page that will attract the reader’s eye. Sometimes headline can
go on the bottom part of the page if this pages has full-page image that bleeds out of the
page.

Bad example of placing headline and intro text.

It is not a natural way of skimming through the story.
This is an example of bad text flow. You can see how the flow of the story is not natural
and the reader will have hard time following the text.
Image and body text arrangement
When placing big blocks of text, try not to break them up. You should not throw
elements on a page just for the sake of throwing them around. Let it have a meaning. A
flow. If you put barriers on the page, reader will have hard time following the flow of the
story. Keep the flow of the text columns tidy and even.
Things should be simple, and you should simplify the design by aligning the columns
at the top and placing images above them. In this way reader will have no problem to
follow the text part of the story.
This is good example of text flow. Text and images have their own place and importance.
Flow is natural and reader will have no problem following it.
Take a look at these images above and you will see how the flow of the text is better in
the second image. Red lines represent the direction of the eye. You will see how harder is
to follow the text flow in first image.
Ad pages
Advertisers prefer right pages. Since advertisers want great exposure that’s why they
insist to be placed on the right page. Again, as you skim through the magazine you will
notice their ad much easier. Especially if the ad is in vertical half a page format. Placing
that ad in the inner part of the page, near the gutter, would be great mistake. Costly
mistake.
ALWAYS LOOK AT A SPREAD AS A UNIT
Left pages are great for editorial content. It is always good to know which ad will go
on the opposing page. In this way you can design editorial page in a way that will
correspond with the ad. It is best to make a contrasting design on your editorial page.
For example, if the ad is in blue shades, you should not use blue as central color on your
page. If the ad has emphasized image that bleeds out, you should design your page with
more text and very few images. In this way reader will have no problem do distinguish
what is editorial and what is ad. Of course sometimes this is hard to carry out but try to
make your editorial pages different from ad pages.
Try to remember these rules and follow them, once you are familiar with them you
can start to break them, but only if it will bring something interesting and make design
better. Do not do something different just for the sake of making it different. Always
have meaning for whatever you do.
Setting up, Types and Description of
Page Margins
Margins are very important part of any publication design. To set up
a type and leading sizes you have to set up columns, and to set up the
columns you have to start with proper margins. Margins contribute
to the effect of the overall design and the white space surrounding
them creates a sense of comfort and belonging.

Your margins have to have a particular purpose in mind. You must determine the
margins which will give elements on the page desired appearance according to the
message you want to convey to your readership.
Margins give the pages a necessary dose of the white space which is very important in
design. Margins can convey a specific tone which you can see in the examples at the
bottom.

The function of margins

Margins have several functions. First one is the visual, since they provide a buffer zone
keeping the text and graphics from “falling off the page”. As mentioned above, with its
white space they give an eye break for the reader, even if the text is densely laid out.
Margins have practical functions also. They leave the space for the reader to hold the
publication without obscuring the text with their fingers. If you are working on some
manuals, textbooks or workbooks you can leave extra space in the foot margin so that
the user can make notes if necessary. If your publication is going to be bound with
staples or with ring binders you will have to leave more space for the inner margin.
Golden section with 2:3 ratio.
This kind of margins setup is very elegant and very few magazines can afford it. Today’s
modern magazine design is swapping the size of top and bottom margins. Quite
differently than the “golden section” which is more common in book layouts. On the
other side of this very elegant setup lies dull one. The dullest margin setup is when you
have all four margins of a same size. Although dullest this setup can be seen very often in
contemporary magazine design.

Setting up the margins

You have to set up your margins in a mathematical relationship to the page. Most famous
relationship is the “golden section” in which the page proportions are 34:21 and the print
area is as deep as the full-page is wide, with the margins in the proportions 2:3:4:6.
If this is a bit complicated, let me clarify. Height of your type area must be equal to the
width of the page. This is 2:3 ratio. This results in margin proportions 2:3:4:6. Inner
margin should be 2 units, top one 3, outer margin should be 4 units and bottom one 6.
Take a look at the image and you will know what I mean.
 Setting up the margins according to the grid.
Contemporary magazine margins. Notice how each margin is of the same size.

This kind of margins is also found in newspapers and other publications where you want
to get as much information as possible on the page.
When you are setting up your margins use points as measure. This is because your
margins have to be related to the grid you set up. Since your grid is set up in points it is
easier to set up margins in points also.

Baseline grid setup.

For example, if your grid is set up in 5 point inclination then you should set your top and
bottom margins in a number that can be divided by 5 (such as, 50pt, 55pt, 60pt). In this
way your top margin and bottom margin will sit on the grid. Then you can adjust inner
and outer margins.
I always set up my grid relative to the top of the page instead to the top of the margin. In
this way I can align running heads on the grid.
 Top or head margin
This margin can and should be the largest one. White space above the main block of text
is acting like an introduction into the page, it is like safe zone and counterparts the gray
block of text beneath it. This is not a waste of space. The higher up the page the text goes,
the page will look more aggressive. Generous top margin, also called “deep sinkage”
creates light and relaxed feeling. It is also better background for section headings or also
called running heads, which are useful navigation devices.

Bottom, tail or foot margin

The size of this margin should be at least half the size of top one. Bottom margin is the
least important one because you will not place any important material in there. Except
pagination. In books and in some other special publications this margin is bigger than
the head margin.

Description of the margins.

Inside, gutter or back margin

Inside margin is in big way affected by the way the publication is bound and by the
thickness of the publication. To make it easier for the reader to read the text you should
prevent the type from hiding in the gutter. If your publication is very thick you should Book margins
make inner margin wider than usual. Book margins
In book layer traditional margins setup starts with the top margin. When you choose
Outside or for-edge margin size for top margin you double that size for the bottom margin. Inner margin should be
0,75 of the top margin and outer margin should be set at twice the size of inner margin.
These are the parts of the publications that are most visible. You should place your best
Another way to determine book margins is to draw a diagonal line across the page, then
content in these parts. Outside margins should be wider than the inside ones. This
set the outside margin where you want them to be. Where the outside margin hits the
creates a more elegant look in your publication and this type of margin setup is called
diagonal line, that is the place for bottom margin. Inner margin should be half the size of
“scholar’s margin”. In this space you can place mugshot, byline, footnotes, kicker copy,
the outer margin and where the diagonal line hits the inner margin there should be top
etc.
one.
 Line Lengths and Column Width
In book design inner margins must be adjusted to allow for curvature when the book is
open.
In general the more space you devote to the margins compared to the text the more
formal the design is. This kind of layout conveys elegance and simplicity.
Here are some more examples of margin setups that are not traditional.
Line length is basically the number of characters you can place in the column so that the
text can be easily readable and visually appealing.
Column width, also referred as a measure, is the result of line length and character count
in it.
For a deeper understanding of this topic you can refer to some good typography book
and we won’t go into so many details in this article but we will cover the must have
topics. This knowledge will be more than enough, so you will know how to set up your
text.
I would like to point out one thing though and that is, knowledge learned here is applied
to body text. Other text elements like picture captions, pull-out quotes and small news
style bits of text are something different and you do not have to bother to set up these
text elements in the measurements provided in this article.

Importance of line length and column width

The width of your columns and the number of words and characters it contains affects
the readability of the text.
Too wide columns will be harder for the eye to follow and the reader will get lost in them
more easily. Too narrow columns can cause the structure of the text to break up and
Tense margins Informal margins annoy the reader because he will have to constantly skip from one row to another. Both
of these problems reduce readability.
Your goal is to set up the text in a way that the reader doesn’t have any disturbances
while reading the text. To achieve this you can follow few simple steps.

Formal margins Elegant centered m

Same font, same size but different column widths produces different results.
 Equation for getting proper line length around 35-45 characters per column line, optimal for 3 column layouts.

There is a general rule that one line of unjustified text should have around 9-12 words.
For justified text these numbers are around 10-15 words. Since some words are longer
and some shorter this is not a perfect measurement.
To precisely determine good length it is better to count the characters.
Around 30 characters in a row is a minimum line width. You can use this count for multi
column layouts. Four columns or more. Generally a lower count than 30 characters is
used in newspapers.
Optimal line length is 40-50 characters. These line lengths will be mostly seen in 2 and
3 column layout that are spreading across the whole page width. For example, 10pt type
laid out in 3 columns across the width of an A4 or similarly sized magazine will have 35-
45 characters per column line. Two column layout can have around 50-60 characters per
column line.

Optimal column width for 3 column layout with type set in 10pt has between 35-45 characters.

Line length above 30 pica is too wide and under 10 is too narrow.
Play around a little bit with these numbers and different column widths and you will get
a hang of it pretty easily.
Of course most of us in Europe use millimeters so you will have to convert 20 pica to
mm or inches, whatever you use. But you can input the result in the width field in your
layout software followed by word pica and the software will automatically convert pica to
your default measurements.

Perception of type sizes

Some designers like to measure the column width first and then divide the numbers and
Optimal column width for 2 column layout with type set at 10pt has between 50-60 characters. get the point size for their body copy. I do it in the way I explained above.
The reason I do it like that is because first I like to determine appropriate type size for my
Absolute maximum would be around 70 characters. Bigger count can be seen in books readership. For example your readers are mostly seniors. It would be much harder for
but then the leading has to be bigger than the standard 120% of a character point size. them to read 9pt size type than 11 or 12pt type. Don’t go over 12pt for body text.
You must ask yourself how to easily achieve these numbers? Don’t worry it is easy, you
won’t have to count the characters one by one.
Before your eye is trained to see and recognize the proper column width and density of
the text, there are some tools that will help you in this process. In this case we will do
some math.
To get the proper column width multiply your type point size by 1.5 to 2.5 times and the
result is your column width measured in pica. But in my experience multiplying by 2
gives the best results.
For example your type size is 10pt. Multiply it by 2 and you will get 20. This result is your
ideal line length in pica, because pica is a standard measure for column width. Now you
have a 20 pica wide column that consists of a type with the optimal character count. 20
pica wide column can have from 50-60 characters set in 10pt size, optimal for 2 column
layouts. If you multiply it by 1.5 you will get 15 pica wide column which will have
 TEXT JUSTIFICATION

Type set in the same size can look very different on the page. Mr. Eaves on the left looks has smaller x height
than others, while Andrade Pro on the right looks darkest. Caslon and Minion look just right. While first three
fonts retain same character count per line, Andrade Pro set in the same size as other three, reduces character
count per line. This font is bigger than the rest of the three even at the same size.

It is important to point out that some fonts look very different on same point sizes. One
font can look really dense and heavy on the page if it is set in 12pt size while the other
one can look too bright and spacious.
To determine the right feel and look of type on the page fill several pages with different
fonts that you plan to test for your layout and set it in the same size. Print these pages,
look at them and try to see which one looks just right. Unjustified and justified text.

Pages must not be too dark or too bright. Always print your body copy and visually
inspect these pages. This is a must. In this way you will get a better feel how will body
copy look in your magazine. Try to use live text instead of “lorem ipsum” and read it. If
you can read it clearly and with nice flow than the column width and type size are OK.
So, choose your type size first, measure the column widths, lay out some text in those
columns, print it out, read it and inspect the pages. If all looks nice and you are able to
read the text clearly, bingo, you have achieved good body text layout. Test out a few types
sizes and few column widths and see which is better. Play around a bit.
In this tutorial we will discuss how to adjust settings for justified type. Tweaking word,
letter and glyph spacing is a must if you want to improve the appearance and readability
of your text.
First let’s go to the preferences setup of your document and make an adjustment which
will help us to see the bad justification settings.
Screenshots provided and instructions are from InDesign.
Go to Preferences – Composition and click on the H&J Violations. This will mark each
badly justified line of the text in yellow. The stronger the color the worst the justification
of the line is. Now you will be able to see how bad is your justification.

H&J Violations in Preferences panel.
Now let’s go to the main justification settings panel. You can adjust these for each
paragraph individually or you can adjust it in the paragraph styles panel, which is always
better.
If you adjust it in Paragraph styles panel, then you can apply these settings to all
paragraphs that have this style attached to.
Justification settings
Justification for word, letter and glyph spacing
These are the main settings that you will have to adjust. Best results are achieved by
adjusting word and letter setting. You wont have to adjust the glyph settings since good
results can be achieved with first two adjustments settings.
• Word spacing is the space between words that results from pressing the space bar.
Word Spacing values can range from 0% to 1000%; at 100%, no extra space is added
between words.
• You can adjust word spacing in slightly bigger amounts. I almost always add the
same values for minimum and maximum. For example 75 for minimum and 125
for maximum. I leave the desired amount at default values. You will not get the
best results always by setting the same amounts for minimum and maximum. Play
around with the settings and you will see what works best.
• Letter Spacing is the distance between letters, including kerning or tracking
values. Letter Spacing values can range from 100% to 500%: at 0%, no space is
added between letters; at 100%, an entire space width is added between the letters.
• When I adjust letter spacing I adjust it in small amounts. For example -3 for
minimum and +3 for maximum. There is no need to input larger amounts like in
word spacing, since it will produce visible gaps between the letters.
• Glyph Scaling is the width of characters (a glyph is any font character). Glyph
Spacing values can range from 50% to 200%.
I never adjust this option, since all the changes can be done by letter and word spacing.
Basically glyph spacing is setting its horizontal value, meaning, shrinking it or extending
the glyphs.
There are no strict rules on how to adjust justification and there are no numbers that are
same for each font and size.
Sometimes same font, set at the same size can produce different results on a different
 Elements of a Magazine Page
column widths. This is why you should first adjust your column width and font size and
then adjust your justification settings.
You will have to play around with the settings and see what kind of results they produce.
Always click on the Preview check mark so you can see your changes taking place as you
correct the values.
Each magazine page consists of several crucial elements. The image
below is your guide and I will explain each of those elements in
Other Justification options brief. Since these elements are important, you should have a deeper
We know that the justified text is when the text is aligned with both edges of the column. understanding of how to work with them. In the next articles, I will
So, each line of the text will be aligned to the edges, except the last one. There are three go through each of them and explain them in detail.
options for justifying last line of the text. This is called Single word justification.
• Full Justify – This option stretches the last line across the width of the column.
Avoid this option. I cannot remember that I used it ever. You can use it but then you
will always have to add Flush Space at the end of every paragraph where the last line
is stretched. To insert Flush Space go to Type > Insert White Space > Flush Space.
But as I mentioned, avoid this option.
• Align left – This is the option that you want to select. It is the natural way of
aligning text.
• Align center – this option can sometimes be useful, but I cannot remember that I
used it. It can be useful in some short paragraphs but you should avoid it also.
• Align right – I also do not see the point of this option.
Last option that you want to select is Paragraph composer. There are two options. Adobe
Paragraph Composer and Adobe Single Line Composer. I almost always use Paragraph
composer. This will require more work around adjusting paragraph settings but you
will get better results because the paragraph will look more consistent and words will
be evenly spaced and with less hyphens, because Single Line Composer will use more
hyphens to adjust the line spacing.

Adjusting justification settings is a must for body text that you work on. Rarely will
type placed in the column fit perfectly. Justification options work hand in hand with
hyphenation settings which we will cover soon in one of our tutorials.
Headlines
First and most important textual element on a page is the headline. The headline is
as important as the layout. After the reader opens the page first thing that catches his
attention is the layout or some dominant image. The second thing that will draw his
attention and lure him into reading the article is the headline. The reader may find layout
attractive but if the headline is not appealing and interesting he may skip that article and
continue on.
Headlines can vary in size and the importance of the article determines headline size. I
will talk about headline treatments in another extensive tutorial. The positioning of the
headline is also vital and you should aim to place your headlines on the top of a page.
This is the place where the eye will go first. So many times I have seen headlines placed
at the bottom and for me, this is bad design. Not always but it rarely works. Place it at the
top and give the headline importance it deserves.
The headline should be set in the bigger size regarding other text elements on the page.

Intro (kicker, stand-first, deck)

As you can see there are many names for this type element. I prefer to call it “intro”,
although the most used name is “kicker”. I call it “intro” because this is an introduction
to the article. After headline catches the attention of the reader, intro acts as a bridge
between headline and body copy. It sets the tone of the article and briefly describes what
can you expect from the rest of the article. Intro text should summarize the story and
attract reader’s attention.
From the design point of view intro should be set in bigger type size than body copy but
in a much smaller size than the headline. You can also make it in different type style. If
you set a headline in serif type, you can use sans-serif type for an intro.
You should place intro text just below the headline cause they work as a team. Headline
draws reader’s attention, gets him curious and intro text solves his curiosity by giving
him more information about the article. That’s why they should work as a team and they
should be kept together.
This is not a rule set in stone. Sometimes when you design large article, the headline can
stand all by himself on the page, working as a team with the image. This treatment of
headline and the main image is also strong and I will explain it in detail in other articles.
If you decide to do this kind of design your intro text should stand on top of a body copy,
acting as a real introduction to the article.

Body copy (body text)

This is the largest part of any article. Body copy should be as interesting as the design,
as the headline and intro text. What’s the point of having great design and headline if
the content is not good? No matter how good the design is, if the main body copy is not
written in interesting ways, your magazine will lose readers, slowly but certainly.
Designing body copy is the first thing that you should do when you are designing the
templates for the magazine. Setting right margins, columns and size of the body copy
affect its readability and usability.
The size of your body copy should be consistent throughout entire magazine. Headline
size should change according to the importance of the article. Intro size can vary also,
but your body copy should stay the same, no matter what.
This is why it is important to experiment with different type sizes that fit different
column widths. As I mentioned this is done in the first stages of template creation and
you should spend lots of time working on your body copy till you get it right.
You as a designer should use column and type choice to reflect the identity of the brand
and to present the story in a way that it suits the content.
Pull quotes
Pull quotes are very useful and attractive design element and I love to play with them a
lot. You should work with your copy editor to pull out the most interesting parts of the
story and emphasize them. Pull quotes serve as a great tool to break up big blocks of
body copy and to give a more interesting look to the article.
You can use them in conjunction with the image so they together can tell a story in their
own way.
Pull out quotes can be taken out directly from the body text or they can be summarized
excerpts but that will be copy editor’s decision.
Design related, your pull out quotes should be set in a big enough size that it pulls
reader’s attention but this size should not be nearly as big as headline’s. You can
emphasize the pull quotes with frames, you can put it in a circle, you can place it inside
big exaggerated quote signs and so on. You can play with them. Stretch them across few
columns to break up the body copy even more.
Subheads
Subheads are used to break up the body copy and to give some clever insight into what
the reader can expect in the next few paragraphs. The reader may be putting off if he sees
long blocks of text and subheads should be placed to break those blocks and to denote a
new section or chapter.
You should set your subhead size just a bit larger than body copy, or you can leave
it at the same size as the body copy but emphasize it with some bold font version.
Whatever you choose you should distinct them from the body copy.
Few important aspects should be also taken into account. Do not place subheads just
below images, do not place them in the last 3 rows at the bottom of the column and do
not place them at first 3 rows at the top of the column. Never ever place them at the top
of a column. They do not serve any purpose there. Also, do not place them below pull-
out quote. Subheads should work as a separate unit and nothing should get in their way.
Image captions
These are parts of the text that should work with the image they relate to. Image and
image captions should work as a unit. The copy editor should find some nice copy to be
placed on the image or below it. Avoid placing image captions above the images. This is
bad design.
Images should be placed on top of the page and their captions should be placed below
them or on them. You can set image captions in one or two long rows or you can set
them in several narrow rows. Turn off hyphenation for image captions.
The type size should be big as body copy, or around that size. It can even be smaller for a
point or two. You can set it in a different style than body copy. Image captions are usually
set in sans-serif type for this kind of type has better readability on image backgrounds
and at smaller sizes.
As I said rules are there to be broken, but you must have a good reason to do it. Image
captions can be set in large type size but then they act like pull out quote.
Bylines and credits
Treatment of these elements is determined by the importance of the authors and
photographers that worked on the article. If you are using stock images and you
outsource the writing of the article you can place the credits vertically near the gutter.
On the other hand, if the article is written by a famous journalist and images are taken
by the photographer you should place bylines just below headline or below the intro text
if intro text is located below the headline.
Bylines can be set in the same size as body text or it can be set few points larger. Bylines
should be smaller on news pages than on feature pages. Gutter credits can be few points
smaller than the body copy.
Running head (section head)
These are navigation elements that guide the reader. If you set them in a brightly colored
box and bleed them out of the page they will be visible even when the magazine is
closed. Running heads should be carefully designed to reflect the style and tone of the
rest of the magazine.
It takes the time to get the right design for them and it should be done in the beginning
of the magazine creation. Not all pages need running heads but you can place them at
the beginnings of the sections. It would be too much to have them on each page. In this
case, repetitiveness would be annoying.
You can have freedom in designing them but do not over do it so that they don’t
dominate the page.
Folio
Folio can consist of several elements. The page number is mandatory but others are
optional. Others can be publication logo, date, month, section title, web page, but again
do not over do it. Few elements are more than enough and you should repeat them all
over the magazine. Unlike running heads, folios serve a bigger purpose and should be
placed on almost every page. The reader should know in every moment at which page he
is or to which page he needs to go.
Folios should be designed conservatively but if your publication is nontraditional one
you can play with them. Again you should not play with them on each page, but you can
emphasize your folios on certain pages. For example, you can make page number much
bigger on section starter pages. In this way, folio will work as another design element
or running head, even if they are in separate parts of a page, or you can place a page
number on top, just for this page.
The biggest problem with folios is when you have a full-page image that bleeds out of the
page. Should you place a folio on that image or not? This is a trick question, but in my
experience, I can tell you to put folio, page number at least, on each page if it is clearly
visible.
If you decide not to use the folio on full bleed image pages you can get into a problem.
Let’s say you have a 20-page story with 12 pages of images. For example like in National
Geographic. If you do not place folios on those pages you can irritate the reader and can
cause production problems.
If you choose to put folio on only one page on a spread, put it on the right page since it
is the more visible page. I like to put them on all pages if the folio is going to be clearly
visible. If it is not going to be clearly visible, then what’s the point of placing it in the first
place.

Panels and box copy

Boxes are used as news items or as extensions to a long article in which you can place
some other facts or data which are relevant to the article. These types of copy are
generally shorter in length and have more factual tone. They can be in a form of a text,
bulleted text or lists.
From the design point of view, boxed text should be set in a different style than main
body copy. Usually in sans-serif type, since the box copy is not long and sans-serif type
should be avoided for long dense text stories. Size should be around the same as main
body copy. These boxes can have their own headlines and kickers. The headline should
be few to several points larger than box copy and kicker should be set in the same size
as box copy or few points bigger. You can use heavier type for headlines and kickers to
emphasize them more.
Natural flow of text elements in an article. Headline, intro, body copy.
Intro gives to the readers a summary of what they can expect from the article. Intro
should work with the headline and this is why it is almost always the best thing to place
it just below the headline. In this way they form a unit. Natural flow of the article should
be: 1. headline, 2. intro, 3. body copy. In this way reader can easily follow the story in its
natural way.
Of course, some long feature articles have the liberty in opening spread design and it is
not unusual to see headline and intro on one spread, followed by body text on another,
but the order is basically the same.

Editing intros
Headline grabs readers attention and intro gives a short description what lies ahead if
the reader decides to continue reading the article. In a way, intro is more important than
the headline. It sells the information to the reader and acts as a link between the headline
and the rest of the story.
If it is not informative and appealing, the reader may decide to quit the story. This is why
the intro should be carefully written. It should not be too long, but it should not be too
short either.
Usually written by the copy editor, intro should be around 30-50 words long. Sometimes
it is ok to deviate from the norm, but the most important thing is that it should sound
good and it should include the necessary information to keep the reader interested.
If you stray from the norm it is better for intro to be shorter than longer, since longer one
can seem uninteresting to read.
Regarding the text, intros should not repeat the words from the headline and the first
paragraph of body copy.
 between the words. But this does not work well for intros, since they are generally long
and styled with smaller sized type where negative leading produces bad readability.
If the intro is spanning few or even several rows break them for meaning, just like you
would do with the pull quotes

Instead of hyphenating intros, break the lines by sense.

Designing intros
Like with all page elements, design and look of the intros are determined by the style of
the publication.
The text size of the intro should be much smaller than the headline but bigger than the
body copy. This is self-explanatory of course. Also, intros should be smaller in size than
the pull quotes (if you use pull quotes on the same page).
However you style them, they should be instantly recognizable and they should be
clearly different from the surrounding elements, mostly headlines and body copy.

Avoid letterspacing in intros. Do not justify text in narrow columns and

try not to use all caps especially with negative leading.

If they are longer you can increase the leading for easier reading.
Do not justify the intros, especially if they are laid out in narrow columns. It will create
awkward gaps in the text, and definitely turn off hyphenation option.
Avoid styling them in all caps, since all caps are harder to read, especially in long form. If
you want to make an emphasis on certain words, set it in bold type or in italics.
Also avoid letter spacing in intros. This treatment is especially hard to read. As a matter
of fact, avoid letter spacing at all. You can use is maybe for headlines or for text elements
that are few words long.
There is one practice that I see a lot and it is to design intros with negative leading.
Negative leading is when you set the leading of less than 100% of the type size. Default
value is 120%. Negative leading is OK to be used with short headlines or subheads,
especially in larger sizes, since 120% leading in those cases would create too much gap
Setting the Subheads
Subheads are one of those page elements with which you will work
often and you have to know how to approach them and how to lay
them out. Their role is to break up the text and to give readers some
clue what lies in the following paragraphs. This is why subheads
should have meaning since they act like a headline for the upcoming
text. This is neglected so often and I find myself so often reading the
paragraphs that have no connection with the subhead.

In design sense subheads serve a purpose to break long text blocks so place them in
strategically good spots. In this tutorial I will tell you which are the bad spots to place
them so you will know how to avoid them.

Subhead set in bold. Subhead set in different italics. Subheads set in all caps
Be careful with italics because they
can look pretty light.
Subhead set in different type style. Subhead set in a box, Subhead set in running in style.
This is the best practice for or underline. Looks really cool but the text has to
setting the subheads. have some meaning.

Type selection in subheads

When setting up subheads make them consistent throughout the publication. There are
magazines that want to stand out and be different and they love to break the rules but
before you break them you have to know them.
Your subheads should be clearly distinctive from the main body copy. They have a
purpose and they should be instantly recognizable. You can emphasize them in several
ways:
• You can set your subheads in the same type as your main copy but use bold version.
To make it more distinctive enlarge the subheads few points.
• As mentioned above you can emphasize subheads by making them larger. You can
set them in the same type as body copy but make them 2 points bigger. Maybe even
three, four would be too much.
• One option is to set them in the same type as body copy but using italics version. I
do not use it because then I have to enlarge them because italics tend to look lighter
than the text set in normal font. Subheads should be easily recognizable and that’s
why I do not like to set them in italics. Bold italics would be better option. Bad placing of the subheads.

• Most used option for subheads is to use different type. Most obvious choice is sans-
serif if you are using serif type for body copy.
• You can set your subheads in all caps but I almost never use this method. It can
work but in many cases it does not, especially if the subheads are long. You don’t
want to break the flow of the text.
• If you are working on some youthful magazine you can set your subheads in
underlined style or you can make that line big enough to cover the subhead and
reverse its color in white.
Placing the subheads
As mentioned in my article on page elements, never place subheads three lines or less at
the bottom of a column and three or above at the top of a column. Biggest mistake is to
place subhead at the top of a column. This kind of subhead treatment pulls the reader’s
eye and reader can skip the entire column because of it since the reader will think this is
the headline of another story.
Work with your copy editor and journalists to have the same length of a subhead. By that
I mean the row length. Either make them two rows or one long. Three rows would be too
much. Whatever is your choice make it consistent.
Always position subheads at the top of the next paragraph. Not in the middle between
paragraphs, nor just below the previous paragraph.
If you align text to the left or justify it, align your subheads to the left also. Do not place
them in center since the reader’s flow of the eye will be disrupted because he will have
to find where the subhead is. Also do not indent the subhead. First paragraph below the
subhead should not be indented also.
If you want to place a rule with your subhead, place it above, because if you place it
below it will break the subhead and its paragraphs below. Best option is not to use rules.
Cool way of making subheads and I like it a lot, is to make so-called “running in
subheads”, but your copy editor should start this paragraph with really meaningful words
otherwise there is no point and you cannot call it subhead. It will only be emphasized
words.

Bad placement of the subhead, around the runaround image.

Subheads and images

Do not place the subheads just below the image. This is the same no-no rule as with the
top of the column placement.
I don’t need to say this but I will, do not place subheads just above the image (if you plan
to break the text with image).
If you place an image on the page in a way that it makes runaround, don’t place subheads
within runaround text. It will look messy and it will create awkward white space
around image.

Bad placement of the subhead, just below the image.

Bad placement of the subhead, just above the image.

DROP CAPS AND INITIAL LETTERS
Also take into consideration the width of your text column. The wider the column the
deeper the drop caps can go. For narrower columns you should go less deep. You don’t
want your drop cap that is 5 lines deep to take up half the width of the column. If the
column of text is really narrow, like picture captions, there is no point in placing drop
Drop caps and initials are an effective way of grabbing readers caps in it.
attention because they add personality and visual strength to the
page. Though, there is a slight difference between them. Drop caps
drop below the baseline, initials sit on the baseline but are much
bigger than the body text.

Example of a large drop cap

Example of a initial.

Both, naturally signify the beginnings of the text and drop caps can be used instead of Two line deep drop caps don’t have enough visual power,
paragraph subheads. Their origins date back to the 9th century when they were used while on the other two examples drop caps are too big for the column width.
in religious books. Those drop caps were richly illustrated, painted in bright colors and
gilded. Also there is no point of placing drop caps and initials into short text blocks. If the text
They lost popularity at the beginning of the 20th century, especially during the Bauhaus is only two or three rows deep, no matter how long, there is no use of placing drop caps
period, but they are having a revival in last 20 years. into it since it will look awkward if the drop cap sits on empty space instead on the rest
of the text.
Drop caps and initials practices
Today drop caps and initials can be used in numerous ways. Whatever design you use,
use it throughout the story. Do not mix different designs for drop caps and initials in the
same story, make it consistent.
The choice of typography is up to you. You can either use the same font as in the body
text or you can choose different contrasting one. The effectiveness of the drop caps and
initials will depend on your choice of type.
The size of the drop caps and initial letters should fit with the headline and the rest of the
Avoid “hanging” drop caps.
text.
I have one rule that I follow and that is to almost never use drop caps that drop only two
So, my rule of thumb is to go for 3 lines deep up to 5 to 7 lines deep. For bigger impact
lines deep. In my opinion there is nothing special in drop caps that are two lines deep.
you should use initials and only at the beginning of the story or a page.
They do not draw that much attention and they do not bring drama to the page. You can
For paragraphs always use drop caps.
use 2 lines deep drop caps in some shorter stories and only in the first paragraph of the
text.
 Never add drop caps to the text aligned to the right. It looks awkward.
One thing that you should avoid is to apply drop caps to the text aligned right or in the
center. Unfortunately I have seen this practice so many times and it looks really bad
when you add the drop cap to the text aligned right. You can see in the example above
that the ragged text on the left leaves unwanted space between the text and the drop cap.
Bad positioning of the drop caps on a spread. Try to avoid same horizontal alignment.
Symbols can also be used as drop caps, while you can arrange letters as a drop caps in many different ways.
When positioning drop caps on a page try not to position all of them at the same
horizontal line. You can do this only if you want to make a statement with the letters that
are used as drop caps.
Drop caps which consist of few words should be only two rows deep.
Second image shows example of a first word serving as an initial.
There is another nice practice that is used widely lately and that is to use the whole word
or few short words as drop caps. In this case it is advised to go only two lines deep since
more would be too much. Instead of initials you can even use one word or few short
words that can represent initial words in this case.
Symbols as drop caps and initials
No one says that you have to use letters to make drop caps or initials.
Symbols or other graphical elements are OK but they have to look good and to have
some meaning.
You can use boxes, arrows, quote marks, anything that will look good but meaningful.
But do not over exaggerate with their usage.
 Tips for better alignment of drop caps and initials
Some letters do not align nicely with the outer edges of the column margin. For example
letters “L” or “P” can look like they are moved to the inside of the column, especially
if they are set in bigger size. To correct this issue you should add two characters for drop
cap. Then add empty space, by pressing space bar, before the letter you will use as drop
cap. Then you position your cursor between the empty space and drop cap letter and
kern them in negative value until the letter aligns with the edge of the column properly.

Text next to drop cap always stands too close to the drop cap.
Add some breathing space to the drop cap by kerning type in positive value.

Drop caps and initials are really effective ways to add some graphical splash to the
page, but if done wrong it can look awkward and unpleasant. Trust your eyes and your
judgement. If it looks fine than great but if it does not, remove them and use some other
element to spice up the page.

If the drop cap is not aligned with the left column margin, ad empty space with a space bar, make a drop cap
with 2 characters and then kern in negative value to align it to the column margin.

Another adjustment that needs to be done is the alignment of the rest of the text with the
initial letter. In many cases there will be a gap between them and it should be resolved
with another negative kerning values input.

By default the rest of the text is separated a bit from the initial letter.
Kern it in negative value so that it aligns with the initial.

Third adjustment that needs to be corrected is to adjust the space between the drop cap
letter and the rest of the text. In many cases the text next to the drop cap will be too close
to it. You can adjust this issue by kerning them in positive value to add some breathing
space to the drop cap.
PULL-QUOTES
One of the page elements that brings visual power to the page is the
pull-quote. Pull-quote is a display element which is used to attract
the reader and to break up long blocks of text. The effect of pull-
quotes depend on their attractiveness, both visual and textual.
Regarding the text, pull-quotes have to be interesting, they have to provide some rich,
important thoughts. They can be pulled directly out of the body text or they can be
summarized, and it is the role of copy editor to find or write something interesting that
will attract the reader.
If the pull-quote is copied from the main text move the pull-quote further from the place
where the original text is residing.
As a visual element they have to be instantly recognizable and different from the rest
of the text on the page. The size, color and texture of the pull-quotes has to be different
from the surrounding text. Depending on the style and look of your publication, pull-
quotes can have a calm, traditional design or you can create some extravagant looking
pull-quotes.
Size and length of pull-quotes
There is no rule how long or big pull-quotes have to be. It all depends on the other
elements on the page. When creating pull-quotes they should have at least several
words. Few words are not enough, but more than two sentences are too long in my
opinion. Pull-quote can be in one line across the whole page or even a spread or it can
be arranged in several short lines. It all depends on the nature of the story and the layout
that you plan to create.
The design of the pull-quotes
There are infinite possibilities how can you design your pull-quotes. Let your
imagination play but don’t go overboard.
You can separate your pull-quotes with quote marks (often exaggerated in size), you
can use horizontal or vertical rules, you can put them in a box with background color
but whatever you do make a contrast from the rest of the text so that the pull-quotes are
instantly recognizable as such. The options are endless.
The size of the font is not as important but it should be at least several points bigger than
the body copy. In my experience don’t go below 15 pt, but it all depends on the size and
the look of the font you are using. The best way is to use your judgement by the eye. If it
looks too big, make it smaller and vice versa.
When placing pull-quotes inside the body copy make some room around it. Give it some
space to breathe, because this will emphasize the pull-quotes even more.
Placement of pull-quotes
Most usual placement of pull-quotes are inside the body copy. This is good because you
will break large chunks of body copy so it can be easily digested by the reader.
If you have body copy laid out in three columns, pull-quotes can span across two
columns.
 What to avoid while placing pull-quotes
If you place pull-quote between two columns don’t make it too wide because this can
result in too narrow space on the outsides of the columns which can affect readability.
Make them thinner, or even better, make them really thin and tall. Of course do not
make them too thin so that the words break up too often.

By placing pull-quote in an empty column on the outside of This placement of pull-quote will create a dynamic
the page you will create a very elegant layout. layout and will break the vertical lines.

If you leave one column on the outside of the page empty you can place pull quotes
there. This will create a very elegant layout. You can even cut the quotes into the
columns a bit. This will create a dynamic layout and will break the vertical lines that can
sometimes create a monotone layout.
If you place pull-quote between two Instead of wide pull-quotes
columns don’t make it too wide. you can make them thinner and
taller.

It is best to turn off the hyphenation option for pull-quotes.

Try not to place pull-quotes on top of the single column, because they can be mistaken
for the headline.

You can place pull-quotes at the top or at the bottom of the page,
but this will not break up the body copy.

You can place pull-quotes at the top or at the bottom of the page, but this will
not break up the body copy. To break the body copy instead of pull-quotes use
some subheads and drop caps to spice up a page a bit.
When placing two pull-quotes on the page do not place them on the same horizontal line.
 What to Do With Picture Captions?
When placing two pull-quotes on the page do not place them on the same horizontal
line. Space them out.
Do not place pull-quotes between the paragraphs because they can be mistaken for a
subhead. Always place them inside paragraphs.
Next in the series where we talk about page elements are picture
captions. Believe it or not people really do read picture captions.
Be a journalist Even more than intros or pull quotes. Pictures draw attention of the
reader and picture captions describe the nature of the picture and
Although it is the role of the copy editor to choose or write pull-quotes sometimes you this is why they should be treated with care.
can do it by yourself. For this you must have some experience in magazine publishing
and you must have an understanding what will attract the reader!
Someone said that the designers are visual journalists. Well, now you can be a real one. If Readers search for an explanation of the image and from an editorial point of view
you are on a tight time frame or your editor is not nearby, you can take some interesting picture captions have to be well written, with some interesting text, because if they
(but it really has to be interesting) piece of text and use it as a pull-quote. It is not are boring, readers will skip them and you are missing an opportunity to catch their
quantum physics, just take some appealing and attractive sentence from the body copy. attention.
Presumably the copy editor did not already chose some instead.
When you have placed the text in the spot intended for the pull-quote, read it. If it does
not read clearly, improve it. When I say improve it, I don’t mean you should rewrite it.
Let me give you an example and you will understand what I mean.

If you read these two quotes you will see the difference. The left one does not have the
right flow, the right one has. Always inspect (read) pull-quotes and see if the flow of the
words is right. You can see how the words “copy editor” and “pull-quotes” are separated
in each row while they should be together. Also the last line contains only one word,
which is also not good. The right example has a natural flow and it is easier to read.
Sometimes you won’t be able to do it right because awkward ragged lines may appear
and you will need a help of the copy editor to adjust the text or rewrite it, but in most
This caption is giving no valuable information. Neither where the landmark is situated, nor what is its name.
cases you will manage to correct the text flow.
This wraps up our topic about pull-quotes. Hope you like it and if you have any
comments or questions, feel free to contribute.
 Writing picture captions
Writing picture captions should not be a last minute nuisance. They should contain
fascinating, valuable pieces of information so that the reader will get more info about the
article he is reading about.
Unlike pull quotes, picture captions should contain information that is not presented in
the main body copy of the article. In this way you are giving the reader some additional
information.
The picture and the captions should always work together. The contents of the picture
caption should describe the picture or tell us some background story about the subject of
the picture.
You may think that this is self explanatory but look around and you will see how many
times this is missed. So many picture captions talk about something else than a picture,
or if they do talk about the picture they do it in uninteresting way.
Text set in bold or small picture caption headline should be strongly connected to the picture.
Opening words of picture captions should be dominant. You can even make small
headlines for each caption and this headline should be strongly tied to the picture.
If you don’t have a headline for picture caption you can make first few words in bold
and again these words have to be tied to the picture. They must have a connection to the
picture and instantly describe it.
Captions can be as long as they need. It all depends how much space they can have but if
the space is not an issue make your caption bigger.
Design of picture captions
From a design point of view picture captions should be standardized in placement
because this pattern will help you build a positive image. Of course you don’t have to be
rigid about it. If you have to break a standard here and there to make a point, do so.
As mentioned above, picture captions can have a headline or first few words set in bold.
In this way you are pulling the reader’s attention even more to the image caption. Of
course, give them some great text to read.
Avoid justified text alignment in the picture captions
The text in the picture captions should be aligned left or right. Avoid central alignment.
Since these are small text chunks you can place them in narrow columns where it is
better to align them left because justified text can have unnatural, forced spacing. Of
course if your picture captions are wider you can justify the text but I should avoid this.
You should keep it uniformed throughout the entire publication. Stick to left or right
alignment.
You can turn off hyphenation for picture captions.
Try to break lines by sense and meaning. Example on the right looks tidier but it is harder to read.
When aligning text you can break its lines for sense. This will sometimes create awkward
line length and spacing, but it will be much easier and faster to read. Since the line length
of the picture captions is relatively short it will be much easier for the reader to skim
through the text if it is broken by sense.
Picture captions should be styled differently from the body copy. Their size can be the
same or slightly larger, but they have to be different from the body copy. In this way they
will be instantly recognizable and easier to spot.
 Positioning of picture captions
Natural position of picture captions is below the picture. The second best position is on
the right. These two positions are the most natural ones since human eye searches for
information in this way. Third position can be on the left of the image.
Avoid positioning picture captions above the picture, because they can be totally missed
by the reader.
Each picture should have its own caption but if you have a lot of pictures on the page,
group them in one big chunk of text and number the pictures.
Captions should be placed close to the picture and far enough from the body copy.

Sans serif type looks much better for picture captions, especially when placed directly on the picture.

If you are going to place lots of captions directly on the picture it is better to use sans
serif type. Serif type can be harder to read on multicolored/patterned images, especially
in smaller sizes because serifs can be chewed off in the printing process. So, my advice is
to go for a sans serif type. Preferably in weight slightly bigger than regular. For example,
Helvetica Medium, opposed to Helvetica Normal or even Light.

When placing picture captions on the sides of the pictures use “sticky edges”.

When placing captions on the sides of the pictures use the “sticky edge”. This means you
should align the text to the edge of the picture. If you put ragged edge next to the image
it will look as if separated from the picture.
If you are going to give some angle to the picture, give some angle to the caption also.
This is the more natural way since picture captions belong to the picture and not to some
other element on the page.
Who would think that there is so much to say about such a small part of the magazine
page as picture caption.
Avoid positioning picture captions above the pictures.