Essay Example on Create a Standout Newspaper: Designing, Titles & Stories

Introduction

A practical newspaper needs to cover a series of stories and be designed in a particular manner. The current newspaper provided seeks to present stories by following these rules of designing an effective newspaper. The titles used are intriguing, and different fonts and sizes have been used to draw attention to the stories. The main story has been featured on the front page. Other stories have also been included, along with supporting images. The titles used tend to provoke the audience and spark curiosity. White space has also been used to separate the elements and draw attention to important factors in the news. Pictures have been used to help tell a story, as well as many other elements used in the presentation. The main aspects to consider when designing a newspaper are discussed.

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Use Interesting Titles

The titles used in newspapers should not be boring. They need to be interesting and intriguing in such a way that the audience feels pressured to read the content. It needs to be designed in such a way that it stands out and can easily capture the reader's attention. In the current newspaper, two factors have been considered. They include the titles that provoke the audience and that which triggers their curiosity (Basics of Newspaper Layout and Design, 2020).

The titles that provoke an emotional response from the reader attracts them so they will want to read more. An example in the sample newspaper is the title, "Hunger Strikes the Neighbourhood." Hunger is a sad topic, especially in light of disasters. That is why it has been used to draw the attention of the audience, many of whom are already experiencing the problem.

Triggering curiosity attracts the audience by making them feel like the story will be interesting to read. The mental pleasure that comes with reading such pieces of information is what grabs their attention. An example is the main story featured on the first page of the newspaper, "Strange Times Ahead?" The world has normally been operating for so long, that occurrences such as UFOs are interesting to read. Relating that to strange times grabs the attention of the reader.

Use of White Spaces

White spaces are important parts of newspaper design for specific reasons. First, they help the authors to separate specific elements so that the reader can focus on individual stories without feeling confused. That is why horizontal and vertical spaces are important to use since they separate texts from pictures and even the titles (Basics of Newspaper Layout and Design, 2020).

Second, white spaces help to draw the attention of the audience towards an important piece of news. If the page has a lot of white space, it becomes automatic that the eyes will land on the heading and story that seems colorful. However, if there are so many other stories on the same page with no white space, the entire page will be perceived as a single element, thereby minimizing the desired visual effect.

An example from the newspaper created is on page 3, where the sentence, "Russia has a focus of taking over the world," stands out from the rest. It is surrounded by white space. Also, the columns in the whole paper have white spaces around them. This factor enables the audience to focus on one story at a time.

Design for Readability

Newspapers are designed so that the audience can instinctively read the content. If they are not able to read the information contained, the paper r becomes useless as the purpose is not served. When the design is done in the right way, the audience will not even realize that they have been lured to the content (Basics of Newspaper Layout and Design, 2020).

The process will feel natural as they become attracted to various topics of news. To design the paper for readability, it is important to use a comfortable font that can be easily read. The fonts should not feature those who strain the eyes. The size should also be large enough to ensure clarity. The current newspaper uses a font and size that does not strain the reader's eyes.

Aside from the headings, all content should be kept consistent in size and the font type used. The current newspaper has taken this consideration. The headings are the only content that keeps on changing depending on the level of the story being covered. It has led to a well-presented newspaper, which is easy to read and understand.

Navigation is also easy since the featured story has been continued on a different page, which is shown just below the introduction part. The phrase, "continued on page 3," makes it easier for the audience to follow the story. Also, Headings and their authors are presented right next to the stories. Therefore, when a new story starts, an audience can easily see that the previous one has come to an end.

Pictures Tell a Story

The importance of images in the newspaper cannot be emphasized enough. They help to tell the story by triggering a visual aspect of the content in the minds of the audience. It helps to evoke an emotion in the audience that would have otherwise been missed. The proportions need to be accurate to ensure the audience can relate to the images (Basics of Newspaper Layout and Design, 2020).

Hence, they need not be stretched so they can fit in a particular space. That would only distract the readers. The image should be related to the story and nothing else. In the current newspaper, pictures have been used to help in telling the stories. For example, in the main story, a picture of a UFO has been published alongside the story to help the audience in picturing what the people are currently experiencing.

Keep It Simple

Although it may seem like companies want to publish fancy materials, it is not always the case. The content needs to be straight to the point and based on facts. The words used and images employed will play a major role in triggering the kind of emotion needed to keep the audience interested (Basics of Newspaper Layout and Design, 2020). There is no need to use so much shadowing, 3-D images, or clip arts that have been poorly stretched to fill space. All the content must be simple to help the audience in understanding the message.

Design around Articles

All elements need to fit within the pages of the newspaper naturally. The other elements, such as images and headings, should not take up so much space that none is left for the articles (Basics of Newspaper Layout and Design, 2020). That is why the articles should fit first before other elements are inserted. That is the approach that is used in the current newspaper to ensure that the important pieces of information are not left out.

Conclusion

Designing an effective newspaper requires enough time and patience as the publisher works to insert images and content. The newspaper should follow the recommended factors as highlighted above before it can serve its purpose. The special elements that trigger curiosity are the most important since without them, no one will find the paper as interesting. That is why it is imperative to consider both visual and provocative content.

Reference

Basics of Newspaper Layout and Design. (2020). Retrieved from https://mistergunterman.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/basic-design.pdf.