Typography, Headlines and Infographics

Dominant Photo

You may want to gather all your materials together before you start,
although you can certainly practice creating layouts with imaginary pic-
tures and stories. The essential elements of a spread are

• photos


• a headline


• body copy


• cutlines and planned white space
  When you have chosen the number of columns you’ll use—six is a smart
  choice for basic layouts—gathered your materials together, and obtained
  a layout dummy sheet, you’re ready to begin designing. The following is
  a five-step guide to creating good mosaic-style layouts.

Step 1: Start with a dominant photo Every lay-
out should contain one photo that is at least twice as big as any other
picture on the spread. A dominant photo gives the reader’s eye a focal
point when looking at a page. It should be the best picture you have
available for that spread—one with excellent content, sharp focus and
good contrast.
The dominant photo should be tightly cropped and full of action or
emotion. Generally, it should include students. Photos of pretty scenery
and school buildings without people don’t make good dominants. As a
general rule, place the dominant photo so it touches or crosses the gut-
ter (the gap in the middle of the book or magazine between two facing
pages). Placing a picture so that it runs across the gutter is one of the
simplest and most effective ways you have to unite the two facing pages.
(See Figure 18.5.)

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elements of a spread

things that must be in cluded

in a double-page spread,

including photos, a headline,

body copy, cutlines and

planned white space

FIGURE 18.5

LAYOUT WITH ONE

DOMINANT PHOTO