Seth Godin says we don’t buy things because we need them, we buy them because we want them.
Newspapers don’t just sell information; they sell an experience. Along with photographers, illustrators and of course, some writers, designers help make that oh-so-important emotional connection with readers.
Good presentation tells the story. Great presentation brings the reader into the story like the soundtrack of a movie.
Satisfaction is important, but desire? Turn it up to 11.
This page by Kristin Lenz treats type as art in the most literal sense, with the letter forms functioning much like an abstract painting.
"We got more space than we expected, so can you make us a cover for the calendar spread this afternoon? I'm sure you'll think of something." Using the sya-what-it-is strategy, Chris Mihal added various fake perspectives to the letters for complexity.
The above page by Puls Biznesu uses a type grid that counts down from 100 as a background.
Brandon Ferrill's Medicare cover also uses type as a background, while adding an iconic stock art element to help sell the content.
Here Christian Font uses an extended quote as the background headline and billboard-style refer to the story.
The page on the left introduces a fingerprint as a graphic element, where the page on the right, by Severiano Galván, uses information to draw the fingerprint.
Negative space within the story creates Oscar art for Flavio Forner's page.
The page by the Plain Dealer has prices falling from the headline. In an interesting twist, Ellis Latham-Brown's page from the Indiana Daily student has the story copy falling into a pile.
Letters are nibbled off in crumble at the bottom of Jussi Tuulensuu's page.
Pete Gorski's page uses the headline to help illustrate a pro/con story on Roe vs. Wade. Sometimes small papers can be more willing to take risks.
And finally, Paul Wallen's page illustrating the big eastern US blackout uses plenty of "black space" to make its point.
As I was working on this, Denis Reagan posted pictures of type driven pages from SND's judging in Syracuse. Here's the link.
