pure design: stand-alone photographs
DESCRIPTION
The fifty-fourth "fable" from Mario Garcia's "Pure design"TRANSCRIPT
mario garcia
168
Stand-alone photographsWe all like stories accompanied by good photos. Editors and
designers everywhere try hard to find that one “visual” that fits
perfectly with the text. Sometimes it does not happen.
That is when we appeal to our next best solution: the stand-alone
photo. In today's environment, with readers sweeping rapidly
through the pages of the newspaper, stand-alone photos are a quick
way to provide good graphic impact on the page. Many stories can
and should be told only through photos. Brief texts do the job.
Stand alones can also serve as navigational devices. A stand-alone
a sports event on page one may capture our attention, and refer us
to a complete story inside. Some tips on how to best use stand-
alone photos:
Place a good headline over the photo (the headline can also
appear below the photo, but I always recommend the superior
position for more effective packaging).
Box or rule the photo, headline, and caption, to guarantee that
the stand alone photo does not “float” on the page, or appear to be
related to stories around it.
Never write a block of text under a stand-alone photo that is
deeper than the photograph. Captions of six to nine lines are
ideal. Otherwise, write a story.
pure design
169
Pictures tell a story: The Las Vegas ReviewJournal uses a stand-alone photo to tellthe story without resorting to the tradi-tional headline and text combination.Readers who scan headlines and look atphotos enjoy this type of treatment, asthey get information without having toread much text. Stand-alone photos can beused to lead readers to an inside pagewhere the story develops further, or theycan just offer enough information on the