Objectives
• Understand how greeking is used in design.
• Explore options that columns provide for design.
• Learn what alignment choices you can make.
• Learn how to add attention-getting text to a page.
• Understand importance of page anchors.
• Explore how to use multiple page designs.
• Understand importance of curves.
Introduction
Page design is not limited to only those tools explored in the previous topic. In addition to the placement of elements such as white space, images, and text, many other tools can be used to design an attractive and successful page.
Greeking
As you look at examples in this topic, you will see text that appears quite strange. This is a desktop publishing standard called greeking. The use of greeking (also called dummy text) allows page designers to place text on a page without the actual content acting as a distraction. The history of greeking is unclear, but it was first used in the middle of the 20th century. The text was based on words of Cicero, a Roman leader whose writings are admired. The language he spoke and wrote was Latin rather than Greek, so the naming of this dummy text is misleading.
Greeking is a series of nonsense words, often derived from Latin, used as a placeholder in a desktop publishing document.
Lorem ipsum is the first two words of the original greeking text. It is sometimes used instead of the word "greeking."
A placeholder is a means of assigning space for a text or graphic without having to place the actual copy.
Lorem ipsum, as it is sometimes called, acts as a placeholder that can be filled with actual text when the design is completed. Although the original paragraph (see Figure 7.1) has been replaced with a number of different versions similar to that shown in Figure 7.2, the purpose remains the same. Early adopters of greeking repeated paragraph after paragraph to create the amount of copy they needed. Today there are websites that will create copy for you.
Figure 7.1
Lorem ipsum is actually a series of jumbled Latin words.
Figure 7.2
As greeking became more widely used, additional nonsense words were added to the original phrase.
Web Placeholders
Greeking isn’t used often in the design of web pages. The immediacy of web design generally means that as soon as content is available it is placed on a page. However, as design becomes a more sophisticated process, the use of placeholders such as greeking may become more common.
Columns
One of the most important design choices you can make is how to arrange your text on a page. Text that runs across a standard sheet of letter size paper is 6.5” to 7.5” long. The human eye finds it difficult to track long stretches of text, particularly if it is set in a font size of 12 pt. or less. As a result, text is generally broken into smaller units to improve readability. Before the advent of desktop publishing software, this was difficult. Today it is an easy option. Compare the two groups of text in Figure 7.3 to see which one reads more easily.
Figure 7.3
Newspapers have used narrow columns for many years because subscribers find the narrow text easier to read.
The use of three columns on a page automatically creates a page that adheres to the Rule of Thirds. Newsletters are often set in three-column widths (see Figure 7.4).
Figure 7.4
Newsletters are generally designed in columns for ease of reading and to add white space.
If your page has text or images that are centered on a page or within a column, proofread carefully to make sure that they are actually centered. It’s very easy for an extra space or two to be placed on a line, which will throw off your center. Also, make sure that the center-alignment option has been selected rather than merely spacing to approximate a center. A little deviation from center might not be apparent on your screen, but it will be jarring when a reader sees it on the printed page.
Newspapers have always been set in multiple columns. Modern newspapers use a variety of column widths, with six being the most common.
Columns are not always of the same width. Often designers will create a page with two columns of different widths. One column is a third of the page and the other column is two-thirds of the page. Pages often have mixed column sizes between the top and bottom of the page. The top half of the page may have two columns, while the bottom has three. Figure 7.5 demonstrates the effectiveness of the mixed-column design.
Figure 7.5
Pages with columns of unequal widths make for an interesting page design.
Web Columns
Web pages cannot be as easily designed using columns as they are in print. Instead many web designers use invisible tables to duplicate the look of columns. With the widening use of cascading style sheets, though, other design options are becoming available that mimic the look of columns.
Alley
The white space between columns is called the alley, although some designers call it the gutter. Using a wide alley is one way to increase white space on a page. Keep in mind that the width of the alley between columns is one way that readers know the text is connected. As a result, sometimes the alley between related columns of text is slightly narrower than the alley between unrelated articles. Notice in Figure 7.4 that the two separate articles at the bottom of the page had a wider alley than those at the top.
Downrules
Columns are sometimes separated by vertical lines called downrules. These lines help keep the eye from straying from one column to the next, encouraging the reader to move down the column. Downrules also function as a design element, adding interest to a page. Figure 7.6 is an example of columns with downrules.
Figure 7.6
Downrules serve two purposes. One is to make it easier to track down a column. The other is to provide visual interest to the page.
Threaded Stories
Text that runs to the bottom of a column and then continues on at the top of the next column is known as threaded text. This same text moves from the end of one page onto another, continuing the thread. Often designers need to decide how much text to include on a page before they can break it and send it on to another page. Readers tend to focus on the cover or first page of a multipage document. Stories that are buried within the document may get overlooked. As a result, it is often desirable to have a number of articles begin on the opening page with the remainder of each article threaded onto later pages. Jump lines are used to send the reader to the correct page. Figure 7.4 included jump lines that directed readers to the remainder of the article inside the newsletter.
Alley is the space between columns.
Downrules are vertical lines between columns.
Threaded text is copy that moves from one column to another or from one page to another.
Web Links
Unlike in print, the length of a web page is not limited by the size of the paper. It is extremely rare to find a web page designed with text running from one page to another. The web nature of the Internet means that only identifying statements about the content of each article need to appear on the initial web page. A designer can then include various links to individual pages containing each full article.
Alignment
Alignment is a term used for both text and images. It can describe the placement of text on a page or within a column. It can also describe the placement of an image on a page. Alignment of an image is often used if the document is a simple one such as a title page. Alignment of an image can also be set within columns. Alignment can be to the left, to the right, or centered. Left alignment starts text or figures at the left side of the column or page. Right moves the edge of the text or figure so that it hugs the right side of the page, which is a nontraditional placement. Centered text or figures are balanced evenly between the right and left side.
Flush
Flush left is a term that is used to describe text that is aligned to the left. Flush right is right-aligned text. The term flush merely indicates that the text lines up along one side.
Ragged Right
A term that is often used with text aligned to the left is ragged right. This indicates that the text alignment leaves empty space at the end of each line, creating a ragged effect. Ragged right is one way to add white space to a page or column.
Justified
Text that is justified is both flush left and flush right. The text begins at the left side and continues across to the right. Small spaces are placed between words or letters in order to create justified text. Justified text is a more formal look than ragged right and provides less white space for the reader. Newspapers are usually designed with justified text, but it is becoming less popular in other designs. Compare the two newsletter pages that were shown in Figures 7.4 and 7.5. Figure 7.4 had text set ragged right. Figure 7.5 had text set justified. Notice the difference in the denseness of the text.
Alignment is the placement of text or graphics on a line. The placement can be to the right, to the left, or centered.
Flush is an alignment term indicating that the line begins at the left or ends at the right margin.
Ragged right describes left alignment that leaves white space at the end of each line.
Justified alignment places text so that it fills the entire line from the left to the right margin.
Web Alignment
Text and graphic alignment on the Web was one of the first design choices available to early adopters. As a result the use of flush left and centered text is frequently found on web pages.
Attention Getting Text
Not all text on a page is restricted to columns or articles. Three techniques use text to attract attention and pull in a reader. These are captions, pull quotes, and callouts. Each functions in a slightly different way, but all have the same basic purpose.
