Questions about the part of graphic design that deals in the arrangement and style treatment of elements (content) on a page
17
votes
7answers
936 views
How to convince a stubborn client that white space is absolutely neccessary?
We have all been there: you show a client your design and they say "look at all that unused space, we can go ahead and make the text bigger, in fact let me give you more copy. We need to make use of ...
12
votes
4answers
563 views
Baseline Grid vs. Readability
Any designer worth their salt will talk about the importance of the grid, and rightfully so. However, as I've continued to practice my trade, I've found that the baseline grid in particular doesn't ...
11
votes
3answers
223 views
Is it possible to tell from a printed sample what software/layout algorithm was used?
Is there a way to determine, or at least hazard a guess at, which page layout engine was used in the preparation of a given print publication?
I've spend awhile looking at some quirks in the Times ...
11
votes
1answer
270 views
How can a design be balanced and yet have a focal point?
The concept of a focal point seems to be a fundamental one in web design, yet doesn't a focal point mean a page cannot be balanced?
Surely by definition a focal point means that the page's 'weight' ...
10
votes
3answers
1k views
Why do newspapers use multiple columns?
This might not be the right place to ask, but I was wondering why newspapers use multiple columns? Does it take up less space, or is there a visual reason?
9
votes
2answers
182 views
What do you call the first paragraph in a layout where its bigger and made to stand out?
So you often see the first paragraph, for example of an about us page, where the first paragraph has a larger font and just kind of gives an enticing bit of information to read further. Anybody know ...
7
votes
3answers
5k views
Scribus vs InDesign or Quark? [closed]
For someone who has worked in the professional publishing industry, I rely on InDesign and Photoshop for creating professional documents, even if they're as simple as a business card. Sometimes I ...
7
votes
1answer
56 views
Does ideal measure change with language?
The ideal measure for single column of text is most widely accepted as around 65 characters, but does this depend on the language of the text? Some languages like French have much longer words than ...
6
votes
3answers
211 views
Recommended column width for text reading, digital vs printed
Coming form a digital background, I have often read different kinds of suggestions (for example 35-50 ems) for how wide a column of body text should be to still maintain a good readability.
Is there ...
6
votes
1answer
131 views
How long of a name do you budget for in a template?
I'm designing a name overlay for a series of videos and I'm curious how long of a name I should budget for without knowing what ones might come my way.
As it's for a video it should be reasonably ...
6
votes
2answers
259 views
“Change this design to a quarter page, from a half” - page layout reduction but keep content
Hopefully won't be too vague a question or specific, but understand that it might be.
I rarely touch design work, but my employer has asked me to take an A4 page advert (PDF) for a client and ...
6
votes
2answers
617 views
Well designed layout examples of a “step-by-step tutorial” publication
I'm trying to find examples of beautifully designed step-by-step tutorials. As different layouts as possible, to feed my imagination so I can build on that.
I'm particularly interested in page ...
5
votes
4answers
284 views
What should I use for filler/placeholder text?
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut ...
5
votes
4answers
368 views
How can non-designers learn to approve a print layout?
I am not a designer, I am a scientist. I write papers in Word or LaTeX, the conference organisers give me a template with fonts, rules like "Caption for figures go below the figure, captions for ...
5
votes
1answer
1k views
How do I preserve legibility when overlaying text on images?
I have lots of creative images that I want to use, except when I put text over them it makes the text really hard to read. Other than a drop shadow, is there another way to make it more clear?
5
votes
2answers
575 views
What are some good resources for web page composition?
I'm looking for resources on the composition of web pages.
I'd like to learn about pros and cons of different page layouts and techniques for moving the eye around a page.
5
votes
2answers
180 views
Books on the Golden Ratio/Others for WebDesign?
Is there any recommended books about using the Phi (Golden Ratio) for WebDesign?
I've seen a lot of layouts taking advantage of this proportion, but it would be great to read a book with a lot of ...
5
votes
2answers
990 views
Vertical rhythm/baseline grid in Web Design
I recently read some articles about the importance of good vertical rhythm/using a baseline grid for good typography in web design. I decided to try using a baseline grid, like the 960 grid pictured ...
5
votes
1answer
108 views
How to beautifully incorporate tables in texts/documents
From time to time I have to write a small report and usually I end up having to present data in a table. Everytime I end up thinking that a table is an ugly looking rectangular box I wish I could ...
5
votes
4answers
161 views
Text flow - when to say “no”?
What do you folks use as a general rule of thumb for flowing text around embedded images? I know everyone's got different preferences in addition to standard rules; is there any time when you will ...
5
votes
4answers
1k views
How does one design a children's book?
My dad one day decided to write a children's book, and my wife illustrated it. However, we've had some difficulties in putting the illustrations into a book format. What kinds of things should one ...
5
votes
1answer
87 views
Mirrored spreads page reshuffling: objects partially outside pages don't update positions
Working on a file with a mirror layout where the inside margins are bigger than the outside margins. When creating a new page in the middle of the file or changing page positions, objects are ...
4
votes
1answer
79 views
How do you build a webpage with a main text body and 2 columns underneath? [closed]
I have a body of text that I am trying to layout in a visually pleasing way but I can not figure it out. The goal is to have this layout (see psuedocode):
<container>
<main />
...
4
votes
4answers
228 views
Leaflet fold where full-page spread is the last thing seen?
Is there a type of fold for one-sheet flyers where the last thing a reader reaches while working through it in a natural way is a full-page spread, and where sections of that full page spread are not ...
4
votes
4answers
183 views
What page numbering conventions are there for front matters (prelims) of books?
When a book uses arabic page numbering, the usual habit is to treat the front cover as a page number 1, and start the book itself by page number 3. However, sometimes the front-matter of the book is ...
4
votes
1answer
166 views
UX research on where to put website menu? [closed]
If you browse websites, you can find pretty much all types of sidebar menus: on top (like our very own Stack Exchange), as left or right menu bar, or even at the bottom (though that's a less common ...
4
votes
1answer
509 views
Looking for a grid template for Powerpoint
I'm new to this community. I wouldn't describe myself so much as a designer but rather someone who has a need to create presentations as part of my job and would like to improve the design of those ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
Why do logos appear on the left on the overwhelming majority of websites?
The title really says it all. I mean, is there a particular reasons for which logos have to appear at the upper-left corner and not, say, in the upper-centre?
Example: all Stack Exchange sites, ...
3
votes
6answers
9k views
Software recommendations for magazine layout?
I use Word now but I would like to find a better software for laying out a magazine.
In this magazine, I would like to create columns (2 or 3 depending on the page), insert image on 1, 2 or 3 columns ...
3
votes
3answers
978 views
InDesign: How to create lines for form design?
Every once in awhile I make forms (applications and whatnot) in InDesign, and, as it often is with ID, there is more than one way to get it done.
I have a few techniques that I use, but I often float ...
3
votes
2answers
444 views
What is the difference between “wrapped” text and “constrained” text?
This question is based on the comments on this answer to another question.
What is the technical difference between text that is "wrapped around" a shape as opposed to text that is "constrained by" a ...
3
votes
4answers
252 views
suggestions for ways to gain practical experience?
If this is not considered an appropriate question for this list (I couldn't quite tell from the FAQ), feel free to close it, but I could really use some specific, concrete advice. I passed the ACE ...
3
votes
2answers
67 views
How to treat right margin/padding of list?
This is well in the realm of "it doesn't really matter" or "whatever looks best", I know, but I was curious as to whether or not there was a generally accepted convention about this (or a ...
3
votes
2answers
76 views
Back-matter numbering
It is a given fact that I cannot number the appendicies (i.e., back-matter) in my works/book by continuing the arabic numbering from the main-matter. The reason is that the main-matter numbering is ...
3
votes
1answer
479 views
Rectangle and circle shapes alignment/sizing
I am having a hard to figure out what are the right proportions between a rectangular and a circular shapes and how to horizontally align them. These two shapes are two icons but they always look ...
3
votes
3answers
173 views
Measuring from the right side of the page in Illustrator
I have a pair of graphic files representing punch-out cardstock tokens in a board game, one to be printed on the front side of the sheet, and one on the back.
The back of the page needs to be an ...
3
votes
1answer
239 views
Define crop marks for each design that is 4-up on a letter size page.
I'm trying to print a birthday invitation, 4 to a letter size page. I'd like crop marks for each. How do I set crop marks without having to draw them by hand? Is there a feature when printing or ...
3
votes
3answers
258 views
Encyclopaedia-style InDesign running headers, where pages have many, one or zero headings
So, you can have a heading running on each page that varies automatically based on the most recent heading (or, occurrence of any other paragraph style) by putting text with InDesign text variables ...
3
votes
1answer
222 views
What layout and interface elements work well for a control panel-style app?
I'm working on a web-based app that's similar to a control panel, with lots of different settings and features to configure. The challenge is making it easy for users to find what they want without ...
3
votes
1answer
189 views
InDesign CS6: How should I structure pages of lists?
I'm having several different parts of a publication I'm doing where I'm presenting essentially a list of compound data. Examples are contact specifications (data points are [Name,Phone,Email]), recent ...
2
votes
3answers
203 views
How to make a reference book easy to navigate?
I am assembling a reference book which has short entries arranged alphabetically. It also has a deep section hierarchy, e.g.:
A
Am
Amtrak
An
animals
bears
...
2
votes
2answers
255 views
Are there some standard sizes when it comes to square page layouts?
I am designing this luxury product catalogue and I was thinking to make the pages square so it would somehow be a little more unique and stuff...
The way I have it set up now is 8in x 8in(about 20cm ...
2
votes
3answers
291 views
what software to use to transcribe a book ?
I have an older book (it isn't copyrighted), and as a certain tribute and preservation, I'd like to transcribe this book to a digital form.
I was wondering what application to use to do this. I don't ...
2
votes
3answers
833 views
InDesign Data Merge and hiding missing data
I have an InDesign document which is filled from the data in a CSv using data mrege. The csv has columns for name, phone, email etc, but some of the data in the ccsv isn't filled in as it is not all ...
2
votes
2answers
88 views
Layout with Tables - Hierarchy
In this fiddle there's a markup and style I'm doing for a website:
http://jsfiddle.net/UvJmP/
I am trying to represent data in this way:
D2's table data is contained in D1
D3's table data is ...
2
votes
4answers
90 views
Positioning a DIV before the previous DIV [closed]
I'm not savvy when it comes to HTML/CSS.
I use Typepad for my blog, and that limits me a lot.
There are four divs.
<div id="container-inner">
<div id="nav"></div>
<div ...
2
votes
1answer
205 views
Overlapping images - how to slice in photoshop CS5
I got pretty simple example of site layout (link below), and i need to slice it.
The problem is, when i have 2 images, or image and title overlapping, and when i try to make slices of both, i get one ...
2
votes
2answers
49 views
Is there an ideal number of points of interests in web design? How many is too much?
I want to make a website, but I have too many important elements for that. I tried to simplify the structure, but it became boring to look at and tiresome to navigate.
Is there a rule or tip for ...
2
votes
2answers
78 views
Design “join page” and guide them graphically from left to rightside towards a join button
Im having this big horizontal bar see image above, and want to "guide (read force)" the users from reading the text on the left to clicking the join button on the right. Are there any thoughts on ...
2
votes
2answers
283 views
InDesign: Threaded text with different master pages
I have two master pages, "2-col Master" and "4-col Master". I start out with a 4-col page and insert text. InDesign will insert the remaining pages (each with 4-cols) until the text is complete. How ...
