When laying out a page or display, you should
consider carefully where to establish the margins. The
margins should be equal at the top, bottom, and on the
outside with a narrower margin at the gutter. A copy
should never extend outside the margin, although
photographs may do so when they bleed off.
Bleeding off is when the photograph extends to the
edge of the page. The space between photos, text,
and headlines should be one half of the space of the
gutter.
The layout is a showcase for displaying your
photographic skill. The entire layout must be
functional, and it should be invisible, It should not
call attention to itself, but rather to the underlying
story. The best way to achieve an invisible layout is
to avoid gimmicks. Fancy background, photographs
cut at odd angles, and collages are totally
unacceptable in a professional layout.
UNITY
When the story requires more than one page or
display board, you must position and align the page
elements (copy, pictures, headlines, and cutlines) to
establish unity. Each page should have one dominant
element. This can be a large photograph, big
headline, or copy set in a special way. Unity must
continue from page to page. You can do this by story
continuity or by a headline or photograph that runs
across the gutter.
Remember, no matter how the various elements
and pages are unified, they must present a total
package that is easy and convenient to read. This is
the whole purpose of layout.
Figure 1-9 shows an example of how unity is
maintained. Notice that if you use large photographs
Figure 1-9.—Maintaining unity.
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