Knowing where to draw the line (theoretically and literally)

Reporters have the responsibility of gathering information, holding public officials accountable and then writing it up for their audience. Editors have the responsibility of making sure the story is easy to understand, holding the reporter accountable with fact checking and then producing the most accurate story to be published. Designers have the responsibility of making a layout accessible and easy to navigate, making the design interesting enough that a reader will want to learn more and representing the story through the design in the correct tone and way. But the last two responsibilities of designers aren’t always regarded in the same terms.

Designers are journalists in their own right – they help to tell a story through typography, photos or illustrations, break out boxes and other extra elements within a page design. Although journalists are taught to tell a story to it’s complete accuracy and truthfulness, these rules or guidelines seem to get altered in small ways sometimes in regards to design. The problem is that newspapers are a business, too. They have to think about what sells the paper and how to get people to read the publication. Although content is a driving factor in whether people decide to read a story, most of the time how the page looks is going to be the first reason someone picks up the newspaper.

So as a designer, you know a lot rests on your shoulders in regards to selling the product. But how do you incorporate the ideals you’ve learned as a journalist into making something “look good” as well? Sometimes stories aren’t as engaging as you were anticipating and then you’re stuck with whether to make your design reflect the story or dress the story up with your design. Often the feedback is to make the page as exciting as possible, but that could mean you’re being inaccurate with the story.

A design editor at Poynter Institute defines bad design as getting “in the way of the information instead of enhancing it.” Knowing where to draw the line theoretically between selling and telling is a very important part of being a good designer – but knowing where to draw the line literally to make an intelligent and enticing design is also important. Too often the news agenda is not set by what story is most important for the public to know, but is set by what the editors think should be played big because it’s a local story or because it’s not a dry, complicated topic.

While the Columbia Missourian doesn’t provide the exact setting of a real news room, designers do have the opportunity to make the decision – with a little help from others – on what story should be played as a lead on the front page. Those decisions should be based on the content of the story and whether it has valuable information. But newspapers – in the face of declining circulations – have shifted their focus to what might be more visually appealing or how to visually pump up a story even if that means the design is misrepresentative.

Although designers should try and come up with creative ways to visually tell a story and draw readers in, they should not give up their standards or previous teachings on how to be truthful, objective and descriptive.