Print Design TipsTips and Information About Printing

Page composition deals with how you layout a page; it is the process of placing text and images to produce an attractive and readable page which will hold the reader’s attention.  Good composition looks good and is very effective in transmitting your message to your readership.  Bad composition is equally noticeable because no-one bothers to read it.  When you are compiling a business communication whether it is a flyer, a glossy brochure or an employee notice you have to pay attention to the composition.

Imagine this: you open a brochure and are confronted with a wall of small text – will you read it or put it down?

Most people will not read it or if they do, it is under duress.

As page composition is so important it should come as no surprise that there are well-established guidelines and rules for you to follow!

Use a Grid to Align All the Page Elements

When you have all your text and images you want for a page, place them on a grid and align them horizontally and vertically so they form a natural and flowing connection with each other.  Using a grid will especially help you when you have a complex page layout though the Mark 1 Eyeball is sufficient for a simple layout in many instances.  Using a grid will help you enormously no matter what the layout because our brains like a minimum level of order.

Construct Strong Visual Connections

Maximum impact is often created by using one strong image and building the page around that.  Frequently, you need to use multiple images and so aligning them and paying close attention to their proximity to each other can help you maintain the visual impact of the completed page.

Use Odd Numbers of Elements for a Dynamic Page

Using odd numbers of text and image elements makes for a dynamic looking page – using symmetrical or an even number of page elements makes for a static or formal appearance.  Breaking up the page with the use of asymmetrical alignment and odd numbers of page elements adds “pizzazz” to your design but you need to be careful that you do not dilute the visual impact by giving free rein to chaos.

Split the Page Into Thirds

The Rule of Thirds provides the basis for a more eye-pleasing page composition using one of the three following rules:

1. Concentrate the most important page elements in the upper of lower third of the page;
2. Divide the page into horizontal and vertical thirds and place the most important page elements where the lines intersect; and
3. Evenly space the most important elements within either the vertical or horizontal thirds.

Make Good Use of White Space

White space is essential – simply stuffing your page with too much text, too many images or both will make the page unreadable and chaotic.  White space provides the reader’s eye with “breathing space” and also helps lead the viewer onto the more important page elements which you are using to transmit your message.  White space around the page edges and the edges of text and images is essential but pay attention to spacing between paragraphs, lines and the individual letters themselves.

Repetition of Page Elements

From page to page, you should have uniformity of certain page elements.  For instance, a reader will expect the page number to be in the same place on each page – in the middle, bottom, top left, bottom right – wherever you place it, it ought to be the same throughout the document (though if aligned in a center-stapled document you will place the page number either in the middle or the out-edge of the document page).

This applies to colors, fonts, spacing, pull-quotations or using similarly formatted images.

Contrasting Elements

While maintaining uniformity with some page elements, using contrasting elements can make a huge visual impact but this is something you must do where appropriate and sparingly.  This will enhance the page composition and make the layout that much more effective.  Examples include, making the text for headlines much bigger, using different colors for captions or using italics and bold text for pull-quotes.