Improving your page and ad design -- Kevin Slimp

Ideas & Tips for
Page and Ad Design

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Fonts

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Never lose track of the kind of work you're doing.
An effect that would ruin a newsletter might be
just the thing for a record cover. Know when you
can safely sacriﬁce legibility for artistic effect.

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Never lose track of the kind of work you're
doing. An effect that would ruin a magazine
might be just the thing for a record cover.
Know when you can safely sacriﬁce
legibility for artistic effect.

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If you need a condensed font, ﬁnd one that was
designed that way, rather than scaling an existing font
down to a percentage. Any scaling distorts a font's
design; excessive scaling interferes with legibility - this
goes for widening as well as narrowing.
Extended faces do exist, although they aren't as
common as condensed ones.

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Futura Shrunk Down

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Futura Condensed
Futura Shrunk Down

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S t r e t c h e d O u t T r a c k i n g
Futura Condensed
Futura Shrunk Down

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Comic Sans
may only be used in
children’s poems.
about unicorns.

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It is always safest to use a plain serif font for large amounts of text.
Serif Sans-Serif

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Serif Sans-Serif
Don't expect anyone to read extensive text set in a condensed font.

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Serif Sans-Serif
Don't expect anyone to read extensive text set in a condensed font.
Condensed is so hard to read in your body text that has been set about 100 percent or so to save space. It’s
much easier to read when it’s 110 to 120 percent of the font size. Increasing the leading to 110% makes the text
much more attractive and easier to read. Leading in your body text has been set about 100 percent or so to
save space. It’s much easier to read when it’s 110 to 120 percent of the font size. Increasing the leading to 110%
makes the text much more attractive and easier to read.
Condensed is so hard to read in your body text that has been set about 100 percent or so to save space. It’s
much easier to read when it’s 110 to 120 percent of the font size. Increasing the leading to 110% makes the text
much more attractive and easier to read. Leading in your body text has been set about 100 percent or so to
save space. It’s much easier to read when it’s 110 to 120 percent of the font size. Increasing the leading to 110%
makes the text much more attractive and easier to read.

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Contrasting Text

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It’s really not OK to use really short lines in  
a headline

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It’s really not OK to use really short lines in  
a headline
It’s also a bad idea to hyphen-
ate words in a headline to ﬁt

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It’s also a bad idea to hyphen-
ate words in a headline to ﬁt

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Turn off ligatures.

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Use Optical Spacing

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Examples of Typeface:
Times 
Helvetica
Futura
Examples of Font:
Times Italic
Helvetica Bold
Futura Condensed

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Example of
a Font List:
Garamond
Garamond Bold
Garamond Italic
Garamond Bold Italic
Garamond Light
Garamond Medium
Garamond Light Italic

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Some fun, newer typefaces
for ad design

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A Few Fun, Popular Typefaces

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Kelium

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Autumn Madness

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A Few Fun, Newer Typefaces

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A Few Fun, Newer Typefaces
Giorgio Sans

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Do not use fonts that
are too plain
for all of your ads
Helvetica Makes a Very
Boring Ad Sometimes
Even if it’s Helvetica Bold

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Do not use fonts that
are too fancy
for Headlines
That’s just kind’ve dumb
Never use Chancery
It’s reserved for church secretaries

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Great fonts for page design
(some you probably already have)
Georgia
Georgia Italic
Lucida Bold
Regular
Baskerville, Futura Condensed,
Myriad, Univers

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Great typefaces for ad design
(some you probably already have)
Zapfino
Regular
Acumin Pro
Acumin Pro Condensed Bold

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Current Font Trends  
for Ad Design
Geometric Fonts

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for Ad Design
Handwritten Fonts

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for Ad Design
Cantoni Pro
Handwritten Fonts

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for Ad Design
Cantoni Pro Bold
Handwritten Fonts

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for Ad Design
Modern Scripts

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for Ad Design
Modern Scripts
Olicana Smooth by Adobe Typekit

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for Ad Design
Modern Scripts
Olicana Rough by Adobe Typekit

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for Ad Design
Retro Slab Fonts

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for Ad Design
Retro Slab Fonts
FREE
From Retro Supply Company

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for Ad Design
Retro Slab Fonts
Adobe Type Kit

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for Ad Design
Retro Slab Fonts
FREE

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for Ad Design
Retro Slab Fonts
$14

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for Ad Design
Retro Slab Fonts
FREE

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for Ad Design
FREE
Retro Slab Fonts
FREE

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for Ad Design
Retro Slab Fonts
FREE

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Let’s Play A Game ...

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Let’s Play A Game ...
Good Ad
or
Bad Ad

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WATKINS
CHIROPRACTIC CLINIC

Dr. Gary Verbovanec—764-3000
Central Avenue * Watkins, MN
320 Maple Ave SE, Richmond, MN
Treasured
Memories
Sunday: Pray the Rosary 8:00 a.m.
Nail Care: 1:30 p.m.

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testing*at*the*end*of*January.

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Hair World
- Nancy Nicolai, Owner -
FAMILY HAIR STYLING and TANNING
Call
372-4262
129 S. Main, Worthing
Coupons are for new clients ONLY and expire November 31st.
Clip a coupon and mention it when scheduling your appt. at Hair World.
$12.50 for
a shampoo,
conditioner,
and cut.
(add a blow dry
and iron style
for $10 more)
$10.00
MEN’S
CUTS
FREE
wax and
style
with color
service.
Nikki’s
Specials

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Space

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Notice that some of the most
memorable ads use lots of
space with just a little text.

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On Pages,
allow enough space between packages
that readers can clearly
deﬁne one package from another.
Your front page introduces your
reader to your product.
Be sure to leave sufﬁcient space
between packages on your front page.
I’d recommend a minimum of
1/2 inch or 3 picas between
packages on a front page.

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ELements

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Use Clip Art Sparingly.
It looks outdated very easily.

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It looks outdated very easily.

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to someone watching. I commented
that not many women would do this
and he agreed. It was really fun. But
the fun didn’t stop there. We got this
buck on the back of the 4-wheeler,
not easily I might add, and in order
to keep it from slipping (he had a
real long body) I had to get on top of
him to hold him on. I was straddling
him like I was riding a horse, hold-
ing his rack, and hooves to avoid
getting anything caught on trees. I
slipped, got smacked by branches
and laughed my tail off at the whole
scenario. Zac would say “low tree”
I’d duck, “tree on the left”, I’d pull
the hind legs in along with my own,
“branches on the right” SMACK, in
the face, too late to tuck in my head
but I still had to pull in the rack and
front feet. We ﬁ nally got the deer
back to the truck and loaded it up. I
was exhausted. Zac was very grate-
ful his momma’s no sissy and I re-
alized I am truly a “redneck wom-
an”!!!
That about does it for this time.
I hope you all have a great week
ahead. Until next time.....................
..................... see ya!

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Cindy DeMorett, Steve, Brenda
Payne, Connor and Evan DeMorett,
Elvira DeMorett, Jeremy DeMorett
of SCSU and Tracy DeMorett of
Prior Lake were Satuday afternoon
dinner and evening guests of Sharon
DeMorett and Carol Smith.
Sharon DeMorett, Elvira De-
Morett, Carol DeMorett and Brenda
Payne were among those who at-
tended the baby shower for Trisha
Ross and her baby boy to be on
Sunday, at 1:30 p.m. at the Bob and
Carol Ross home in Sauk Rapids.
Kindness is a virtue given by the
Lord.
It pays dividends in happiness and
joy is its reward,
for, if you practice kindness in all
you say and do,
the Lord will wrap his kindness
around your heart and you,
and wrapped within His kindness
you are sheltered and secure,
and under his direction our way is
safe and sure.

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that night against Browerville-Eagle
Valley and Howard Lake-Waverly-
Winsted. The ﬁ rst match will get un-
derway at 6 p.m. Alumni wrestlers
and cheerleaders are ask to sign in at
the ticket table in the lobby.

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When using it, use interesting art.

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Ad Design Tips

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Ad Design Tips
The first thing you need to do before creating your ad is make sure you
understand the message you want to get a c r o s s . Are you selling a product, a
service, a brand? Don’t put your time into creating an eye-catching ad that
everyone will remember, if they won’t remember what the ad was for.
Choose one or two ideas that should be clearly visible in the ad and
memorable to the viewer. That may be a brand name, a product image,
or a tagline. One or two ideas are plenty when you consider the amount of
time the average viewer will spend on your ad. Focus in on your key ideas
before going any further.

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Choose one or two ideas that should be clearly visible in the ad and
memorable to the viewer. That may be a brand name, a product image,
or a tagline. One or two ideas are plenty when you consider the amount of
time the average viewer will spend on your ad. Focus in on your key ideas
before going any further.

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Ad Design Tips
Focus in on your key ideas before going any further.

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Ad Design Tips
Create Image Appeal
Match good slogans with strong images
Look for images that leave a strong impression on your reader.

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Ad Design Tips
Create Image Appeal
Remember that everything about your ad should point back to the same message you
are trying to get across.

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Ad Design Tips
Stick with One Color Scheme
Bright colors can be good, but a rainbow is overdoing it. Once you have your
images ready, create your color scheme around the images. If your ad features a
woman in a red dress with black shoes, make your text red or black.
If you have a company logo, start with the logo colors to create your scheme. Clashing
colors will detract from your ad. Too many colors, even if they don’t clash, will take the
viewer’s focus away from your message. You can also match your color scheme to
your product and intended audience by understanding the intuitive responses that
people have to different colors.

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Ad Design Tips
Stick with One Color Scheme
Bright colors can be good, but a rainbow is overdoing it. Once you have your
images ready, create your color scheme around the images. If your ad features a
woman in a red dress with black shoes, make your text red or black.
If you have a company logo, start with the logo colors to create your scheme.
Clashing colors will detract from your ad. Too many colors, even if they don’t clash,
will take the viewer’s focus away from your message. You can also match your
color scheme to your product.

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Ad Design Tips
Short, simple text.
Offer Short, Simple Text
What is the fewest number of words you can use to
get your message across?
This is what you should be aiming for when adding
words to your print ad.

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Leave Them Wanting More
As you’re probably realizing by now, you are limited in how much
information you can get across in a print ad. Your goal should not be
telling a company’s entire history, or listing all the details of the
product. Your goal should be to leave enough of an impression on the
viewer that they want to look for more information on the product.
Ad Design Tips

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Think Outside the Paper
Ad Design Tips

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Think Outside the Paper
Ad Design Tips
The human eye ﬁlls in the gaps
when you give it a chance.
Use the border of your ad as another
great tool in your design arsenal

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Ad Design Tips
Develop an eye and the skills
to give simple elements a little
PIZAZZ!
Even a drop shadow can
look elegant with a little
extra word.

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Ad Design Tips
Develop an eye and the skills
to give simple elements a little
PIZAZZ!
Even a drop shadow can
look elegant with a little
extra work.

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A nice shadow

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A nice shadow
A nice shadow

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A nice shadow
A nice shadow
A nice shadow

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A nice shadow
A nice shadow
A nice shadow
A nice shadow

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A nice shadow
A nice shadow
A nice shadow
A nice shadow
A nice shadow

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A nice shadow
A nice shadow
A nice shadow
A nice shadow
A nice shadow
A nice shadow

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Ad Design Tips
Location ... Location ... Location

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A few ad award winners
from recent contests

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Critiquing Publications:
What Ed and I look for

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Critiquing Newspapers:
Interesting fonts in
headlines: Use variants of
the headline typeface to
keep it interesting.

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Stories: Limit stories to
no more than 12-15
inches. That’s the limit for
most readers.

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Photos: Often too many
small pics. Major stories
should have a dominant
photo
no more than 12-15
most readers.

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photo
Body Type: It’s often
too small and in a font
that is hard to read.
no more than 12-15
most readers.

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photo
Body Type: It’s often
too small and in a font
that is hard to read.
no more than 12-15
most readers.
Consistency: A
consistent look from page
to page, story to story.

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Ask yourself
Is it clear?
Is it easy to read?
Is it interesting
Does it leave the impression
I want?

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newspaperacademy.com

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Improving your page and ad design -- Kevin Slimp

Improving your page and ad design -- Kevin Slimp

Texas Center for Community Journalism

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