In editorial design, a lot of importance is attached to the right image. What is the first thing you look at on a printed page, be it a newspaper, a magazine or a flyer? Science has found that most readers look at the images first, then their captions, title, and intro. Only then will the text be read. Since images have a more immediate effect than texts, it is not surprising that many magazines and journals base their texts on the available image material.
First comes the image
If there is a good picture, the story is “knitted” around it. While in newspapers one pays more attention to the topicality of the pictures, in magazines the attention that a picture attracts has more weight. Good infographics can work just as well as close-ups or detailed representations.
Only one thing is important. The image must appeal to the respective target group and tell its own story, together with the text create a large whole. Only then can the reader determine from the headline and the images what the text is about and whether it is worth reading.
Image selection: Choose the right style
It is all the more important to choose the right image. Journalists must do this in cooperation with the editorial designer and the editors. Only those who have read the text once and know its content can underline the effect of the content with the available image material.
An effect can be achieved simply by aligning faces. Faces looking towards the centre bar of the newspaper appear harmonious. Looking out face is distracting. Detail shots like abstract shapes attract attention. However, images can also have an illustrative effect. If a piece of technical equipment, a certain style of house or a person is written about, exactly this motif should also be visible in full. The image must reflect the creative language of the medium and address the respective target group.
The right format
The visual language in any newspaper or magazine is largely determined by the image format. Alternating portrait and landscape formats can bring more dynamics to the double-page spread. Square images are literally out of the ordinary and attract attention. The size is also important. If an image takes up a double page, the reader knows that a new section is beginning here. Full-page images and images stretched over two-thirds of the double-page spread also have this effect that the reader has learned.
