Use the taps
I FIRST CAME ACROSS THIS WATER COOLER at the BBC radio headquarters in London. It features two buttons, an LCD screen, and two taps. When you press one of the…
Category: Design
The perfect Eurostar font
IT’S NOT OFTEN THAT A CORPORATE entity such as Eurostar gets playful with typography. But this notice on their London St Pancras platform is a splendid choice of font. The…
Perfect headline fitting
NEWSPAPER SUBEDITORS GO TO GREAT LENGTHS to make headlines fit the page. This isn’t a recent innovation – it’s been happening since the beginning of commercial printing. This poster…
Things that go up at the end
THINGS THAT GO UP AT THE END have more power and dynamism. It’s a rule that applies to music, film editing, graphics, and company names. If a film editor is…
Straighten your spine
THE DESIGN OF BOOK SPINES is a largely overlooked art, as most of the effort – naturally enough – goes into the cover. But when your book is on the shelf,…
Newspapers in films
HANDS UP WHO KNOWS what a newspaper looks like. All of you? That’s great. Perhaps you could tell the graphic designers who work on films and TV shows, since most…
Stories with pictures
EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY. And, whether you’re giving good or bad news, every story must have a picture. The design of the BBC News app takes the form of…
Black or white?
YOU MIGHT THINK that headlines are more legible in black. But when placed on an image, you'd be wrong. Even when placed on a light background, such as the sky and clouds...
Design without pictures
Headlines advertise your content This is a ‘standfirst’. It gives the reader an at-a-glance idea of what the article is all about, while adding visual interest. REATING AN EFFECTIVE LAYOUT is...
Printer’s jargon
Whether it’s a simple flyer or a multi-page magazine, at some point you’re going to have to deal with a printer. Every word of jargon you use will knock a…