News design is a process of planning material on a news page, according to graphic and editorial considerations, and aims to improve the readability and effectiveness of the communication. Main overall editorial objectives for news design include the placement of news stories in an informative and readable format, with specific reference to the theme of the day. Visual aspects involve both the arrangement of text and images, and the balance and color scheme.
One very effective way of improving the news design of a newspaper page layout is to use a simple yet clean layout. Clean and simple layouts are the most widely used nowadays, and they are especially appropriate for newsprint. The rule of thumb when designing a clean layout in news design is to use a single large image or photo in a frame that occupies a reasonable portion of the total space available, with the remaining background of the article or page being of a more basic and less complicated design. For instance, if the frame is taking up about 30% of the news page, it is preferable not to use any other graphics at all, in order to conserve the overall graphic clutter.
News designers need to be aware of the readership for different types of papers, including weekend, daily, and political newspapers. A morning paper, for instance, has considerably more text than, say, a political weekly, and so designers have to know which type of reader the paper has targeted, in order to create the best possible design solution. News designers also need to make sure that they will be able to achieve the desired results on the budget that they have set. Newsletters, magazines, books, or tabloids can be highly informative, but they can also be very expensive, so news designers must take this into account while planning the layout of the front page of the printed version. Designers should use their experience to help them design a visually appealing and functional design for the front page of the newspaper, to keep the readers interested and motivated to continue reading.