News design is the procedure of arranging information on a standard newspaper page, in accordance with both graphical and editorial guidelines and purposes. Main editorial objectives comprise the arrangement of newsworthy material according to chronological order, while visual aspects include balanced and readability, unobtrusive display of advertising and appropriate integration of content. This type of design is usually performed in an in-house environment by freelance designers or staff. In recent years, however, freelance designers have become more prevalent due to the rising prevalence of web design.
The increasing need for informative news design in newspapers is reflected by the increase in the number of publications in recent years that have made news reports a part of their format. This has led to an increase in the amount of work specifically focused on news design. For instance, the New York Times currently has a team of graphic designers as well as publishers who focus on daily visuals. The advent of multimedia and new multimedia technologies have also contributed to the growth of news design departments in newspapers. As a result, the entire process from idea to finished product has become much more diverse.
The expansion of news design departments is also being facilitated by the fact that newspapers no longer depend solely on printed news as the sole source of content. In fact, newspapers have begun posting video and audio news reports on their websites. These types of multimedia presentations not only provide the required visual aid to relay information, but also allow for in-depth reporting. Web design plays a pivotal role in this process because newspapers use web technology to create these multimedia presentations, which are then posted on their websites. For web design companies, this represents a unique opportunity as they are able to bridge two distinct areas: the world of print and the world of online media.