The best lessons are taught by experience. Vida magazine presented me with a problem I had never encountered before. I had to create a publication that would interest people from completely different backgrounds – effectively an entire nation. This might seem simple at face value, but took us a lot of thought and consideration to hit the nail on the head.

The most important commitment we had to make was that design and content would work hand in hand. The layout had to be planned with the needs of the message firmly in mind, but the content had to be written to match the peculiarities of the design. It was a game of give and take, as the Supremes would sing.

We found that the best way to do this was to prepare rough sketches of articles on a sheet of paper and then handing them over to the designers to work their magic within the parameters that had been set originally for the magazine. Getting to these parameters was the hard part though, and we only got there once we split the audience into the three levels of engagement:

Level 1: Skimming

The first level of reader is also the most common. These people will skim over the content in a matter of seconds. Both content and design must allow for maximum impact at this level. Readers who decide to remain skimmers must go away with the gist of the story, ideally knowing enough to recommend it to someone who might be interested in it.

How to achieve it: Lay out the article in a way that lends itself to easy absorption at a glance. Have large, meaningful pictures; legible and striking titles; intelligently captioned images; strong pull-quotes; and an engaging strapline (or by-line).

Level 2: Reading

Someone who has been tempted by all of the above and has a slight interest in the subject (and some time to spare,) will probably go on and read the whole article. Content is king here. The text must be well-laid out and readers must feel as if they have taken enough out of their effort if they stop at this stage.

How to achieve it: The crucial aspect here is the legibility of the longer blocks of text. Writers must keep the flow going throughout but they have to be helped (or at the very least not hindered) by the design. Use sub-titles and split the content into bite-sized chunks. Make sure that the text flows from one block to the next without visual breaks, place columns next to each other and do not try to place images all over the page “for variety”.*

Level 3: Following Through

When you have really grabbed the interest of a reader they usually want to know more. These are probably the readers you want to pamper most because they will be the ones who will read every word you write and look out for any follow ups you can provide. They are also the most likely to recommend you to someone else, and we all know that there is nothing better than word-of-mouth promotion.

How to engage them: Give them more. Use boxes to include information which is ancillary to the main subject matter covered in the article; find links to relevant websites and send them there to learn more; and encourage engagement by suggesting they get in touch with you about the subject.

Not all designs will need to appeal on all three levels. In most cases you will design specifically for readers who will go all the way (a specialist magazine), whereas in others your primary target is to be immediately striking (most adverts). 

If you keep these three levels of engagement in mind you will always have a head-start when designing or laying something out.

Even though this knowledge is gleaned directly from my experience in magazines it can apply itself to most design theory. The medium might change but the basic requirement is always the same. To communicate effectively.

This article is (#16 of 366 X 2012 project)

P.S. You can also go back to the article introducing communicating by design.

P.P.S. Did you know you can subscribe to a FREE photography course I will soon start giving?

*I will go into the ins and outs of legibility at a later stage – it deserves an article in its own right.