Posts Tagged ‘art direction’

Isaac and I have been discussing how users consume media and news which has raised some interesting questions around online publishing. Specifically: how we construct content templates, how that content looks when it’s in place, art direction at a micro level and how we can create richer, more engaging and, importantly, more ‘useful’ reading experiences online.

Over the last 4-5 years there has been a gradual convergence in how most newspaper sites construct their article pages. Based on a grid system, they employ a wide central column for the body copy and a number of other columns, usually on the right of the screen, for related information, links to other stories, MPUs, tools, etc. We should know, we’ve designed a number of sites for media owners, as well as countless blogs that conform to these conventions.

No matter how long the article is it is wedged into the same template. If it’s 200 words, stick it in. 800 words? No problem, paginate it and reap the ad impressions.

There’s loads of sense to this approach. The beauty of the web is its democratisation of publishing. Drop your text and image into a well crafted template and you’re away. But I think there’s room for another approach.

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