2009-2010 Hatchet Pages Critique
Hatchet December 15 issue, Page 1
The front page of the December 15th issue has two articles set up as long legs of text flanking one horizontal picture above a story. The legs of text aren’t that good according to the harrower.
Harrower page 49 says that “Long vertical legs like these can get tiring to read. Headlines are harder to write when they’re this narrow. Pages full of these long, skinny legs look awfully dull.”
However, the middle part, with the picture and accompanying story, is very good. The harrower says “As we’ve previously seen with stories using mug shots, this vertical layout conforms to the way most readers scan stories. They’re attracted by the photo; they read down, through the cutline, into the headline; then, if they’re still interested, they read the text. Your design goals, then, are: 1) keeping all elements in the proper order; 2) avoiding long, gray legs of text; and 3) avoiding confusion with any other story parked beside the photo.”
http://www.fremont.k12.ca.us/2199203151847453/lib/2199203151847453/_files/3._12-15-2009.pdf
Hatchet October 13 issue, page 10: Sports
-Harrower page 59 lists “An airy design, one that can look awkward if all the proportions aren’t right,” as “swipeable feature formats” meaning that its not so good, and so are easily replaced.
Page 10 in the October issue has the story “Girls tennis team pushed for more heart” which has an airy design with a caption to the left of a picture, that doesn’t line up with the text of the story, and a small horizontal blurb butting up against a fairly large vertical photo, which detracts from the unity of the page.
The page also has good use of a horizontal story design with the “The 4-1-1 on running cross country” article. Harrower says “Horizontal shapes are pleasing to the eye. And they often create the illusion that stories are shorter than they really are.” (Harrower page 49).
http://www.fremont.k12.ca.us/2199203151847453/lib/2199203151847453/_files/October_13,_2010.pdf
