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For years, photo
cutouts and superimposed headlines were taboo in newsrooms. But
look at magazines now. Look at newsmagazines like Time and Newsweek; they run
shadowed photo silhouettes and fancy reversed headlines
everywhere. Newspapers are behind the curve when it comes to
stylizing images. They still treat photos, especially local
photos, like sacred art objects.
You can argue
either side and never get anywhere. So try this: Bring a pile
of magazines into the newsroom. Analyze the cutouts, the
superimposed headlines. Discuss what works, what doesn’t.
See if you can reach agreement on where to draw the line.
Designate certain places in the paper (Features, Sports, the
front-page promos) where it’s OK to bend the rules.
In other words:
Expand the boundaries gradually -- don’t alienate your
photographic colleagues in a sudden race to become Rolling
Stone magazine.
And use common
sense. Yes, you can attract readers by presenting images more
dramatically. But you can quickly destroy the integrity of many
photos by badly cropping, loudly overprinting type, or cutting
out inappropriately. Taste and skill always play a major part
in the success or failure of any design effect.
Like most
magazines
-- and unlike many
newspapers -- USA
Today allows
designers
to cut out images
(as in the promos,
left)
and overprint type
(as in the Bush
centerpiece).
Notice
how none of this
tampering involved
true
breaking
news photos.
