mario garcia

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VolumeIn design, we all apply volume to how we present a page. Some-times

the volume is loud; sometimes it is comfortable; sometimes it is a

whisper. There is a place for all three. However, like rhythm, volume

should be carefully calculated, and not all sections of a publication

should have the same volume. Where does one apply volume?

Determining the size and boldness of headlines is the first step.

Since there are more headlines than anything else set in large type

on a page, it is here that we set the tone. Very big and very bold

headlines convey force, loudness and presence.

Determining the size, color, and thickness of headers at the top of

pages is next. When one uses a 230-point font for the word

Entertainment, and crowns the page with it, then the volume for

the page is set. Nothing has any chance of competing with the

heaviness of the top of the page. In that case, one obviously unim-

portant word has drowned out the sound of the rest of the page.

Next we look at the size of photographs. When a photo is too

large, too dark, or too colorful, the elements around it suffer.

Play your pages as you would your own radio, TV or CD player:

not too loud, not too wimpy. Enough to get the message across,

appropriate to the mood and situation.

pure design

117

Turning up the volume: Sports isthe right section of the paper toturn the volume up. Big headlines,big photographs, and other graphic

strategies help make a little noiseon the page. Expressen, theStockholm daily, requires a level-ten volume on each of its pages,starting with page one.