An Introduction
Page layout and design is the complex interactive process of combining elements — pictures, text, headlines, working white, rules, and graphics — into a pleasing and harmonious composition.
Desktop Publishing (DTP) packages help a layout artist to orchestrate this composition of tones and shapes into a balanced, lively arrangement which attracts readers and keeps them reading longer [*1].
Pick up any magazine and it is the use of colour, amongst other things, which attracts attention. One way to introduce colour and make any page special is to use tint panels — flat areas made up of tiny dots of tone or hue. Used creatively, tint also provide an effective visual means of knitting text and graphics together — and provide visual signposting across a page or spread to guide the reader.
Looking at a page through half-shut eyes helps us see its design — it’s layout composition. We’re looking at an equilibrium; a visual picture of shapes — placeholders for text, boxes for pictures and graphics.
We see boxes,, circles and triangles. These juxtapositions set up contrasts, create movement and rhythm. Squares and boxes signal balance and order — of symmetry and enclosure. The space defined is without tension — static, inert, and neutral. Circles generate a sense of movement and direction both imploding and exploding — we feel compelled towards the centre. Triangles force our attention to the apex.
Colour adds a dynamic dimension to this flat outline organisation. And an easy way to add energy to a page design is with tint panels. A tint panel can hold text or graphics.
Tint panels can be left unspecified by any boundary — following ragged shapes of text or left to bleed into surrounding white space. But specified tints — in containers — can have the effect of emphasising, or over-emphasising the text’s message and meaning. Text with tints need borders set slightly wider.
You’ll need to create masks for each panel. First, make a copy of your page with text and graphics placeholders fixed — but without the content. Decide on colours — and create shapes of dots matching areas where text or graphics will show. Some DTP environments automatically produce colour separations.
I do this work freehand — for greater control. I print the masks first then the page. One sheet of paper makes several passes through the printer, each time with a different colour mask of dots. Registration marks are essential for accurate printing. I use lighter hues first then darker ones to minimises colour contamination.
Finally, a word of caution. Tints must be used thoughtfully because they can create additional problems. Their main drawback is on readability — darker tints can weaken the impact of text and break down the resolution of a typeface, or obliterate it completely. Tiny dots in paler hues are best but choice depends very much on the typeface and size used. Basically, the typeface must be strong enough to take the tint — and the best way of finding out whether it works or not is to experiment.
Transfer of knowledge is where Media Studies and Art and Design curricula converge — and learning experiences combine. Knowledge gained within the Media Studies curriculum naturally finds application within the Art and Design curriculum — and visa versa.
In Media Studies, a student’s basic grasp of tint panels — and how to make and exploit them effectively — can be developed further within the Art and Design curriculum by exploring stencilling and its application in silk-screen printing. This is the subject of another piece of classroom-based Action Research. [*2]
Lastly — and away from their position on a page — elaborate tint panels can look a bit abstract — impressionistic — echoing the French pointillist movement in the late nineteenth century [*3].
written by popadog
[* Tint Panels was first published in Beebug magazine in the January-February edition 1990 UK pp.87–89. A few changes and additions here made to incorporate text alongside illustrations used in the original article. These illustrations do not appear here. Additions include mention of related published Action Research undertaken at the same time — and re-published on the Medium platform]
[*2 see Instant Publishing by the author in BEEBUG Vol.8 №6 1989 UK; and Full Proof Times Educational Supplement UK, September 1988; Anatomy Of Young Viewers Observer newspaper UK, 28 June 1987].
[*3 Related published Action Research undertaken at the same time — and re-published on the Medium platform > Hints For More Tints; Quick On The Draw — Cartooning. Also related: Cut And Paste and Getting Into Print]
