A great layout cannot support a poor content
As Carpentier noted, the biggest mistake an art director can do is to not be actively involved in the making of the newspapers’ content.
“If they accept to stay on the sideline, and just take some photos and text and compile it in the last minute, they are not doing their job. I think they must impose themselves from the beginning of the process”, said Stephane Carpentier.
An art director is the first reader of a newspaper. They should read all the headlines and text and make sure they are easy to understand and they match with the images.
“I think an art director should be in the same position as the editor-in-chief. The art director should help readers understand the most and least important events, to make readers feel more intelligent after reading the newspaper. In return, readers should relax, feel pleasure while reading it. He must help readers have emotions”, says Carpentier.
Many people here wear the title of art directors but they are just layouters, he continued. “You have to give instructions to photographers in advance. The layout is just the easy part of a complex editorial process”.
The content is the core element responsible by the popularity of a newspaper.
“It is all about the stories, angle, and in the third place, the layout, the quality of images, visual content, infographics. I don’t think a great layout can support a poor content. Unless there are fantastic photos”.
As for Romanian newspapers, Business Standard, Gazeta Sporturilor are titles with good graphic. Internationally, great newspapers in terms of layout are in countries such as Spain, UK, South America and Russia.
“If they accept to stay on the sideline, and just take some photos and text and compile it in the last minute, they are not doing their job. I think they must impose themselves from the beginning of the process”, said Stephane Carpentier.
An art director is the first reader of a newspaper. They should read all the headlines and text and make sure they are easy to understand and they match with the images.
“I think an art director should be in the same position as the editor-in-chief. The art director should help readers understand the most and least important events, to make readers feel more intelligent after reading the newspaper. In return, readers should relax, feel pleasure while reading it. He must help readers have emotions”, says Carpentier.
Many people here wear the title of art directors but they are just layouters, he continued. “You have to give instructions to photographers in advance. The layout is just the easy part of a complex editorial process”.
The content is the core element responsible by the popularity of a newspaper.
“It is all about the stories, angle, and in the third place, the layout, the quality of images, visual content, infographics. I don’t think a great layout can support a poor content. Unless there are fantastic photos”.
As for Romanian newspapers, Business Standard, Gazeta Sporturilor are titles with good graphic. Internationally, great newspapers in terms of layout are in countries such as Spain, UK, South America and Russia.