Question: How do I design a good newsletter?
Answer: First and foremost, a good newsletter has good content that meets the needs and expectations of the reader. On the design and page layout side, a good newsletter design creates interest and maintains readability through consistency, conservation, and contrast. Use these basic guidelines to help construct your publication.
Be consistent in your newsletter design
- Use grids for page to page consistency.
- Use templates and styles for consistent formatting.
- Use repeating elements such as footers, headers, department heads.
Be conservative in your newsletter design
- Use three or fewer typefaces.
- Use frames and boxes sparingly.
- Use no more than one or two pieces of clip art, photos, or graphic accents per page if possible.
Use contrast in your newsletter design
- Use high contrast typefaces such as a bold sans serif type for headlines and a serif for body text.
- Make it big, really big. Use an exaggerated drop cap or enlarge a single piece of clip art to make a statement.
- Use white space (extra wide gutters or margins) to counteract dense text.
