Newsletter Layout Basics

Carl Shank • October 14, 2021

What makes up a good newsletter? There are both CONTENT and LAYOUT issues to consider.


CONTENT. Make the newsletter concise, readable, active by using strong verbs, scannable, up-to-date, people oriented, and economical. Make it regular, weekly if possible. "Scannable" means easy to read and see main pieces of information. Tie broader interests into the lives of local people. This is especially important if you reference, in a church newsletter, for instance, denominational or national news and views. Include short snippets by others in your group of readers. Advertise links to well-researched and important information for your readers. Include an occasional literary piece or arts piece to cultivate creative interchange and add vitality and dimension to your newsletter. Every so often use special interest pieces. Make sure the source of the newsletter is clear and readable, including name, address, date, staff. Do not plagiarize — give credit to where credit is due.


LAYOUT.  Have a distinctive and well-designed logo. Hire a graphic artist if needed for a professional logo look. Make sure the newsletter has "visual vitality" — good paper stock, quality reproduction, eye-catching headlines, plenty of white space and graphic elements to break up long text. Other type considerations would be —


(1) Choose the right typeface. Don't be limited to Times Roman, Helvetica and ghastly Courier. Try Palatino, Century, Lucida and Stone Informal. Book faces would include Garamond, Caslon 540, Galliard and Baskerville. (See Example 1 below) Choose a face legible in small sizes. Whatever you choose, be careful of fanciful, grotesque, weird and strange faces for most of the newsletter. "Extreme features—thick strokes, very thin strokes, tall and narrow forms, short and squatty forms, slanted characters, fancy serifs, swashes—anything that calls attention to itself lowers the readability of the face, because you notice the letterforms, rather than the message." (Robin Williams, "Improving Readability," Technique, August 1995). What you want is readability, cleanness, and communication.


(2) Size type to fit. This means appropriate size of type and line spacing. Strive for lines between 50 and 70 characters. Another way to say this would be from 8 to 11 words or wide enough to accommodate 2 1/2 lowercase alphabets of the typeface chosen. People read groups of words at a time, so be careful of too few or too many words on a line. Do not double-space between the end of sentences (an old practice on typewriters—remember those?!) For a piece too long, hyphenate lines setting them ragged right, or cut some text. For a piece too short, remove hyphenations, break long paragraphs into shorter ones, or narrow the column widths. The general rule for leading is 20 percent of type size, so 2 points of leading for 10-point type, making a total of 12 points from one baseline to the next. However, some faces require more leading for readability. Since we read in phrases, avoid uneven letter and word spacing, or too close or too far apart spacing. Kerning and tracking controls on page layout programs like PageMaker often need tweaked. (See Example 2 below) Whatever looks right is important here.


(3) Use display type for headlines. Do not use all capital letters. A mix of upper and lower case letters gives more readability and pleasure in headline reading. Generally, avoid ALL CAPS even for headlines. Leave conjunctions such as and, in, and the, lowercase. There are many display faces available, but I would say choose a display face that goes with the text used in the piece. Sans serif faces (without "feet") are often good display faces, but again be careful of gaudiness. And use your computer program's kerning function (space between letters) to create visual acceptability —


WORKING TOOLS or Working Tools (Formata Bold font),

but not WORKING TOOLS (unless it is a Halloween piece!)


Also, end lines at logical stopping points —

Today it will be sunny with periods

of rain and spotty showers Not this — but rather this —


Today it will be sunny

with periods of rain

and spotty showers


Trademark or copyright symbols should be a smaller type size than the font and move the symbol so that its top aligns with the top of the text. (Example 3 below)


(4)  Replace typewriter-type quotations and other marks with the font's built in marks. (Example 4 below) Jim Heid from Macworld also rightly advises "avoid gimmicky font styles such as shadow and outline. Also think twice about using the small-caps option that many programs provide. . . . avoid superimposing type over a gray-shaded background." (Macworld, June 1989) (Example 5 below)


Successful Layout & Design

Advances in Typography: Late Twentieth to Twenty-First Centuries A Historical Sketch (Part 3)

By Carl Shank • December 1, 2025
Advances in Typography: Late Twentieth to Twenty-First Centuries A Historical Sketch (Part 3) Late Twentieth to Early Twenty-First Century: Corporate and Contemporary Digital Jonathan Hoefler (b. 1970) is an American type designer known for influential typefaces such as Hoefler Text, Gotham, Knockout, and Mercury. Gotham, co-designed with Tobias Frere-Jones, gained international fame through its use in Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and has since become a staple in corporate and editorial branding. Born in New York City, Hoefler’s early fascination with everyday typography led him to a self-taught career in type design. In 1989, he founded the Hoefler Type Foundry, quickly earning recognition with Champion Gothic for Sports Illustrated. His partnership with Roger Black and later Tobias Frere-Jones resulted in dozens of widely used typefaces. Hoefler’s work is characterized by a blend of historical research and modern engineering, shaping digital typography standards. His typefaces are used by major publications, cultural institutions, and corporations worldwide. In 2021, Monotype acquired his company, marking a significant moment in the evolution of digital type design.  Hoefler’s approach has redefined contemporary type design, bridging historical revivals and modern usability. His influence extends across print and digital media, setting new standards for clarity, versatility, and typographic excellence.

Advances in Typography: Twentieth Century A Historical Sketch (Part 2)

By Carl Shank • December 1, 2025
Mid-Century Modernism & Corporate Typography (1945–1980) Designers like Jan Tschichold were foundational to many of the Swiss design principles. This style evolved from Constructivist, De Stijl and Bauhaus design principles, particularly the ideas of grid systems, sans-serif type and minimalism. Emerging in Switzerland during the 1940s and 1950s, this typography, also known as the International Typographic Style, directly responded to the type chaos of Dada and the stylization of Art Deco. The International Typographic Style (or the Swiss Style) in the 1950s and 1960s focused on grid systems, objective communication and sans-serifs. Key figures were Josef Muller-Brockmann, Emil Ruder and Armin Hofmann. The Swiss style emphasized readability, visual harmony and universality. Clarity, objectivity and functionality were key components. Contributors included Max Miedinger, creator of the Helvetica typeface (1957 by Miedinger & Eduard Hoffmann), and Adrian Frutiger, creator of the Univers typeface in 1957, and Hermann Zapf, creator of Optima in 1958. Swiss style became the dominant graphic language of postwar corporate identity. Other Blogs I have written noted the development of Helvetica ( “Helvetica’s Journey” July 13, 2024 ). Adrian Frutiger (1928–2015) was a Swiss typeface designer whose career spanned hot metal, phototypesetting and digital typesetting eras. Frutiger’s most famous designs, Univers, Frutiger and Avenir, are landmark sans-serif families spanning the three main genres of sans-serif typefaces —neogrotesque, humanist and geometric. Univers is a clear, objective form suitable for typesetting of longer texts in the sans-serif style. Starting from old sketches from his student days at the School for the Applied Arts in Zurich, he created the Univers type family. Folded into the Linotype collection in the 1980s, Univers has been updated to Univers Next, available with 59 weights. This lasting legible font is suitable for almost any typographic need. It combines well with Old Style fonts like Janson, Meridien, and Sabon, Slab Serif fonts like Egyptienne F, Script and Brush fonts like Brush Script, Blackletter fonts like Duc De Berry, Grace, San Marco and even some fun fonts. Univers is not a “free” font and must be purchased from Linotype. Other faces by Frutiger are Frutiger and Avenir. These fonts were designed to be legible, versatile and anonymous, avoiding stylistic “noise” to focus on clear communication. Swiss type used a systematized approach to typography, enabling consistent spacing, alignment and hierarchy, crucial for multilingual and complex layouts. Typography was seen as part of a harmonious, modern composition. Generous white space facilitated clarity and focus.
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