Laying out text for better communication

Typography is pictures of words.…And words are stand in for images and ideas.…The exact word, or words, and the way it is…depicted in a layout are as important as the imagery.…I see a common error in design, when the…word on a page simply repeats what the image says.…When I see a photo of an elephant,…the headline below doesn't need to tell me elephant.…I can already see this.…The copy should add to the information, or meaning of the image.…

If the headline says crazed killer, I have a larger amount of information.…When we see a layout, we first scan for a recognizable image.…Next, we look for a headline that provides…additional information, and finally we access the smaller copy.…When you allow the image and…copy to pose a question, the viewer is more intrigued.…From the earliest advertising to today, this is the standard layout for ads.…This Coca-Cola ad from 1890 does this.…

First, we are presented with an intriguing image.…Then the headline makes us reconsider the question.…And finally, there is small detailed text explaining what we are seeing.…