A mass of small type that nobody pays much attention to—except readers
It was once rare to be asked even to look at the classified section during a redesign. However, these days, no project is complete without making efforts to improve this section. Classified text, indexes and labeling devices are among the most important typography in the newspaper. Creating or modifying it is not a glamorous chore from a design standpoint, but this “utilitarian” text is read by a great percentage of readers daily.
Readability and consistency of typefaces chosen are two crucial factors that impact the success, ease and speed of your readers’ navigation of these pages.
Column width, white space, alignment of type, and rule lines are also crucial elements of successful classified design. And finally, the economy and efficiency of letterspacing and leading of lines of text are factors that immediately impact your bottom line, in terms of the number of pages of newsprint needed to print your classifieds daily.