THE COLOR ATTACK: At DeMorgen, the Belgian daily, color is king, the main protagonist; notice use of wallpaper effect starting on page one .
TAKEAWAY: : Fortunately, we now have ample research available to guide us with color utilization; however, instinct and good taste remain important determinants.
Some discoveries that we all should remember when using color on the page or screen. These are the basic foundations of color use, and remain timeless:
1. Readers do like color in their publications. However, color alone will not make a page more appealing; good content does.
2. Readers enter each page through a dominant photograph, illustration or other visual image, whether it is in color or black and white. Size and placement are more important determinants of point of entry than color. Focus groups do show that a large image in a bright, forward color is the ultimate way to get a reader on to the page.
3. Color backgrounds are effective in drawing attention to the subject of a box, for example. As printing becomes more sophisticated, we are able to expand our use of color backgrounds to a larger canvas than the usual small box, as per the example of the Belgian daily, DeMorgen, shown here.
The newspaper of the future will carry much more color than what we see even today—-every page in color is what readers want. Already many newspapers worldwide do this, including 24 Sata, the successful Croatian daily, shown below.
WHERE IS MARIO?: In New York City on the way to Frankfurt and on to Lagos, Nigeria