The success of any newspaper rests with its content.
With news hole continuing to shrink, coupling non-narrative with
stories helps alleviate gray areas while adding layers of information
for readers. As designers, we can enhance our pages by taking
extra time to add additional content. While non-narrative isn't
enough to make an award-winning page, when married to solid stories
and design, the results are spectacular.
WHAT IS NON-NARRATIVE CONTENT?
Essentially, it's content that's not presented in
story fashion. It usually comes in four categories:
1. Info boxes
2. Refers
3. Listings
4. Display type
The most common is the info box.
WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL INFO BOX?
Non-narrative information offers quick additional
information to a story. Info boxes aren't a story or narrative
sidebar, no matter how short, or a brief or number of briefs.
They can have, but are not limited to, these types of information:
— Bio, company and/or stock information,
salaries, perks
— Addresses, phone numbers, Web sites, information for
more help
— Event information
— How-to tips, dos & don'ts, helpful hints
— Lists, comparisons, examples
Some examples:
Innovation/Imagination: 50 years of Polaroid
Photography
— Where: Pittsburgh Museum of Art
— When: Opens Friday, Aug. 16. Continues through Nov.
17
— Admission: $10 for adults, $7 for children 12 and under
Automobile trends
— Easier and larger interiors: Foldable or removable back
seats. Interiors that are made of plastic for easy cleaning
with the water hose.
— Wired to the max: Prewired to accomodate your MP3 player,
portable DVD player and your laptop.
— A different view: Sun roofs that open for passengers
in the backseat
Source: Auto Age
INFO BOX WORDS OF ADVICE
— For headlines, avoid phrases such as "At
a glance," "By the numbers," or "Facts."
Use more content-oriented phrases that summarize the info box
(i.e., How to boil water, City of Lights Festival).
— If you need an explanatory paragraph for
the info box (and many times you won't need one if you are careful
with your headline selection), avoid phrases such as "Here
are the ...," "Here is the list ...," "The
following are examples of ..." Many times these are redundant
to the headline.
— Always source your material
— Don't recycle information that's already
present in the story; use fresh
material or make it a summary box
EASY WAYS TO FIND NON-NARRATIVE
— Associated Press, wire services: Often
the wire will move Glance boxes. If there's not a glance, check
for an AP graphic. Even if you don't have room for a large graphic,
edit the material down and format it, with or without icons.
— Mine your stories: Explore ways to expand
a particular angle, maybe something that would work visually,
such as a comparison box.
— Internet: Reputable Web sites such as
historychannel.com, infoplease.com, etc.