| Designing Publications for Supersonic Readers Today's Internet-savvy readers present special challenges for publications. Mario Garcia explains how to capture their interest. By Mark Moore I'm a supersonic reader. I was labeled a supersonic reader at this year's Agricultural Publications Summit (APS). It was a Wednesday. Before we get too carried away, it's not a bad thing. In fact, most of you are probably supersonic readers. And if you don't think your readers are supersonic, you may be losing them. What's a supersonic reader? According to Dr. Mario Garcia, a supersonic reader plows through publications, devoting as little as 10 seconds per page. It's hard to think that someone only spends 10 seconds on an article that took weeks to research and write. But according to Garcia, the supersonic reader can be slowed down enough to read your articles...all it takes is a little innovation and packaging. Garcia's presentation at the closing brunch at this year's APS dealt with design. His "Visual Thinking and Today's Newspapers" presentation focused on newspapers, but his ideas hold true for all other print media. In general, he said newspapers do a much better job at content than design. Let's face it, we're in a different age. The Internet has woven its way into all of society. And that includes the WAY we read. The Internet, according to Garcia, is having the greatest influence on how readers read today. Today's reader is always on, viewing more than one medium at a time. And it's difficult to concentrate on one thing at a time, so the reader skims. Internet pages and stories are brief, easy to read and offer easy navigation to the reader. Print, Garcia says, can and should do the same. Here are some statistics that should catch your attention on how this reader views a story:
Now before we all decide to turn in our reporter's notebooks, Garcia offers some innovative ideas to bring these readers back to the page. "There is a renaissance in headline writing," Garcia says. "Bold, large, in-your-face headlines." What it also means is that not only should time be spent to provide clarity in all writing, but headlines, kickers, cutlines and photos must be used to help tell the story. Cutlines should offer a story within the story and not just a rehash of what's in paragraph 15. Offering the reader a way to navigate through a story is paramount. And photos, headlines and captions should be used as three ways to tell a story. Helping the reader navigate through an article gets readers to where they want to be faster and easier. A kicker and headline should be considered vital parts of the story. A summary should include vital information to entice the reader. We're fighting for a smaller and smaller piece of a reader's valuable time, so using it wisely is paramount. Garcia's presentation also gave us a visual review of some of his major redesigns. He's worked on the redesign of more than 450 publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Enquirer, Handelsblatt and Die Zeit. Garcia is CEO and Founder of Garcia Media and founded the graphics and design program at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. For a look at Garcia's magazine, newspaper and on-line designs, go to www.garcia-media.com.
Mark Moore is an account executive with Charleston/Orwig, Inc., and a member of The ByLine committee. |
