Need some advice

I work for a cluster of small community newspapers. I never took design classes in college and now have been thrust into designing. Four sports pages a week.

I really don't have time to go back to school and even audit a design course. So what I'm looking for is some good books I can read to learn something about design. I currently just look at other papers for ideas. But I'd like to really improve my designs and make the papers better.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

www.newspagedesigner.com

www.newseum.org

 

Thanks for the sites. i will look at them when I have more time.

What I'm really looking for a text book that might help me with not only design but also the tricks to Quark.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076452593X/sr=8-4/qid=1154814984/ref=pd_bbs_4/102-4269761-6671349?ie=UTF8

Quark for dummies!

 

The Newspaper Designer's Handbook, by Tim Harrower. You won't find one better for the pinch you find yourself in:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0697327205/103-5138828-3149451?v=glance&n=283155

Quark will come in time, and rather quickly, at that. But Quark for Dummies and a handful of similar books you can find at any Borders will speed up the process.

 

I heartily endorse the Harrower book. A great way to start out – and a good resource for even experienced designers when they're feeling stuck.

 

I found myself in a very similar situation. I chose to pay very close attention to larger papers in my area. If the So-and-so News had three stories, two pictures and a column -- and I liked the way it looked -- I made mine look pretty similar. Just until I got the hang of design and figured out "what right looked like."

 

Thanks. I actually had that page on Amazon.com bookmarked. This summer I just winged it. But with football and other sports starting up I probably need some help.

 

Harrower's book was the textbook in my Copy Editing class in college. Now that I think about it, if I can only find where I stashed it, I may trying bringing it in to work to breed some creativity,

 

My advice, from a guy who is only out of school for a few years, is read and look at as many other papers as you can.

I've tried to copy and mimic some of the better designs I've seen throughout the years. Some of mine were horrible attempts, but I learned quickly what worked and what didn't. The stuff that works, I always keep in the back of my head and pull it out when I need it. The stuff that didn't work, I forget about.

The best thing about a daily (even 4x week) is that there's always another paper tomorrow and another chance to put out something better.

 

It's also work checking out Poynter.org for some of their articles on layout and design, or go browse around the society of news design Web site to get info on seminars coming up or to check out their resources.

www.snd.org