Figure 3.1:
Overview of a hundred years of front pages of
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 1889 – 1989 (individual front pages are numbered 4.1.a-k , respectively ordered left to right, top to bottom of page).
3.1 Data & Method
The JPEG’s of the digitized front pages of Nieuwsblad van het Noorden have been
downloaded via Delpher. These can all be accessed via their permalink. The metadata
is freely available and accessible via online XML-files which all include ALTO.101 The
pages have been chosen at a ten year interval each time. This has been done to rule out any bias in changes in layout (e.g. the year the newspaper publisher changed their style of headlines or first used images). The publication dates are random, with a mix of all weekdays (except Sunday since no newspaper is published that day) and almost every month is covered. The rest of the newspaper pages, as well as the actual
content, is disregarded for this visual analysis.
From here on, the front page will be handled as a composition. In paragraph 2.3 the terms applicable to a newspaper’s page have already been described. No matter if a photograph, illustration, graphic, map or other figurative element is included, these will all initially be referred to as images in this analysis. If it concerns an advertisement, this distinction will be made. Regarding typography, a judgement will be made on size and use of serifs (a serif is a small line which is fixed to the end of a stroke in a symbol or letter, e.g. this thesis is set in Georgia, a serif font), not on actual typeface. Since this case study is concerned with examining the overall composition of a front page, exact measurements and typefaces are not necessary.
As examined in the previous chapter, a pleasing composition in a flat pictorial image is traditionally governed by harmonious balance of all the elements. This can be achieved by the right “weight distribution”, cue directionality towards a
perspective focal point, and the location of the main point(s) of interest. During the late nineteenth century, Western European painting was taking a step back from these traditions; more and more artists were developing their own style and
experimenting with composition amongst other things. The question is whether the composition of front pages live up to a similar expectation regarding composition Expertise and/or training in the visual arts helps in noticing the subtleties in a strong or good composition.
101 In 8. Images, all the permalinks of the used front pages can be found. By adding the suffix ‘:alto’ to a permalink of an individual page, the
3.2 Visual Analysis of Nieuwsblad van het Noorden
First, a brief summary of what is happening on these eleven front pages. Nothing exciting is happening on the first four front pages (fig. 3.1.a-d, 1889 – 1919); in number five the first image can be spotted (fig. 3.1.e, 1929); next (fig. 3.1.f, 1939), headlines can be distinguished and sometimes run over more than just one column (for example, a visualisation of the Americanisation of headlines as mentioned
previously); following, images become larger in size and number, whereas
experimentation with headlines and sub headlines is obvious as well – in the last of this group of three front pages, headlines have become almost as prominent in size as some of the images (fig. 3.1.g-i, 1949 – 1969); and lastly, colour is marginally
introduced, yet still a lack of coloured images (fig. 3.1.j-k, 1979 – 1989).
When looking at the pages in more detail, much more subtleties become apparent. Wednesday 27 November, 1889 (see fig. 3.2). This was the second year of publication for this newspaper. The very top of the page is reserved for the year of publication, the date and the publication number; a practice which is still common today in newspapers. The title is announced in big, bold letters in a sans serif
typeface, combined with a subtitle. In the top middle of the top of the page the logo is made up out of the coats of arms of the three Dutch Northern provinces: respectively from left to right Friesland, Groningen, and Drenthe. On the left and right of the logo is information on the publication, subscription, and advertising options. The rest of the page is divided into two parts by a horizontal black line, which seems arbitrarily placed. The type of the bottom half is smaller though. The actual news is presented in five columns, where all text is justified except the heads for those are centred. The front page news is separated by themes. Only the section ‘foreign affairs’ has a division for its short articles, yet they are only noticeable when actually reading the paper. Each head has a distinct style: the first is just slightly larger and bold; the second is even larger and has an underline; the third has two dividing lines and is in all capitals; the last attracts the most attention with three lines using all capitals, then bold, sans serif letters, and a bold, larger font. After the masthead and logo, your attention automatically slides down to this headline which uses the fattest font (‘VERBANNEN’, which means banned). Second, the gaze goes towards
‘BUITENLAND’ (abroad); besides the all-capitals, contributing cues that this headline functions as a break in the column, is just above the dividing page line and near the centre of the text. The rest of the page
Figure 3.2: Guiding of the gaze on the front page of1889.
Figure 3.3: Guiding the gaze on the front page of 1899.
looks more like the page of a book, which means that the attention goes from the top left to the bottom right of the page.
Ten years later, the front page seems even simpler on 13 July 1899 (see fig. 3.3). The logo has disappeared, along with the publication, subscription and advertising information at the head of the page. Yet again, there are three dividing themes as headlines, although now slightly more uniform. Bold is not only used for the two obvious news theme titles, but also for the short articles within these four columns (starting at ‘BUITENLAND’). These articles are divided by a white line with one single ‘–’. This makes the reading somewhat easier. There are only a few factors which can attract your attention, so the gaze quickly shifts to the top left for reading. Thanks to the numerous white spaces, that is first ‘BINNENLAND’, then
‘BUITENLAND’ and after a quick distraction by the white spaces at the top right of the page, one can start reading at the top left of the page. Oddly, this front page has six columns, which isn’t repeated until 1949 (see fig. 3.1).
By 29 April 1909, there is more unity in theme heads, subheads and the overall text (see fig. 3.4). The columns are better defined. Still, the title grabs the attention first, but now a first visual cue is used: the first column has a pointing hand, which works very well for directing the gaze there first. Since this is a very short section of text, a short scan is made of the whole page, resting mostly at the larger title at the bottom of the page. Since the articles are all reasonably evenly distributed and uniform in length, there is little reason for not starting to read at ‘Kameroverzicht’ after this.
On 17 January 1919, the front page is very similar to ten years before (see fig. 3.5). In comparison, the only change after the examined edition of 1909 is that the horizontal separating lines are thicker and, in some cases, double now. The slim dividing section with publisher’s information under the masthead has disappeared. Although the changes have been minimal, this does give this specific front page a more modern feel in its details than its predecessors. This page chiefly works as a page of text rather than a composition (which is not surprising, since it is almost completely covered in text with only very little white space).
So far, the front pages have only consisted of text, with the logo in 1889 and the small pointing hand in 1909 as exception. In these three decades, the biggest changes have been more uniformity in used typefaces, form of headlines and overall better readability. However, the front page is still an exclusively textual affair.
Figure 3.6: Guiding the gaze on the front page of 1929.
Figure 3.7: Guiding the gaze on the front page of 1939.
Figure 3.8: Guiding the gaze on the front page
Balance within these textual compositions is mostly coincidental, since the length of a last line or precise length of an article was not determined by the composition of the page, but rather the news.
In the edition of 14 August 1929, the first image in this case study appears (see fig. 3.6). This drawing in black and white is placed in the central column, which works well to keep harmony within the composition of the front page. Because the image is of a sitting man looking left, his gaze is automatically followed. However, there is nothing interesting in his line of gaze: it only guides your attention to the left of the page. Partly because of this, and because it is the biggest and most bold headline on the page, your gaze is then directed at ‘OVERZICHT’. Before really being able to read the page, the section on the far right is distracting with its bold double lines, several short headlines/titles, and white spaces.
In the next decade, much has changed about the front page, as can be seen in the front page of 22 September 1939 (see fig. 3.7). The title it still present in its big, bold letters, but it now has to share the masthead with information on subscription and advertising. This front page also has one image; a small photograph which does attract your gaze thanks to the black/white/grey blocks. New is that headlines now more resemble those of contemporary headlines in both form and content. Especially the surrounding white spaces help with attracting attention on this front page. A hierarchy of importance is made thanks to differing sizes of the headlines; this works visually too. For better readability, small subheads are included in these front page articles. These are in a sans serif font, just like the headlines themselves. This example is the first were tension between image and text and the different parts of the text (headline) really start competing for the attention.
On 19 February 1949, two images are on the front page and they’re rather larger than on the 1939 edition (see fig. 3.8). Together, they take up about a quarter of the whole front page. For the headlines, at least four different fonts have been
used, besides the fact that these are all in differing sizes. Nieuwsblad van het
Noorden does still employ quite large white spaces around the headlines, which help
in guiding the gaze towards them. The different fonts and sizes do not help determine a hierarchy among the articles; rather, the direction of the gaze will determine this hierarchy. The page is quite literally balanced because of the diagonally mirrored placement of the two images and the biggest headline at the top of the central
Figure 3.10: Guiding the gaze on the front page
of 1969. Figure 3.11: Guiding the gaze on the front page of 1979.
Figure 3.12: Guiding the gaze on the front page of 1989.
columns of the page. This is also the first front page where the title and the whole masthead are smaller. The images dominate this composition on all fronts.
Ten years later, the front page on 14 December 1959 really emphasizes this repeatedly mentioned tension between text and image, as well as competition within the hierarchy of headlines (see fig. 3.9). No less than four images are part of this composition, with the two photographs yet again balancing each other out in opposite diagonal corners and the two smaller, simpler images doing the same in the other corners of the page. Together these images seem about a quarter of the total page just like in 1949 (see fig. 3.8). Articles are no longer just divided because the bottom of the page is nearing, but almost all of the articles on this front page are spread over at least two columns whilst breaking up those columns at the same time. After the
obvious eye catchers – the two photographs – the gaze gets much more confused than in previous editions. The headlines are in at least three different fonts and in
numerous sizes. The all-capital lines are sparse, but still used in combination with some of the bigger headlines. In regards of form of text, this edition reminisces more of the 1939 edition (e.g. comparing form of headlines) (see fig. 3.7). Because of the mirrored images and diagonally placed headlines, the gaze make a sort of circular motion when scanning this front page.
By 25 March 1969, images finally take up more than a quarter of the front page (see fig. 3.10). The size of the images determines a hierarchy for the scanning gaze. The main headlines have become bigger, where all-capitals are now used for some of the smaller headlines. Headlines now are making optimal use of the surrounding white space; only an awkward amount of white space is left at the right bottom of the page because of an image placement. The number of fonts seems reduced in
comparison to the 1959 front page (see fig. 3.9), yet the variety of size of text is impressive. This page is definitely more balanced than the previously studied front page; less headlines and articles are exceeding the columns’ borders and if they do surpass these lines, it is done much more intuitively logical. Thanks to horizontal dividing lines it is made clear which image belongs to which article (or if the image is a stand-alone unit). All images are stuck to the top or bottom margin of the page (disregarding the masthead) and all headlines are either on the top half of the page or halfway there. This is the first front page where a connected line (with rounded
A big change can be noted when viewing the front page of 23 October 1979 (see fig. 3.11). The title has moved from the centre to the right and a large, red circle is now part of the masthead. Regardless of how big the images are, this use of colour immediately grabs all attention. This front page uses much more horizontal cues to order the composition. Although this page consists of six columns, it is not apparent from any single width of the page. The main headline now really stands out; overall, all articles are better indicated in this composition. This front page is more a unity of different elements than an ‘endless’ number of columns interrupted by images. These separate elements are emphasized by their surrounding lines and boxes. However, balance is disturbed by the largest image covering the corner of a short, boxed article. This visual cue, which is reminiscent of the point of an arrow, is not balanced out anywhere else in the page. Besides this, the two black boxes for two headlines are a new strategy too.
And lastly, the front page of 27 May 1989 (see fig. 3.12). The newly stylized title has remained, along with the minimalistic use of red. This is even expanded to two element borders. Images and colour blocks make up at least a third of this front page. Despite all the different elements, one main headline and one main image do seem to come forward. Instead of black boxes for two headlines, here grey boxes have been used. This is much less invasive in the overall composition. However, black boxes are used for some of the advertisements and page number indications of articles on other pages. Even though this front page is not as confusing as the one from 1959 (see fig. 3.9), this page has a lot of different types of element competing for your attention first. Because of the concise nature of some these, most of the smaller elements can be ignored after a quick scan. Nonetheless, a balance or harmony of elements is not achieved in this composition, as they have tried to combine too many different shapes and sizes.
3.3 Comparison to Compositional Theories
So, which general trends can be observed on these front pages? Here, images were first used in 1929; this is around the time that photography and other imagery became easier to include in the newspaper thanks to the formatting and printing process. Once images were included in the composition of the front page, they never left. They even became more prominent in terms of both numbers and size. Within a few decades, images went from taking up about a quarter of the page to a third. Since
the last example dates from 1989, it is no surprise that all the images are in black and
white (although somewhere between 1989 and 1994, Nieuwsblad van het Noorden
did switch to colour images).
Before 1929, the front page consisted exclusively out of text, with quite small headlines; in fact, these ‘headlines’ are more like titles, indicating that the following news is about e.g. internal affairs or foreign news (see paragraph 2.3 for the
difference between titles and headlines). The modernized type of headline first appeared in 1939 and hasn’t disappeared since. These headlines were combined with more white space, which gives them an extra edge when attracting the gaze of the reader. The fonts used for the main text remain quite neutral, these can differ in size per article. The headlines themselves only stick to sans serif fonts from 1959 onwards. All-capital headlines are used up to 1969 (see fig, 3.10).
In flat pictorial art, directionality towards the perspectival focal point is an important determining factor for a composition. This is the case for all styles of painting, from nineteenth-century painting to Expressionism and photography. In a composite visual, like a newspaper’s front page, this is a lot harder to determine. Nowadays, this usually the main headline, the main image or a combination of the two. Yet when images were first included in the front page composition, these
automatically drew all the attention regardless of their position – although it visually works better when a single image is not on the border of the page. When more images were introduced to the front page, this was balanced out by only one big headline. Yet