Have you ever wondered what happens to an editorial design when a significant number of words are added or removed? Probably not, and why should you, that’s the job of the designer. Perfecting the layout of an editorial spread is a balancing act for any designer. They must assess the amount of copy for the spread, see what images need including and conform to the style and guidelines of the publication.

It takes time to get a layout working well. The text and images must work together, the copy must be clearly laid-out  and every element has to compliment the other. It’s not rocket science but it is a skill which designers hone over their working lives. Below is an example (fictional) magazine/newsletter spread which has been laid-out to fit a 660 word article.

Removing 100 words from the layout

Say, for example, that the author/editor changes the amount of copy and decides to lose 100 words from the article. The designer can’t just remove the words as the design will look unbalanced.

As you can see, the article doesn’t have the same flow as the original. Is is apparent that text has been removed as the space in the last column doesn’t look intentional. What the designer must do, in this circumstance, is redesign the spread to make the copy fit once again. This doesn’t take as much time as designing the original layout but it takes much more time than just deleting the unwanted copy. After the designer has reworked the design, the page looks like this:

At first glance, the design is not obviously different. The main image and title have moved slightly to accommodate the amended article. The strapline has been repositioned and made deeper to distribute the text better and the quote has been moved and enlarged to balance the remaining white space. In most cases, the elements on the spread cannot change when text amends are made so they have to be repositioned to make an aesthetically pleasing spread.

Adding 100 words to the layout

Adding a few paragraphs to an article also results in a redesign. The designer cannot simply add more text to the layout as there isn’t room. Even by removing the quote, they still have 42 words that don’t fit.

Again, they must rework the elements on the page to accommodate the new text. There is no longer room for the quote to be an element by itself, so it has been moved over the image. Both of the images have been reduced in size to allow the extra text to fit. The reworked spread now has the balance of the original spread.

The redesigned spreads are not, at first glance, drastically different from the original spread. However, time has been spent rebalancing them and getting the amended text to work in harmony with the spread. It might only seem like a small amend, but to the designer, it needs care and attention – not just resizing text boxes. We know that copy cannot always be supplied that doesn’t need changes making to it later, but the closer the word count can be to the original, the less redesigning time goes on the job.

Know who you’re up against

Every year there are thousands of graphic design graduates competing for comparatively few jobs. According to the Higher Education Standards Agency, in 2010, there were 59,290 students on design studies courses in the UK.¹

After surveying more than 2,000 design business teams, the Design Council’s  Industry Research 2010 factsheets reported that three quarters of design consultancies working in communications design were employing fewer than five designers – with almost all employing fewer than 10. Out of those businesses 29% recruited at least one designer last year. 43% recruited graduates/college students and 30% recruited professional designers from other design companies.

The rate of employers’ being ‘Completely Satisfied’ with the quality of their graduate recruits was 56% whereas the same rate of satisfaction from their experienced designers was 76%.

These statistics are not here to scare you or put you off applying for jobs. The information is here to highlight the importance of getting your application right. You’re competing against your peers and potentially already employed designers so you need to stand out from the crowd.

Getting it right

Designing a personal CV and website is one of the hardest tasks for any designer. It is the first impression to potential employers. Remember that your potential employer will have received many CVs and yours will be directly comparable with your rivals’. There are a lot of balancing acts to get right. Your CV needs to be well written and nicely designed; it needs to get some personality across but not be showy and self-important; and most importantly, it needs to impress.

Writing your CV

There is absolutely no point in having a beautifully designed CV and it not saying anything that your potential employer wants to hear. Equally it could be very well written but be presented badly. A CV should be a perfect balance of content and design.

A good CV should take up no more than a single side of A4. A lot of people make the mistake of having too much content.  Your CV should be divided into clear sections: contact details; education; qualifications/awards; work placements and a bit about yourself. It should be clear and to the point.

What to include

List where you have been educated. Put your university/college first and work backwards from there. List your qualifications starting with the course you’ve just graduated from. List any art foundation courses and A levels/college qualifications but don’t list every GCSE (see ‘What to leave out’ below). Include any work placements you have undertaken, as employers like to see that you’ve had some experience of a design studio environment.

Always spell-check your CV. Show that you pay attention to the details. It is off-putting to potential employers if your CV is full of errors. A designer friend of mine once received an application CV that had the name of his company incorrectly spelled – not a good sign. If you are not confident in writing, have a couple of people read it for you before sending it out.

What to leave out

Although you might feel that your GCSEs are super important, once you’ve got your degree/HND employers are not particularly going to care that you got a B in Geography or a C in Spanish. Group your GCSEs together with the grades that you got. For example, “GCSE grades A-C” would suffice. Equally employers are not bothered about any jobs you’ve had that are not relevant to the design job that you’re applying for. It is better to have no employment history than to include bar staff, shop assistant or any other non-related job.

Designing your CV (the tricky bit)

There are no hard and fast rules to designing your CV. I would say that it’s more important to be a great looking page with easy-to-read information than to be über trendy or over-the-top and illegible. You want to come across as professional and creative. A good way to present yourself is though well written text laid out beautifully, with a really good typeface and attention to the details.

Your CV is not the place to get creative with unusual paper sizes. Received CVs will be filled together and often photocopied, so non-standard formats are not going to impress. You should have loads of great work examples in your portfolio so save the really creative pieces for there.

It is a good idea to send a few work examples with your CV. Do not email large file size PDFs to prospective employers. Keep the page to a maximum of about 2mb. It is important to have a good portfolio website too, include the URL in your contact details. WordPress has several portfolio website templates which are relatively simple to use and free. Read more about WordPress at Smashing Magazine.

Providing your CV

Never design or provide your CV in Word – ever. If you get the job, you are expecting to be treated as a professional. Would you design a brochure in Word? Also make sure that in your cover letter/email you address the person who will receive it personally. If you don’t have their name, find it out. Do not write ‘sir/madam’ or ‘to whom it may concern’ no one receiving it will be concerned. Check the company’s website for staff listings or phone the company and ask who to address your application to.

If you are emailing your CV, send it – and any work examples – as a PDF. However, if you want to stand out from the crowd then one of the best things you can do is to print and post it. Design companies rarely get posted student CVs. Choose a really nice paper stock and make sure it’s printed properly – no inkjet lines or smudges. If you want to provide work examples, send them on some nice heavyweight paper. Demonstrate that you care about the whole design process including the finish and it’s sure to impress.

Remember that it’s a competitive world out there and if you can make a great first impression you are likely to go far. Good luck.