The basic building blocks of virtually every layout are the same four elements, headlines, text, images and, of primary importance, space. This is surprising when you consider the enormous variety of design solutions that are available.

The print-based examples shown here contain a single font Times, in two weights, roman and bold with grey or white shapes indicating images. They demonstrate the importance that space plays in a basic design. Using only these limited resources, each layout begins to reveal a style of its own, conservative, dynamic, youthful and so on.

Appreciating this basic concept is of paramount importance to all designers. Try studying web or print-based design and assess how the layout reinforces the message, or not!

Conventional:	Dense and text-heavy, with a headline at the top and a picture at the bottom.
Classic:	Simple, two-column format with centred headline and inset picture.
Modern:	Wide measure and extra leading, letter-spaced headline and bold rules.
Technical:	Angular layout with column rules and lots of white space. Clean and strong.
Aggressive:	Large, underlined headline and bold text with regular cross-heads.
Juvenile:	Busy layout with large initial cap for headline, tinted rules and large text.
Youthful:	Fun with graphics and type, multi-size headline and white out of black page.
Natural:	Elegant, with wide, spaced text and headline, and use of oval pictures.
Prestigious:	Offset initial cap, simplicity and use of space are the key to a graceful layout.