The Use of Agents in Newspaper Layout
"The Use of Agents in Newspaper Layout" is my senior thesis (WPI '97). It was advised by Dr. David C. Brown, WPI Department of Computer Science.
Introduction
Having spent four years on the staff of WPI's student newspaper, I was well aware of the time-consuming process of laying out a newspaper page. I was also aware of the fundamental rules and guidelines of newspaper layout, and figured that automating the layout process would be possible and valuable. I also thought that an agent-based solution would provide excellent results to this problem.
Creating the layout of a newspaper page is a tedious and time consuming process that employs a set of rules and guidelines. A program which can create layout designs would be a valuable tool. This project analyzes current methods of creating layouts and builds a system using an agent-based approach. The resulting pages were evaluated by experts and laypeople according to aesthetics and adherence to guidelines. The system designed layouts that were used to layout pages of the student newspaper of WPI.
I developed an application named AVALON (Agents Versed in Acceptable Lay Out of Newspapers). AVALON uses agents to lay out a newspaper page, given the articles, advertisement, photographs, and other elements that appear on the page. The resulting pages were evaluated by experts and laypeople according to aesthetics and adherence to layout guidelines, and were shown to be realistic and convincing. I used the program to lay out five pages of WPI's student newspaper (then known as Newspeak, now known as Tech News) over a period of two weeks.
The project report contains a literature review, a discussion on configuration problems, and a cursory look at newspaper layout.
Read the report
- The Use of Agents in Newspaper Layout (PDF, 342K).