The Power of Page Furniture

Have you ever picked up a magazine and thought "I don't know why this feels so well put-together"?

Chances are that the page furniture was working hard behind the scenes. In editorial design, the details between the content often matter just as much as the content itself.

Page furniture is those often-overlooked elements like running heads, pull quotes, lines and separators.

These subtle features do more than decorate a page, Lines, rules, and section dividers act as visual guides, breaking up space, directing the eye, and bringing order to complex layouts.

An example of page furniture

When thoughtfully designed, page furniture:

• Anchors the reader with consistent structure

• Adds clarity and breathing room

• Enhances navigation across long-form content

• Supports the publication's visual language

In my work, I treat page furniture like a quiet design system woking in the background. It's not the star of the show, but without it, the stage feels incomplete.