I am purposely only using this as an example for next week's crit in hope that it will be clear enough of how I intend to go about proposing the copy in context.
I will hopefully have some rough visuals regarding the cover illustrations, but for now I will be simply using the reports published online as the content for each article.
Rats free trapped labmates - 1,280 words
Pigeon puzzle solver - 535 words
Fish photographed using tools - 324 words
Elephants co-operate during experimental tasks - 557 words
Dolphins are even more intelligent than we thought - 756 words
Honeybees might have emotions - 593 words
Had a quick chat with Aaron and he has confirmed the easiest way to find out how many words can fit on a spread can be estimated by counting the words across on a column times by the words down. Accurate to 50/100 words.
So far I have classified the animals into subsections, so the editorial piece can be divided into subject relevant areas to help make the piece clearer visually and textually.
Problem-solving - pigeons and fish. 800 words ish. Supported by information in regards to other species.
Communicators - bees and dolphins. Can narrow down to about 1,000/800 respectively since I will need to include other examples of animals that can communicate with humans eg Nim the chimp.
Cooperators - elephants and rats. 800 words again. can link in with chimps, and have a lowdown of the smartest animals respectively.
So the title for the editorial piece would be problem solving, communicating, cooperating: animals.
