Designing Reader- Focused Documents C H A P T E R 10

What are the Principles of Design? How Do You Plan Your Document Design? What Considerations Are Involved in Designing the Whole Document? What Considerations Are Involved in Designing Each Page? Presentation Overview

Contrast Repetition Alignment Proximity What Are the Principles of Design?

Means that different items on the page should be designed to appear differently Heading This is body text, arranged in paragraph format. This is body text, arranged in paragraph format. This is body text, arranged in paragraph format. This is body text, arranged in paragraph format. This is body text. Bad Example Contrast

Adds visual interest Shows how a document is organized Heading This is body text, arranged in paragraph format. This is body text, arranged in paragraph format. This is body text, arranged in paragraph format. This is body text, arranged in paragraph format. This is body text. Good Example Contrast

Heading ________________ _________________ __________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ __________________ _________________ Bad Example Heading ________________ _________________ __________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ _________________ Good Example Contrast

For this year’s company picnic, we still need to purchase hot dogs, hot dog buns, condiments, chips, sodas, marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. Bad Example For this year’s company picnic, we still need to purchase  hot dogs,  hot dog buns,  condiments,  chips,  sodas,  marshmallows,  chocolate, and  graham crackers. Good Example Contrast

Means that some aspect of the design should be repeated or that similar items on the page should be designed to appear the same Also known as “consistency” Repetition

________________ _________________ _________________ Heading _________________ ________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ Heading ________________ __________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ Repetition Bad Example 1 2

________________ _________________ _________________ Heading _________________ ________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ Heading ________________ __________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ Repetition Good Example 12

Unifies a document Adds visual interest by making the document appear more polished Repetition

Means that every item should be aligned with the edge of another item on the page Photo by Fred Hendriks, 2009 Suhtterstock Images, LLC Alignment Heading ____________________ __________________ _________________ _________________ ____________________ ___________________ ____________________ ___________________ __________________ _________________ Bad Example

Alignment Heading _________ ______ _______ _________ ___________________ ____________ __________________ ____________________ ________________ ___________________ ____________________ ___________________ _________________ Bad Example Heading ______ _____ ______ ________ _____ __________________ ___________________ __________________ ____________________ ___________________ __________________ Good Example

Alignment Figure 1: Iceberg Bad Example Figure 1: Iceberg Good Example

Centered ________________ __________________ _________________ ____________________ ______________ __________ _________________ __________________ ________________ __________________ ________________ _________________ Bad Example Right Aligned ________________ __________________ _________________ ____________________ ______________ __________ _________________ __________________ ________________ __________________ ________________ _________________ Bad Example Alignment

Flush Left ________________ __________________ _________________ ____________________ ______________ __________ _________________ __________________ ________________ __________________ ________________ _________________ Good Example Alignment Left Hanging Left Hanging Good Example ___________ ____________ ___________ _________ ____________ ___________ _________ ____________ _____________ ____

Alignment Modified Hanging ________________ ________________ ____________ ________________ ________________ _______________ ________________ Modified Hanging ________________ ______________ ________________ ________________ Good Example

Heading ________________ __________________ _________________ ____________________ ______________ __________ _________________ __________________ ________________ __________________ ________________ ________________ ____________________ Bad Example Alignment Heading ___________________ __________________ _________________ ____________________ __________________ __________ __________________ ________________ ____________________ ________________ ___________________ __________________ Good Example

Alignment Connects items on a page Allows for scanning

Means that related items should be placed more closely together than unrelated items on the page Bad Example Heading ________________ __________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ _________________ same Proximity

Visually organizes information or graphic elements on a page Good Example Heading ________________ __________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ more Proximity

How do you tell where one paragraph ends and another begins? If you followed the principle of proximity, you would make the space in between paragraphs greater than the space in between lines, not the same. Indenting the first line only to designate the start of a paragraph violates the alignment principle. Good Example Proximity How do you tell where one paragraph ends and another begins? If you followed the principle of proximity, you would make the space in between paragraphs greater than the space in between lines, not the same. Bad Example

Consider your readers’ needs and expectations Consider your resources How Do You Plan Your Document Design?

Ask: What design elements will help readers fulfill their purpose for reading your documents? Where will readers use the document? Do readers have expectations about quality? Do readers have expectations for the presentation of the information? Consider Your Readers’ Needs and Expectations

Budget Time Equipment Consider Your Resources

Page size Paper Binding Locating Tools What Considerations Are Involved in Designing the Whole Document?

Remember that you have more options than 8 1/2 x 11 inches! Page Size

Weight Brightness Coating Paper

Loose-leaf binding Wire or plastic spiral binding Saddle binding Perfect binding Binding

Tabs Divider pages Headers and footers Page numbers Headings Color Icons Locating Tools

Layout White space Type Margins Line spacing What Considerations Are Involved in Designing Each Page?

Thumbnail sketches: rough drawings of possible page layouts Prototypes: full-size version of possible page layouts Style sheets: plans for the language and design choices in a document Styles: a word processing feature that allows users to save and apply formatting choices for different items in a document Layout

Is not a problem when used correctly Is essential to the principles of contrast and proximity Calls attention to important items on the page White Space Examples of White Space

Typeface Size Style Case Type

Typeface Common Serif Typefaces Book Antigua Bookman Old Style Garamond Georgia Palatino Linotype Sylfaen Times New Roman Common Sans Serif Typefaces Arial Arial Black Franklin Gothic Medium Lucinda Sans Unicode Microsoft Sans Serif Tahoma Verdana Note: Avoid script or decorative typefaces like Comic Sans or Impact.

Size For text, use 10-, 11-, or 12-point type. For headings, use a type size 2 to 4 points larger than the text. For footnotes, use 8- to 10-point type. For slides, use 24- to 36-point type.

Use boldface, italics, and reverse type carefully. Avoid outlining, shadowing, and underlining. You can use lines, rules, or borders—depending on your word processor—to create the same effect (as shown below). Underlining Style

Avoid using any text in ALL CAPS, which is less recognizable because it detracts from the shape. PARTY Party Case

Justification Margins

Justification Justified Keep your paragraphs ragged right instead of fully justified. Full justification can be difficult to read. Having all the lines the same length creates a lack of contrast that often causes readers to miscue. Some of the lines have to be stretched to make them the same length, which creates inconsistent spacing. Bad Example Unjustified Keep your paragraphs ragged right instead of fully justified. Full justification can be difficult to read. Having all the lines the same length creates a lack of contrast that often causes readers to miscue. Some of the lines have to be stretched to make them the same length, which creates inconsistent spacing. Good Example

Use the same top, bottom, left, and right margins on each page. Indent headings, paragraphs, and lists consistently. Use a consistent amount of spacing – Between columns – Within lists – Above and below headings, lists, and visuals Margins

Use single spacing for , memos, letters, and most manuals. Use single, one-and-a-half, or double spacing for reports and proposals. Line Spacing

Questions?