PAGE DESIGN

I. Guidelines of Page Design

3 I. GUIDELINES DEFINITION: o Refers to the creation of clear, readable, and visually interesting documents o Through judicious use of white space, headings, lists, emphasis, and other design elements o “Visual Imaging”

4 I. GUIDELINES PURPOSE: (to combat “reader indifference”) A. ORGANIZATION: o gives information when readers want it o gives information where readers want it B.PAGE DESIGN: o gets readers’ interest o keeps readers’ interest

5 I. GUIDELINES IMPLEMENTATION: (Style Sheets) o allow employees to produce documents in uniform, consistent formats o used for letters, memos, various reports, proposals o save time o reinforce the firm’s corporate image o allow teams to work independently while still adhering to format guidelines o allow readers to see a clear relationship among ideas

6 I. GUIDELINES IMPLEMENTATION: (Style Sheets) o cover elements of page design: 1) Paper 2) White Space 3) Headings 4) Lists 5) In-Text Emphasis 6) Fonts 7) Color

PAGE DESIGN II. Elements of Page Design

8 II. ELEMENTS (1) PAPER: o Weight o Finish o Design o Thickness o Opacity

9 II. ELEMENTS (1) PAPER: o What is right for your document? o What are the needs of your printer? o Short documents = 1-sided o Long documents = 2-sided paper = thick enough? paper = opaque enough?

10 II. ELEMENTS (2) WHITE SPACE: o The open places on the document with no text, with no graphics. o Connected to important information. o Attracts readers’ attention. o Guides the eyes to important information. o Helps readers organize information.

11 II. ELEMENTS (2) WHITE SPACE: o A. MARGINS: 1-1½” bounded margin = larger than outside margin to account for the binding

12 II. ELEMENTS (2) WHITE SPACE: o B. COLUMNS: long lines = boring strains on the eyes columns = break up text reduce line length create “white space” between columns

13 II. ELEMENTS (2) WHITE SPACE: o C. HANGING INDENTS: headers & sub-headers headers = on left margin text = indented an extra inch force readers’ eyes & attention to the text block

14 II. ELEMENTS (2) WHITE SPACE: o D. LINE SPACING: Short documents = single-spaced letters, memos, short reports read in 1 sitting Long documents = double-spaced formal documents executive summaries, long reports

15 II. ELEMENTS (2) WHITE SPACE: o E. JUSTIFICATION: Ragged Edge = aka, “left justification” adds variation to the page is less predictable for the eye Justified Edge = aka, “block style” creates a professional look is used for formal documents

16 II. ELEMENTS (2) WHITE SPACE: o F. PARAGRAPH LENGTH: 6-10 lines vary lengths o G. PARAGRAPH INDENTING: indent 1st line of each paragraph creates white space

17 II. ELEMENTS (2) WHITE SPACE: o H. IN-TEXT GRAPHICS: place near the TOP of the page place with ample white space between image and the text allow for appropriate margins if graphic does not fit: shrink it give it its own page create page balance, with multicolumn or 2-page spreads draw rough sketches of the document’s layout

18 II. ELEMENTS (2) WHITE SPACE: o I. PAGINATION: top, right “thumb reading” bottom, centered longer documents: section numbers 2-1 = section 2, page 1 saves time & money when editing

19 II. ELEMENTS (2) WHITE SPACE: o J. HEADING SPACE and RULING: place an extra space above headers visually connects the header with what follows perhaps draw horizontal lines after each section

20 II. ELEMENTS (3) HEADINGS: o “Signposts” regarding upcoming content tell readers what material follows

21 II. ELEMENTS (3) HEADINGS: o “Attention-Grabbers” draws readers’ eyes to important information

22 II. ELEMENTS (3) HEADINGS: o “Oases” of white space break up the text

23 II. ELEMENTS (3) HEADINGS: o WHEN use headers for every page with documents beyond a single page use at least 2 subheadings (not just 1)

24 II. ELEMENTS (3) HEADINGS: o OUTLINES outlines list major & minor points use their wording for headings

25 II. ELEMENTS (3) HEADINGS: o DESCRIPTION be descriptive use substantive wording more than a single ambiguous word don’t be cute

26 II. ELEMENTS (3) HEADINGS: o PARALLELISM maintain parallel form throughout your headers all nouns phrases OR all verb phrases

27 II. ELEMENTS (3) HEADINGS: o HEADING HIERARCHY visual hierarchy of importance & heading level the higher the heading, the more demonstrative the heading

28 II. ELEMENTS (3) HEADINGS: o HEADING HIERARCHY Highest LevelLowest Level o biggest font o bold faced o centered o perhaps all-caps uppercase o perhaps underlined o smallest font o not bold faced o not centered indented from the left margin o only capitalize first letter of major words o not underlined

29 II. ELEMENTS (4) LISTS: o Reserved for -- Examples Reasons (for a decision) Conclusions Recommendations Steps (in a process) Cautions (warnings about a product) Limitations (restrictions on conclusions)

30 II. ELEMENTS (4) LISTS: o Limited to 5-9 items 10+ = grouped lists

31 II. ELEMENTS (4) LISTS: o Bullets vs. Numbers: Bullets 2-5 items Numbers 5+ items steps process rankings

32 II. ELEMENTS (4) LISTS: o Indent the list o Leave a line space between items (white space) o Maintain parallel form throughout the list o Introduce the list with a lead-in expression o Follow the lead-in with a colon (:) o Capitalize the first letter of the first word

33 II. ELEMENTS (4) LISTS: o Don’t overuse lists limit to 1-2 lists per page otherwise, creates fragmented effect lacks coherence

34 II. ELEMENTS (5) IN-TEXT EMPHASIS: o Highlighting techniques o Use sparingly

35 II. ELEMENTS (5) IN-TEXT EMPHASIS: Most Effective:Least Effective: o Boldface o Italics o Add emphasis o w/o distraction o All-Caps o Underlining o Distracting to the eye o Difficult to read

36 II. ELEMENTS (6) FONTS & COLOR: A. FONTS: o Font Size = points per inch 72 pts. per inch o Font Size = depends on font style different styles = different sizes letter thickness lowercase letter size

37 II. ELEMENTS (6) FONTS & COLOR: A. FONTS: o Font Type = depends upon the type of your document the image you want to convey the reader’s preference o WORD default = Times New Roman, 12”

38 II. ELEMENTS (6) FONTS & COLOR: A. FONTS: o SERIF fonts characters have “tails” at the ends of the letter-lines use for regular text within documents make letters & words more visually appealing tails create jagged edge, like left- indentation

39 II. ELEMENTS (6) FONTS & COLOR: A. FONTS: o SANS SERIF fonts characters have no “tails” at the ends of letter-lines use for headings & sub-headings their clean look emphasizes the “white space” around letters

40 II. ELEMENTS (6) FONTS & COLOR: A. FONTS: o Avoid too many font variations within a document use only 2 font styles per document 1 for text 1 for headings

41 II. ELEMENTS (6) FONTS & COLOR: B. COLOR: o Used to reflect your document’s tone mood image o Draws readers’ attention to important information

42 II. ELEMENTS (6) FONTS & COLOR: B. COLOR: o Limit use of color time: slows desktop printers money: costs more

PAGE DESIGN III. Computers in the Writing Process

44 III. COMPUTERS (1) PLAN: o Research o Outline

45 III. COMPUTERS (2) DRAFT: o Alternate passages o Collaborative writing

46 III. COMPUTERS (3) REVISE: o Additions & deletions o Cut-and-paste o Search & change o Saving text o Style & grammar checkers BEWARE of their limits!