1. Designing Documents 4 Key Concepts for Looking Fabulous Julia Romberger English 435/535

2. What are the four basic design principles?

3. 4 basic design principles: n Alignment n Proximity n Repetition n Contrast

4. What is alignment?

5. This isn’t alignment.

6. This is alignment.

7. Alignment n Items on the page are lined up with each other, both horizontally and vertically. n There are three basic alignments: centered, left justified and right justified.

8. Don’t mix alignments Please. It is disorienting. It looks lousy. And it’s confusing.

9. What is proximity?

10. This isn’t proximity. This isn’t proximity either. or alignment

11. Proximity n Refers to the relationships that items develop when they are close together. n Implies items are related (for example, the bullets on this list appear related because they are in close proximity to each other).

12. What is repetition?

13. This is not repetition.

14. Repetition n Refers to the idea that designers should repeat certain elements to tie the disparate parts of a document together. n Makes it seem like the individual pages or slides are all part of the same document or presentation.

15. What design elements has this slide show repeated?

16. It has repeated: n Fonts n Colors n Placement n And more…

17. What is contrast?

18. This isn’t contrast. Nope. Not contrast either.

19. Contrast n Establishes a hierarchy of information n Can be obtained by manipulating font (style and size), color, background designs, etc. n Establishes a focal point

20. Where is the focal point on this page? n Is it this bullet? n How about this one? n Is it over here? n How about here?

21. Quick Review 4 basic design principles: n Alignment n Proximity n Repetition n Contrast

22. For more information: Consult Robin Williams’s The Non-Designer’s Design Book (Peachpit Press, 1994)