Designing Reader-Focused Documents

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

2. Presentation Overview • 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?

3. What Are the Principles of Design? • Contrast • Repetition • Alignment • Proximity

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

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

6. Contrast Bad Example Good Example Heading___________________________________________________Subheading _________________________________ Subheading ___________________________________________________ Heading___________________________________________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ _________________

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

8. Repetition • 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”

9. Repetition Bad Example Heading___________________________________________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ __________________________________________________ Heading _________________________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ 1 2

10. Repetition Good Example Heading___________________________________________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ _________________ Heading _________________________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ 1 2

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

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

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

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

15. Alignment Bad Example Bad Example Centered ___________________________________________________ __________________________________ __________ _________________ __________________ ________________ __________________ __________________ ________________ _________________ Right Aligned ___________________________________________________ __________________________________ __________ _________________ __________________ ________________ __________________ __________________ ________________ _________________

16. Alignment Good Example Good Example Flush Left___________________________________________________ __________________________________ __________ _________________ __________________ ________________ __________________ __________________ ________________ _________________ LeftHanging Left Hanging ___________ ____________ ___________ _________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ___________ _________ ____________ ____________ ____________ _________________

17. Alignment Good Example Modified Hanging________________ ________________ ____________ ________________ ________________ _______________ ________________Modified Hanging ________________ ______________ ________________ ________________

18. Alignment Bad Example Good Example Heading ___________________________________________________ __________________________________ __________ _________________ __________________ ________________ __________________ __________________ ________________ ____________________________________ Heading ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________ __________ __________________ ________________ ____________________ ____________________ ________________ ___________________ __________________

19. Alignment • Connects items on a page • Allows for scanning

20. Proximity Bad Example Heading___________________________________________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ _________________ same • Means that related items should be placed more closely together than unrelated items on the page

21. Proximity Good Example Heading___________________________________________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ Subheading ________________ _________________ ________________ _________________ more • Visually organizes information or graphic elements on a page

22. Proximity Good Example Bad Example 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. 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.

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

24. Consider Your Readers’ Needs and Expectations 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?

25. Consider Your Resources • Budget • Time • Equipment

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

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

28. Paper • Weight • Brightness • Coating

29. Binding • Loose-leaf binding • Wire or plastic spiral binding • Saddle binding • Perfect binding

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

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

32. Layout • 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

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

34. Type • Typeface • Size • Style • Case

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

36. 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.

37. Style • 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

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

39. Margins • Justification • Margins

40. Justification Bad Example Good Example 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. 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.

41. Margins • 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

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

43. Questions?