Document Design

ENG 371Lukowski

Things to Consider

• Think about your audience and their expectations– How will they read and use your document?– What are their expectations for graphics and look?

• As you draft, incorporate lists and section headings

• Get feedback from your peers and others– Do the find your document easy to read? – Do they want additional visuals/graphics/charts?

http://paper-leaf.com/blog/2011/02/elements-of-design-quick-reference-sheet/

Guidelines for Document Design

• Create white space• Use headings• Limit use of capital letters• Select only two fonts per document• Decide how to justify margins• Place important information top left and

lower right• Use grid to unify elements• Use colorful elements in moderation

Use White Space

• Empty space on the page makes it easier to read

• White space helps emphasize material

• Avoid presenting a gigantic wall of text

• Use lists and bullets

Use Headings

• Help the reader orient herself in the text• Accept many readers skim headings to find

sections relevant to their interests• Make headings specific• Format headings consistently

– Format subheadings consistently too

• Avoid using all capital letters in titles and headings– Difficult to read and remember– We need shapes of letters to read

Use Two Fonts

• Use sans serif (without tails) fonts for headers or other forms of emphasis– Headers can be bold, italics, or a

size bigger• Use serif fonts for body

paragraphs– Usually 10pt or 12pt fonts are

used• Times New Roman one of the

most common fonts.

Examples of Sans Serif Fonts

This sentence is in Arial.

This sentence is in Calibri.

This sentence is in Verdana.

Examples of Serif Fonts

This sentence is in Times New Roman.

This sentence is in Garamond.

This sentence is in Cambria.

Arranging the Document

• Place elements in grids or groupings to help reader

• Use columns or call out boxes– Emphasize key words or

phrases– Use sidebar to expand

a point without digressing from argument

For more examples, see page 169 of your textbook. Or, check out this website: http://www.textmatters.com/resources/pdfs/businessdocs.pdf

Other Elements to Consider

• Pick a color scheme– Try and use complementary

colors

• Select images and graphics that are appropriate for your message

• Balance graphics and content– If it makes sense, place

more than one graphic on a page