Designing Effective Documents
Prepared by Hannah Haas
Introduction
This presentation focuses on the design concerns in printed business documents, including reader’s assumptions; font selection; use of headings, white space, and bullets; and text alignment.
Effective documents highlight:
Structure Hierarchy Order
Effective documents also:
Help readers locate information Give readers appropriate visual cues
Readers’ assume:
Top = more important Centered = more important Bold = more important Same font size = as important Same color=same type of information
Good fonts are:
Easily readable Aesthetically pleasing Appropriate for the audience
Which fonts are business- appropriate?
Font 1 Font 2 Font 3 Font 4 Font 5
Use serif fonts for:
Body text Documents more than two pages long
Use sans-serif fonts for:
Headings Subheadings Short documents (1-2 pages)
Which font set will work best for headings and body text?
HeadingSubheadingBody
Heading 2Subheading 2Body 2
Heading 3Subheading 3Body 3
Heading 4Subheading 4Body 4
How many fonts should you use in one document?
Use font style to highlight text:
Italics add emphasis, but slow readers (use sparingly)
Bold type shows importance Capital letters show emphasis, but are
hard to read (use sparingly) Bulleted lists present key concepts
quickly
Which styles of bullets are business-appropriate?
Bullet style 1 Bullet style 2 Bullet style 3 Bullet style 4 Bullet style 5
Use white space to:
Frame information Break information into units Signal section breaks
Which example has used white space appropriately?
HeadingBody text body text body text body text body text body
text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text
HeadingBody text body text body text body text body text body
text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text
Example 2
HeadingBody text body text body text body text body text body
text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text
HeadingBody text body text body text body text body text body
text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text
What happens when text gets separated?Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text
body text body text body text body text body text body text body text Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body t
Heading
Example 2
body text body text.
HeadingBody text body text body text body text body text body
text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text
Use ragged right for:
Long documents
Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text Body text
Use justification for:
Multiple-column documents
Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text Body text body text body text body text body text body
Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text Body text body text body text body text body text body
What is wrong with this example of justified text?
Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text Body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text body text Body text body text body text body text body text b o d y
Conclusion
Keeping these tips in mind will help you design aesthetically pleasing documents that are easy to read and easy to re-read.
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