Designing Effective Documents Prepared by Hannah Haas

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.