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Goals of Document Design

Understanding Design Principles

PROXIMITY

ALIGNMENT

REPETITION

TUTORIAL: Proofreading for Format Consistency

CONTRAST

Planning the Design of Print and Online Documents

ANALYZE YOUR AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE

DETERMINE YOUR RESOURCES

Designing Print Documents

SIZE

PAPER

BINDINGS

ACCESSING AIDS

• TECH TIP: How To Set Up Pages

Designing Print Pages

• GUIDELINES: Understanding Learning Theory and Page Design

PAGE LAYOUT

COLUMNS

TYPOGRAPHY

• TECH TIP: How To Format Columns

• TECH TIP: How To Format Fonts

• ETHICS NOTE: Using Type Sizes Responsibly

• TECH TIP: How To Modify Line Spacing

• TECH TIP: How To Modify Justification

TITLES AND HEADINGS

OTHER DESIGN FEATURES

• TECH TIP: How To Create Borders and Screens

• TECH TIP: How To Create Text Boxes

Analyzing Several Print-Document Designs

• DOCUMENT ANALYSIS ACTIVITY: Analyzing a Page Design

Designing Online Documents

USE DESIGN TO EMPHASIZE IMPORTANT INFORMATION

CREATE INFORMATIVE HEADERS AND FOOTERS

HELP READERS NAVIGATE THE DOCUMENT

• GUIDELINES: Making Your Documents Easy To Navigate

INCLUDE EXTRA FEATURES YOUR READERS MIGHT NEED

HELP READERS CONNECT WITH OTHERS

DESIGN FOR READERS WITH DISABILITIES

DESIGN FOR MULTICULTURAL AUDIENCES

• ETHICS NOTE: Designing Legal and Honest Online Documents

Designing Online Pages

AIM FOR SIMPLICITY

• GUIDELINES: Designing a Simple Site

MAKE THE TEXT EASY TO READ AND UNDERSTAND

• GUIDELINES: Designing Easy-To-Read Text

CREATE CLEAR, INFORMATIVE LINKS

• GUIDELINES: Writing Clear, Informative Links

Analyzing Several Online-Document Designs

WRITER’S CHECKLIST

EXERCISES

CASE 11: Designing a Flyer and

The design of a print or online document can help a writer achieve many goals: to entertain, to amaze, to intrigue, to sell. In technical communication, the goal is typically to help the reader learn something, perform a task, or accept a point of view. When you look at a well-designed page or screen, you intuitively understand how to use it.

Design refers to the physical appearance of print and online documents. For print documents, design features include binding, page size, typography, and use of color. For online documents, many of the same design elements apply, but there are unique elements, too. On a web page, for instance, there are navigation bars, headers and footers, and (sometimes) tables of contents and site maps.

The effectiveness of a document depends largely on how well it is designed, because readers see the document before they actually read it. In less than a second, the document makes an impression on them, one that might determine how well they read it—or even whether they decide to read it at all.