Composing and Revising

Considering design as you draft

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Aside from planning visual evidence for your ideas, you will need to think about how to format your paper. Formatting, or designing, your document promotes readability and helps you meet the expectations of your readers and the requirements of the genre. The following questions will help you keep your purpose and audience in mind as you design your document.

What is the purpose of your document? How can your document design help you achieve this purpose?
Who are your readers? What are their expectations?
What format is required? What format options—layout, margins, line spacing, and font styles—will readers expect?
Would headings help show readers the organization of your paper?
How should you place and label any visuals you decide to use?

See the document design gallery for sample pages from a variety of academic and business documents. Each is annotated to illustrate specific design guidelines.