When it comes to creating technical documents, another important factor to consider is how to design your document. In this blog post, I will help you understand why document design is important, and I will also teach you necessary design skills that may help you in the workplace today. I will help you learn how to use white spaces and margins, and also how to choose typefaces and type sizes. Color and shading are also critical, and it is important that you also know how to use headings, subheadings, and running headings. Documents that are web-based will also have different, and special, requirements.
Page design is essentially the look of the document, including the layout of words and graphics. Well-designed pages are inviting, and they help your reader understand, and also remember, your information. Page may mean a "page" on a computer screen, or it may mean a page of a report.
Work-related documents are oftentimes read only because they are required, not out of somebody's actual desire to read them. So the more appealing and understanding your document is, the more your reader will take away from it. Sometimes, busy readers will only skim your document! Print documents, especially should be well organized and accesible, because a reader's first impression of a piece of paper will almost always be based on visual, aesthetic judgement.
As the importance of page design in the modern workplace increases, so do the number of design programs available to help you create an effective document. Desktop publishing systems (like Adobe InDesign, Adobe Framemaker, or Quark) let you produce professional looking pages by combining word processing, typesetting, and graphics. Electronic publishing is also best for large and complex documents, because it allows you to create documents in a digital format for the Internet or the company intranet. Programs such as Adobe Acrobat or Apple Preview can also help you create Portable Document Files (PDF). Style sheets make sure that there is consistency over an entire document, which is especially helpful if you are collaborating with a team. You should also note that the more complex a document is, the more specific a style sheet should be. Style guides also ensure that documents company-wide look similar.
Your design specifications will be based upon the budget for your publication, and when shaping your page you should consider several suggestions. When creating routine documents, opt for black ink on low-gloss, white paper, and for documents that will be published, consider upgrading the paper's grade and quality. Paper can vary in weight, grain, and finish, but your choice in paper will depend on what artwork you include, the type of printing, and whatever aesthetic look you are going for. Longer documents should also include page numbers and either a header or footer. Grid patterns are also helpful in design because they provide not only a blueprint for your design, but a consistent visual theme as well. Well-placed white spaces can also be used to draw the reader's eye to certain aspects of your page. Also, consider that using smaller margins will crowd your page and make your information hard to understand. For standard-sized pages (8.5-by-11 inches), make sure your margins are at least an inch or an inch and a half. Your text can either be justified (flush left and right) or unjustified (flush left only); justified is preferred for books, reports and other formal material, while unjustified text is used in personal forms of communication. Line length should also be kept reasonable-- longer lengths are tiresome, while shorter lengths are bothersome. Sixty to seventy characters is considered reasonable. Documents that will be read in their entirety should also be single-spaced within paragraphs and double-spaced between paragraphs. Paragraphs should be constructed to reflect their purposes, and lists should be used to make your point easier to understand.
When you have correctly shaped your page, you can consider what font and size you want to use. Your document's purpose should shape your font selection, and if you want your document to agree visually, vary the sizes and versions of your chosen font. The standard font sizes for body elements range between 10 and 12 point, depending on the chosen font. Whichever size you choose for your body, it should be consistent throughout your document. Also, full caps should be used sparingly, as they are good for emphasis, but make longer passages extremely hard to read.
Adding emphasis to the body of your document is also essential, and can be accomplished in a couple of different ways. You can indent portions of your document for examples or explanations, or you can use horizontal lines to separate sections of a long document. Ruled lines, broken lines, or ruled boxes also set apart important information. Boldface is great for emphasizing small passages or sentences, while italics highlight words, phrases, book titles or anything else that may otherwise be underlined. Smaller font sizes are best for captions or credit lines. Color can also be used sparingly, depending on the type of document you are creating.
Headings are also important because they help the reader decide whether or not they will read the given section. You should use four types of headings: section, major topic, minor topic and subtopic. And you should use these types logically, inserting an additional lie of space above each heading.
Above all, your page design should meet your audience's specific needs and expectations. Your document should never look too difficult, or technical, to read, and, as always, you should remember its cultural implications.
The design for print and digital documents is essentially the same, but digital documents give the designer several more options. For example, each "page" of a Web document will need to stand alone, while at the same time being integrate-able with the rest of its site. Word-processing software will oftentimes let you convert your document into a Web page, but you should still consider how of the shape of these pages will be different than its print counterpart. It's most important to consider what type of digital medium your document will use before your design work is carried out because even though the general ideas will be the same, some of the specifications will differ.
Group Discussion Question: If you have seen any work in a corporate field, you probably know how true it is that most documents (especially the long ones!) are not read from beginning to end. Do you think this has something to do with the way the document was designed? What are some techniques you would use to make a document more appealing, and readable?
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