Among the basic principles of good design and layout would be:
- simplicity
- symmetry
- consistency
- usability
- readability
Anderson (1987) as cited by Putnis & Petelin (1998) quoted that a good document design:
- Helps readers read efficiently.
- Emphasizes on the most important contents.
- Encourages readers to feel good of a communication.
Other than Putnis and Petelin (1998), Reep (1997) has also stated his own design principles. For example:
- Balance - a comparable visual weight on both sides of page
- Proportion - refers to size and placement of text, graphic aids, and format elements of the page.
- Sequence - the arrangement of the design features so that readers could read them in good orders.
- Consistency - placing similar features in a similar styles in different pages.
So, in order to create a good document design, there are a few strategies that we need to follow:
1.Visual presentation is important.
Slide 1:
Slide 2:
Both slides above have proven that visual presentation will definately seem more appealing compared to reading only the printed words on a presentation. Reep (2006), stated that "readers do not only read the printed words on the page, they also read the visual presentation on the text." Thus, this proved that words and visual presentation support each other.
This statement is also supported by
2. Consistency
Consistency refers to presenting the similar features to the similar styles (Reep, 2006).The three elements that are needed in a document consistency would be:
- Margin
- Typeface
- Indentations
1st Presentation:
Slide 1:
Slide 2:
The above slides of my first presentation showed inconsistency in terms of the headings. For example, I placed all capital letters for the headings in Slide 1, 'INTRODUCTION'. Otherwise in Slide 2, the headings was not completely in capital letters, 'Summary'. Hence, this has illustrated inconsistency in a document design.
2nd Presentation:
Slide 1:
Slide 2:
Both presentation slides above have shown consistency in the terms of font, headings and bullet points in my second presentation slides. Both slides show verified that the headings are in the same style as well as the type of font, which is Eras Light.
3. To provide a good writing
Putnis and Petelin (1996) alleged that the most effective writing applies to any given situation or readership. This simply means that as long as the readers understand what they are reading, then it automatically implies a good writing.
Slide 1:
Slide 2:
Both presentation slides above presented a different type of writing. The first slide implies to a bad writing as it did not provide proper subheadings for readers to read as being compared to the second slide. Readers tend to lose concentration if the texts are too lenghty and neverending such as in Slide 1. Otherwise, Slide 2 showed that readers will find it more appealing to understand as there are subheadings provided.
References:
- Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. 2006. Reading images. Chapter 6: The meaning of composition.
- Putnis, Peter & Petelin, Rosalyn 1996, 'Writing to Communicate', in Professional Communication.
- Reep, Diana C. 2006, 'Chp 4: Principles of Document Design,' in Technical Writing, 6th ed., Pearson Edu, Inc., New York, p.173-190.
- Ram, S 2009, 'Guideline for Writing User Document',(http://www.docstoc.com/docs/5126663/Importance-of-styles-in-documentation).
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