1. Document Design AGED 3142

2. Considerations in Document Design w Audience w Purpose/message Creator’s purpose for developing the document Audience’s purpose for using the document w Budget

3. Considerations, cont’d. w Other situational considerations Timeliness Appearance of quality/expense

4. Why Design Is Important w Usability Readers use documents (reports, proposals, newsletters, etc.) for a variety of purposes. The design should make the document as usable as possible w Attractiveness Some documents have the task of attracting people to read them Once attention has been attracted, several factors help hold readers’ attention

5. Why Design Is Important (cont’d) w Factors influencing reader’s interest Content Ease of reading through sequencing and chunking Informative headings and subheadings, bullets and icons, rules, and section breaks aid in sequencing, or leading the reader through the document Breaking information down into smaller chunks and separating those chunks with white space, rules, or other design features aids in chunking

6. Why Design Is Important (cont’d) Ease of reading through other design elements Typeface –Serif -- body text (looks more like cursive) –Sans serif -- display text (block letters) –10-12 point type is common for body text Leading -- the space above and below lines of text (usually 120% of type size) Kerning or tracking -- the space between letters

7. Other Elements to Improve Ease of Reading and Maintain Reader Interest w Ample margins (white space) Around outside of page, around graphical elements w Graphics to support text Graphs, charts, tables, illustrations, photos Meaning should be entirely clear and should support the narrative. Captions, or cutlines, are usually necessary.