five principles of document design
DESCRIPTION
A presentation for business and technical writers emphasizing 5 underlying principles governing good document design.TRANSCRIPT
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5 Principles
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1) AlignmentRelated items should line up to aid in overall
coherence.
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Bad Alignment Makes Documents Difficult to Read
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Better Alignment
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2) ConsistencyEnsure that each section of the document is visually
consistent with other sections. Examples include:
1. Switching font style or size, which can make a document look awkward for readers
Switching from bulleted lists to numbered lists without a reason
And inconsistent spacing or indenting
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3) Proximity
The principle of proximity is fairly simple; it dictates that related items should be visually
arranged together
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4) ContrastUsing different font sizes or styles can help
distinguish between elements in a document that are meant to be distinct from each other. Examples include:
Bolded or Underlined Subheads Use of italics for lists or titles Even things like bullets are used partly for contrast
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5) White SpaceEverywhere there is not a text or visual
constitutes white space.
White space helps to separate your text into disparate, distinguishable parts.
White space also helps to emphasize key points/parts of your document
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