The Key Points of Good Page Layout

Unless you are an experienced graphic artist, the key words to remember in page layout design are keep it simple! It is easy to go overboard with multiple fonts, italics, shading, borders, and other devices aimed at making your document look attractive.

The printed page serves only one purpose, to get a message across effectively. Complicated presentation detracts from that purpose by drawing attention to the medium rather than the message.

Serif type-face, with tails on the top and bottom of each letter, may look old-fashioned but is easier and faster to read than san serif type face, such as Ariel. Italics should only be used to add emphasis, it is slower to read than normal upright type. Beware of the bold - much of this slows the reading and shouts too much at the reader.

Use only one or two fonts for the text in any document, but make judicious use of the bold and italic versions. You can use a second type face, e.g. a sans-serif type face, for headings.

Ragged right hand margins may not look as attractive as justified right hand margins, but the text is easier to read. Only very sophisticated and expensive typesetting equipment is capable of justifying right hand margins without decreasing text readability.

Keep these points in mind when designing your documents, and your audience will find them easy to read.

This article was written by Phil Dean of IRM Training and forms part of IRM's Technical Writing Skills workshop.