18 Rules for Making Documents Visually Appealing

Text Rules

Chuck Newbold, who has a PhD in Rhetoric, Communications and Information Design, from Clemson University, created this awesome list for how to make your documents visually appealing. Here are these 18 ways to move forward with the creation of professional documents.

Know Your Fonts Personality

Remember that some people like different font personalities than others so make sure that you know your document and what the documents purpose is. Once this is figured out, pick a font that matches yours and your audience’s expectations.

Default is Old School

Don't let the world know that you don't know what else is out there. Default fonts aren't bad fonts, they're just tired and way to overused. Usually, default isn't the best font for the type of document you're creating. It all goes back to personality.

Keep Clear of "Clichés" and "Uglies"

When a font is too popular it is considered a cliché. This is an issue because computers are usually loaded with the same types of fonts. There are hundreds of fonts that are available to be downloaded. If you can't find a catchy font that is already loaded on your computer, then search for them on the internet!

Make Use of Two Fonts

Documents do look better if you use more than one font. Make sure to use one font for the heading, and another font for the body text. This applies to ALL documents, resumes to business cards.

Contrast Font Families

It is not good to use fonts that look like each other, serifs and Sans Serifs. Make sure they look different from each other.

Pay Attention to Size

You might think that 12 point font is the norm, but realistically our eyes can read smaller text fine. Normally, 10 point font looks fine in documents, and for business cards, 7 or 8 is perfect. Headings should always be larger than the body and the most important thing in the document should be the largest thing you see.

Don’t Use All Caps

Our eyes read words in shape. This is why we can read at super-speed. When all words are in caps though, they are turned into rectangles. SO WHEN YOU WRITE IN ALL CAPS, reading is slowed down. You don’t want your audience to think you’re yelling at them. DO YOU?

Be Careful With Reverse Type

Reverse type is putting a light color on a dark background or a dark color on a light background. This is good for headings and titles, but not really anything else. Don’t use narrow or fancy fonts, thick and bold is needed for this

Create an Ideal Line Length

Line length is the width of a line of text on one single line. If it’s too long its hard to read. Line can be long, but the font size needs to be larger. If you’re using a small font, the line should be no more than 3.5 inches. Ideal Line Length can be calculated with the formula to the left.

Adjust Line Spacing

Line spacing = leading. This is the space between the lines. Fonts are designed with line spacing that is larger than the point size. Font looks crowded with large bodies of text. Increase the line space to improve the readability.

Pay Attention to Readability

Readability is how well large quantities of text read. This is most affected by font size, font type, leading, kerning and line length.

Legibility

Legibility is how well text reads in shorts bursts. Use a typeface that is legible for your name on your resume. It is affected by the letter in the word. Most times, one word will read perfect, but add another word and you’re totally confused. Don’t use a unique font if your name is uncommon or uncommon.

Make correct use of Small Caps

Small caps should be used for abbreviations. Don’t draw attention to the abbreviation. Also, use small caps for am & pm. Many people use small caps for the start of a new chapter in books as well.

Don’t use Line Breaks

A line break is when a word at the end of the line is broken and hyphenated to lead the reader down to the next line. Breaks are bad. You can adjust your desktop to get rid of them. This is not a good design choice.

Don’t Leave Orphans

Orphans are single words left by themselves at the end of a paragraph. It is extremely not wise to leave baby words, the tiny words, like, it. Just reword the sentence! You don’t want your presentation to look weird.

Know How to Highlight

Highlighting is important to readability. Don’t highlight more than 10% of the page. When everything is highlighted, then nothing becomes important. Don’t use all of the highlighting techniques at one time.

Consider Using Old Style Figures

Refer to numbers that are written with elements that go above or below the baseline. It’s an imaginary line where the letters sit. Usually, if you use old style figures, the numbers will get blended into the text.

Understand your Punctuation.

The power of punctuation, know when to use the 15 punctuation marks that are used in English. Do you know the rules? Consider the following: Let’s eat Grandpa! And, Let’s eat, Grandpa. Yeah, you’re not a zombie. Pay attention!

Like these rules? Visit Chuck Newbold's website for more tips and tricks to making your visual communication classy and classic. Everything he posts is so informative and half of these rules for making your document visually appealing I didn't even think about! Happy findings.

Yes, yes you do!