Looking Good in Print: Delivery for
the 21st Century
1.
When Greek and Roman rhetorical scholars
developed the fourth canon of rhetoric, delivery, they studied oral delivery
using the voice and body.
2.
In the early Middle
Ages, rhetoric expanded to include written as well as oral discourse, but the
primary focus was still on the content of the message rather than the physical
appearance of the document. Certainly, the scribes that created illuminated manuscripts
in this era took great care with the appearance of these texts, but their
labors were far too specialized for the average writer.
3.
With the development of moveable type printing
in the Renaissance, the art of graphic design became more common, but was still
the province of professionals.
4.
The last century brought sweeping changes to
graphic design, making sophisticated design tools far more common. Probably the
most significant jump came in the 1980s when Apple computer developed WYSIWIG
word processing and an inexpensive laser printer that could print virtually any
font in any size.
5.
With desktop publishing, the art of graphic
design finally came to the common person with a new spectrum of choices before
reserved for skilled artists. The rub, however, is that these choices could
detract from a message even more easily than they could enhance it. Just as
early students of rhetoric learned how to make careful choices about invention,
arrangement and style, rhetors in this century must also make careful choices
about the physical design of their message.
1.
Good
design can support and enhance the influence of the message. Often
audiences make decisions based in large part on graphic design.
2.
As with any strategic communication, restraint is critical. A design text
concludes, “Restraint is the hardest design principle to apply in a consistent
manner” (Parker). In fact, many of the ancient principles of rhetoric apply to
graphic design: restraint, timing, fluency, silence (as white space) and truth
(as seen in the perceived integrity of design).
3.
As with oral delivery, visual delivery affects ethos. One graphic design text explains
that simple weaknesses in design “can brand your work as careless and unworthy
of serious notice, and give the impression that your message isn’t very
important.”
4.
As any rhetorical choice, the elements of your design
are not merely decoration, but are
means
of influence.
5.
As with invention, of all the things you could
do in a design, you must choose only
those things you should say to accomplish your purpose.
6.
As with an oral message, design choices should
be grounded in a clear understanding of the
unique rhetorical situation.
7.
As
purpose is important in an oral message,
purpose
should also guide your design choices.
a.
Who
is the audience?
b. What
are the issues?
d. What
format will the audience expect? Slide show, video, magazine, newsletter, book,
brochure, mailer
8.
As the first thing you say in an oral
presentation is your attention-getter, the first
impression of your design should also get attention.
9.
As
variety is important in oral delivery to
emphasize ideas,
visual elements should also emphasize key ideas.
10.
As
with every other canon of rhetoric, good
design is an art, not a science. What is appropriate in one situation is
not necessarily fitting in another. There are no fixed rules for good design.
12.
Like
good art in any medium, good design
conceals itself.
C. However,
we can expand these principles for graphic design. We can’t cover every aspect of good design.
Here are some basics.
1.
Go with
your gut. Most people have an inherent sense of good design, even if they
can’t always articulate it. One way to improve skill is to become more aware of
what you recognize as good design.
2.
Become
more aware of design—both yours and others’. Don’t be afraid to experiment
with your own designs when you have the time. Gather examples of designs that
work.
3.
Focus on
the big picture. The size and position of each element is a function of its
relationship to every other element. Some designers literally squint at their
work to blur the details and see the overall flow and form of their design.
Look at pages in combination and not just one at a time.
4.
Pay
attention to detail. Proofread. Have your friends proofread. Your
organization should have a proofreading policy for any communication that will
be seen by someone outside the organization.
5.
Think of
what’s easy to read.
a.
Lines
that are too long are hard to track. Use columns to shorten the lines.
b. Inconsistent
space draws attention to itself and distracts from the
message.
c.
Pages
that are too “dark” are hard to read. Use white space to lighten up the page.
6.
Be
consistent. For example, be consistent with:
a.
Margins
b. Typefaces,
sizes, spacing for text, headlines, subheads and captions
c.
Uniform
paragraph intends and spaces between columns and around photographs.
d. Repeating graphic elements, such as vertical lines, columns or
borders, on each page.
7.
Be restrained.
a.
Don’t
get caught up in the gee-whiz factor of the technology and all its bells and
whistles.
b. Stick
to a few carefully chosen elements. Don’t throw in everything but the kitchen sink.
8.
Use
variety.
a.
Too
much symmetry can be boring.
b. Contrast
enhances the influence of your message.
9.
Pay
attention to type. Think about
a.
type styles—serif, sans serif, script, decorative
b. justification—full, left, centered
c.
effects—bold, italics, underline, small caps, etc.
d. kerning—spacing between specific letter pairs
e.
tracking—spacing between all the letters in a paragraph
f.
leading (pronounced “leding”)--spacing between lines
10.
Know
the rules of typography.
a.
Use
typeset punctuation
i.
dash, not - but—
ii. double quote, not " but “
iii. single quote, not ' but “
b. Only one space after any punctuation.
D. Twenty-Five Most Common Design Pitfalls from Parker, Looking Good in Print. These points cover most
of the common design errors you should try to avoid.
1.
Rivers of white space
a.
Watch
out for rivers of white space that can develop vertically or diagonally through
justified text.
b. To
fix the problem change the column width, change the justification or use a
single space between sentences.
2.
In appropriate column spacing
a.
Column
spacing should be proportionate to type size.
b. Larger
fonts need more space between columns. Smaller fonts need less.
c.
The
default column spacing in your software may not be appropriate for the font
size you’re using.
3.
Tombstoning
a.
Avoid
parallel headlines, subheads or initial caps in adjacent columns
b. Change
font size, edit text or headlines to stagger text.
4.
Trapped white space
a.
Avoid
white space in the middle of a column.
b. Enlarge
headline font size or graphic size to close up holes.
5.
Claustrophobic pages
a.
Text
shouldn’t crowd the edge of the page.
b. Provide
sufficient breathing room around columns of text. Use more white space.
6.
Whispering headlines
a.
Headlines
that don’t get the attention they deserve turn a page “gray” and ineffective.
b. Make
headlines stand out—usually with bigger, bolder type.
7.
Jumping horizons
a.
Columns
that don’t start at the same horizontal line across the top of the page
distract from the message.
b. Start
columns at the same point. Adjust the column breaks to achieve an even horizon.
c.
Uneven
column ends are usually acceptable.
8.
Stretched captions
a.
Captions
with small fonts that extend across multiple columns are too hard to read.
b. If
the caption must be long, group it beside the graphic instead of under it.
9.
Lack of contrast between text and background
a.
Without
enough contrast, visuals are hard to read. This is a problem with slide shows.
b. Use
as much contrast as possible.
10. Overly detailed charts
a.
Too
much detail in a chart makes it hard to read quickly.
b. Be
selective. You don’t need everything; just the essentials to make your point.
c.
Combine
unimportant data series and simplify data in charts.
11. Excessive spacing after punctuation
a.
The
rule for typewriters was to put two spaces after a period.
b. These
double spaces create too much white space.
c.
The
new rule is only one space.
d. The
Microsoft Word Auto Format routine will correct this an
other old habits.
12. Floating heads and subheads
a.
Headlines
are ineffective if they aren’t visually connected with the text to which they
belong.
b. Use
appropriate spacing before and after headlines to make sure they emphasize the
correct paragraphs.
13. Buried heads and subheads
a.
Headlines
that start near the bottom of a column are ugly and distracting.
b. Edit
the text of column break to move the headline to the top of a column.
c.
Uneven
column ends are usually acceptable.
14. Box-itis and rule-itis
a.
Too
many bordered elements or rules (decorative lines) make the page too “busy” and distracting.
b. This
can happen in a newsletter if the page has a box at the margin and has more
boxes on the inside.
c.
Use
boxes or rules with restraint.
15. Similar typefaces
a.
Typefaces
that are too close together can distract from the message.
b. Choose
contrasting typefaces. Serif and non-serif. Bold and
light. Tall and fat. Text and
headline.
16. Copy-filled slides and overheads
a.
The
more words you use, the smaller the words are and the harder they are to see.
b. “Slides
and overheads should support your oral presentation, not replace it.” Parker
c.
Put
only the essentials in the slides. Be selective.
17. Irregularly shaped blocks of copy
a.
Software
packages let you shape blocks of text in any shape imaginable—diamonds, clouds,
reindeer.
b. Use
these features with restraint.
c.
“Lines
without a consistent starting point take more time to read and cause readers to
lose track” (Parker).
d. Use
a consistent starting point for text.
18. Angled type
a.
Type that goes uphill or downhill without a consistent starting
point are hard to read.
b. Use
angled starting points only as banners or teasers in the upper corner of an
article.
19. Underlining
a.
Underlining
more than a few words causes clutter and confusion. It also blurs the parts of
the letters that drop below the line (“descenders” in p, q, g, y).
b. Instead of underlining, use bold and italics.
20. Widows and orphans
a.
“A
widow is a syllable, word or less that one-third of a line isolated at the bottom of a column, paragraph or page.”
b. “An
orphan is a word isolated at the top of a column or page.”
c.
Edit
the text to eliminate widows and orphans or use the features of your software
to automatically eliminate them.
21. Unequal spacing
a.
The
human eye is sensitive to small changes in spacing. “Inconsistent spacing can
brand your work as careless and unworthy of serious notice, and give the
impression that your message isn’t very important.”
b. Use
consistent spacing between headlines and text, headlines and top and side
borders, artwork and text.
22. Exaggerated tabs and indents
a.
The
standard tab in most software--5 spaces—is too large for many font sizes.
b. Larger
fonts in wide columns need large indents. Smaller fonts with narrow columns
need less.
23. Excessive hyphenation
a.
In
narrow columns, automatic hyphenation can break up words too often, making the
text hard to read.
b. Increase
the column width; decrease the font size; or choose flush-left instead of fully
justified paragraphs.
24. Cramped logos and addresses
a.
Logos,
addresses and other info that appear that the bottom of an ad
often look like an after-thought.
b. Instead,
design from the bottom up. Consider the logo and address to be the primary part
of your message and build the design around them.
25. Too many typefaces
a.
A potpourri of typefaces look amateurish and confusing. Too
much variation slows down the message.
b. Use
restraint. Most designs can be effective with only two or three typefaces.
c.
Use
effects—bold, italics, etc.—with consistency and restraint.
Here are some samples you can pick apart.
1.
We’ve just scotched the surface here. There are
plenty of other places to look for help.
4.
Parker, Roger C. Looking Good in Print: A Guide to Basic Design for Desktop Publishing.
2nd Ed. Chapel Hill, NC:
Ventana P, 1990.
