10 Unbreakable Rules for
Page Layout and Design
1. There is no such thing as an unbreakable rule. But break them carefully; only when you are sure that, by doing so, you are creating a more effective piece.
2. Keep it simple. Don't clutter up your design with so much stuff that you confuse or overwhelm the person who will be reading it. Using larger, not more, photos or graphics is better than dumping the whole candy store into one design. Leave plenty of "white space." This is just plain paper without any type, graphics, or anything else on it. Studies consistently show that designs with plenty of white space are more pleasant to read and get more attention.
3. Do not use capitalization, underlining, boldface, second colors, or fancy fonts in the body copy of your design. Not even for emphasis. (Body copy is a full paragraph or more of type.) They tend to make your copy more difficult to read. Boldface type in body copy will make readers skip over everything to see what's so important that it's screaming out in bold letters. Once they've done so, readers generally will not return to the top of the page or the beginning of the article. Thousands of typographers have spent millions of hours researching and creating body-copy fonts that our eyes read smoothly, without hesitation or conscious thought. Do your readers a favor and use them. If you must emphasize a point in body copy, simply italicize it and it will carry plenty of impact.
4. Don't use your body-copy typeface for headlines or subheads use a different, but complimentary, typestyle. (Example: The most widely-used copy / headline combination is Times and Helvetica, respectively. And don't think that because everyone is using it, you shouldn't. It's used because it works well; it has for hundreds of years, and it will continue to for hundreds of years to come.)
5. If you are using color in your design, use it sparingly. A riot of colors will most likely be just plain ugly and turn off your reader. In a two-color piece, the second color should be used sparingly, so that it's impact and effectiveness are increased. In a full-color piece, the impulse to use every color known to man should be controlled. By using complimentary colors wisely and consistently, you will make your design pleasant to look at. If your body copy is black, don't make your headlines color. Headlines are, by their very nature, bigger and bolder, and shouldn't need the help of color. Use color type sparingly, and you will greatly increase the impact of what color you do use.
6. Be consistent within any one design. Use one typestyle and type size for body copy and one typestyle for headlines, throughout the entire piece. Just because you have access to 100 different typestyles and sizes doesn't mean you have to use them all. If you use a 1-point frame around one photo, use a 1-point frame around all your photos. If page 1 has three columns, then use three columns on every page. Changing styles inside a publication is irritating to the eye and should be done only in special circumstances, such as a side-bar story (one that is surrounded by a box or contained inside a graphic). Remember: Establish a style and stick with it from the start to the finish, and be very jealous of changing that style. Your readers will thank you, and your piece will be more effective.
7. Nobody's impressed that you can make 20 different kinds of frames (borders) on your computer. Using fancy frames will take away from what's inside them. Stay with a simple frame and use it consistently throughout the publication.
8. Write your copy so a 6th grader can understand it. It doesn't matter if your readers are all professors of nuclear medicine. You are trying to communicate or to sell, not to impress your readers with how many big words you know or how long you can make a sentence. Try reading your VCR instruction guide sometime. Is it easy to read? If you had a choice, wouldn't you rather throw it in the fireplace? Please remember this: Even a professor of nuclear medicine would rather read a simply-written piece, because it takes less mental energy. If you expect your readers to devote a lot of mental energy to reading your piece, you can expect them not to read your piece.
9. Don't repeat yourself. If your company is the biggest of its kind, say it once, and say it with impact. Every time you repeat an idea, you will lose readers. Advertising and publishing are not the same as high school essay writing. In school you learned, "Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them." Well, unlearn that because it isn't true. (Yes, your english teacher lied to you.) Repetition will bore your readers.
10. Before you begin, think about what you want to communicate. Make a list or outline of the most important points, and use that list to control your all-too-human desire to go spinning totally out of control. Keep in mind that you are asking people to donate their time and mental energy to read your piece. Keep it simple and to the point, and you will increase the chances that they will actually get beyond the first line! (By the way, very few readers do make it past the first line, so use that first line wisely!)
If, If, If...
If you follow all of these rules (especially rule #1), then you will arrive at a publication that is attractive, professional-looking, and easy on your readers.
If this piece has been effective, then you will have challenged and come up with exceptions to the rules above. That's good. Obeying all the rules all the time is boring. But you hopefully will have come away acknowledging that these rules are true, that you should follow them most of the time, and that, if you do choose to break them, you should be very confident that you are making your publication better by doing so.
If you have any questions about an ad piece or publication you're working on, give the experts at TechColor Graphics a call. We can give you plenty of free advice to help you make your piece effective and good looking!
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