Section 1.14

Document Design

Use document design to help readers locate information and understand the structure and meaningof your material. The design of a document has both an informational and a physical aspect--format and layout. Format refers to the arrangement of the document's content into standard subjectareas such as introduction, theory,method and results, discussion, andconclusions sections. Format also refers to the general design ofstandard document elements such as tables and figures, as well as citations (parentheticalreferences, footnotes and bibliographies). Format conventions are usually widely followed but mayvary from field to field.

Layout concerns the physical appearance and form of the document page and thedocument as a whole. Page layout exploits a variety of tools that include the use of headings, numbering systems, bullet and enumerated lists, white space,columns, margins, fonts, indentation, and justification. A document also has a total physical design. Covers, paper size and quality, colors, and two-sided printing may all be important considerationsif you are producing a finished document rather than a manuscript.

Document format should be part of the initial consideration at theoutline stage of a document. Page anddocument layout become increasingly important as your document nears its final form. Butconsider layout at the start for documents with complex layouts such as computer manuals andcommercial documents.

## Document Design ##


[ Home | Table of Contents| Writing Timeline | Index |Help | Credits]