Document design: the essentials

Word documents, power-points, websites and blogs, all begin with a blank page. It can be daunting at first; how are you going to design the document to look appealing, yet effectively convey your message? 

Don't worry, there is no need to fret! By following these six basic design principles, your document will soon be looking like it has been designed by the creatives at Vogue. 

1. Balance: the visual weight of something on a page
2. Proportion: size and place of text, graphics and elements on a page
3. Sequence: effective design will make use of sequence principles
   - readers start at the top left, ending at the bottom right
   - readers notice things with most visual weight first      
4. Consistency: presenting similar features in a similar style
5. White Space: areas on the page that have no text or graphics, helping readers to process the text efficiently, with ease.
6. Graphics: utilised well, aid the reader's understanding of the document or text

This is one example of the following principles being used well.

What was your eye drawn to first? The picture, then the title of the article? That's what I thought. 

The image at the top of the page uses the principle of balance, as the visual weight of the page draws our eye to the image, and then the text. Proportion between the size and placement of the graphic is 50/50 on the page, thus demonstrating the sequence principle. 

Sequence is also demonstrated through the following: 

• The picture of three men wearing gold
• The title 'the men in gold'
• Story content 

Our eye jumps from the picture, to the top left of the text, before finally reading the story about the elusive 'men in gold' and ending at the bottom right corner of the page.

The graphic alludes to the article's contents, making it is a prime example of a graphic used to aid the reader's understanding. Consistency is established through the use of a single font and a consistent layout, whilst white space has been used in the margins, providing a frame for the text to make it look clean yet interesting. 

Now, you're probably thinking "oh wow, they make sense! That document looks great!", and you're right. If you too want a document to look this damn good, just follow the principles and you'll be on your way to document design greatness. 

Reep D.C, 2006, 'Document Design', in Reep D.C's (ed.), Technical Writing, 6th edition, Pearson/Longman publishing, New York, pp. 133 - 172.

Want to write?

Are you a budding writer? If you answered yes, then you have found yourself in the right place.

Writing to communicate is easy enough, but it is in the small details we often find ourselves confused, or lacking know-how. By following our simple tips and tricks, you will soon be able to write with confidence and find those second-guessing-yourself moments disappear.

The way we write is different to how we speak, and it allows us to think about how we decide to convey ourselves and our emotions. Putnis and Petelin present a number of reasons as to why we decide to 'put pen to paper' which include: expressing ourselves, articulating or developing ideas, aiding memory, enhancing or maintaining relationships, stimulate, persuade, share, and ultimately communicate with each-other. 

We can write academically or professionally, we can write creatively or we can write to communicate a thought, event or moment in time. In turn, each circumstance dictates the way we write - whether it be formal, conversational or slang.

Writing in an academic or professional context:

Before writing in this context, there are three main things that you will need to consider:

1. Sensitivity to your purpose, your readers and your context
2. Understanding of English sentence structure and common formats in academic/professional writing
3. Ability to research, structure and sequence your information

If you stick to these three tips, your academic or professional writing will be second to none. Sensitivity to purpose, readers and context simply means you will need to identify why you are writing, who will be reading it, and what format it will be received in. The second tip can be learnt over-time, but simply explained on websites such as Academia Writers , and blogs such as Business Writing Advice for Professionals. Finally, the ability to research, structure and sequence your writing, assures your document will be legitimate, legible and understandable.

How to improve your writing:

So now you've read the tips, and are probably thinking 'how can I improve my writing?', don't worry - we've got that covered too. It has been noted that in order to learn writing skills you can:

1. Read more frequently and extensively, to improve writing composition skills
2. Plan your writing
3. Write frequently and receive feedback from peers

Reading more books, newspapers or articles across different genres will develop your 'eye' for good writing, and establish your skills without you even knowing. Pretty cool, aye?
Planning your writing is an essential stage, as it weeds out the relevant information, eliminates waffle and helps the writer recognise the repetitive nature of writing without sounding plain boring. Lastly, writing frequently is fairly obvious - but necessary! If you don't take the time to write and improve your self, how are you going to get better? Getting feedback from peers is a good way to see how you've improved, and if your writing relates to others. 

So there you have it, the tips and tricks to consider before your start writing. Now - go and grab your pen, paper, tablet or laptop, and get writing!

 

Putnis P & Petelin R, 1996, 'Writing to Communicate', in Putnis P & Petelin R's (eds.), Professional Communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney, Australia, pp. 223 - 263.

Technology, how did we live without it?

Today, technology plays a large part in all of our lives. If you do not identify with at-least one (or if you're like me, all) of the following circumstances, you are probably still living in the early 2000's. 

Instead of waking up early to grab the morning newspaper from the drive-way, you head to the breakfast table and switch on your I-Pad. By the time you've finished your coffee and muesli, you've checked facebook, told twitter you're #eatingbreakfast and flicked through a dozen news websites telling you there was an overnight storm in Mexico, Syria is still in conflict and Mikayla was voted off Big Brother (yeah, you don't watch it - but you find out anyway). 

 

Before heading out the door, you don't worry too much about where you are going because you can look it up on your smart phone, GPS or just ask Siri. What is a directory again? Oh yeah, that chunky book thing that sits under the passenger seat.
 

You arrive at your lunch destination, and they offer you a menu. 'Uh, no thanks' you say, before telling your friend you 'looked it up online'. Who needs a menu when you can pre-emt what you feel like eating whilst looking at their online menu from home? 


You're just about to leave lunch, and realise you don't have any cash on you. No need to worry! You've got a smart-phone app for that. $20 transferred from your savings to your debit card in one easy click and you're set.

 

Oh no! It's already 2pm, and you haven't studied like you said you would. 'Sigh', you better go and find some books ...online books that is. Why would you go to the library when you can open your laptop and find the book you're after, simply by typing in a few words to the internet?

 

After an afternoon of studying, you remember you need to purchase a dress for that party on the weekend. 30 minutes later, you've bought a dress (and shoes, and a top) from your new favourite online shopping destination, which will arrive on your doorstep in 3-5 days. 

Now, you may have seen your friends at lunch, but you better find out what they're up to. They don't know that you just bought a dress, so you have to tell them. 

Phew, that was important. Imagine if they didn't know you bought a dress! If you told them the next day, that would be old news - right? 

After a dinner of 'easy and quick quiche' made from a recipe you Google searched an hour prior, you're feeling content and full. Before bed, you check your emails and social networking platforms (even though you have been checking facebook every hour throughout the day, posting photos of your every meal on Instagram, and hash tagging #whatyou'reupto every 7.9 minutes on twitter), before texting your boyfriend 'Goodnight'.

What a busy day. Imagine how your day would be without any of these technologies. Would you survive?

MEDIA ISSUES: Bias in the media

Issues surrounding 'free press' and unbiased media in Australia has particularly come to light in the last few months during and post the 2013 election. During the election, the Herlad Sun and the Telegraph were accused of publishing favouring news about Tony Abbott as fact rather than opinion. Since then, the government of today is posing to introduce new laws that will restrict certain people producing private media as the "may use their communications capabilities to oppose government policy".

This debate has therefore pushed Australian media to pose the opinion they want to be "free from influence and editorially independent of their owners", ultimately hoping for "free press"; however, they also "seem comfortable exempting these same principles from the owners of media businesses". The most ironic thing about this issue is that there are wide-spread inconsistancies between editorially independent journalists and privately owned media.

Overall, this issue sparks many different opinions and debates about the topic, as it effects every one of us, with some being less educated about media bias than others. Could this be said to be a direct correlation with media-opinion influencing the Australian public as people from lower socio-economic areas do not have the same access and background knowledge regarding the types of media-restricitions than perhaps those of a higher socio-economic class?


Sourced: ABC The Drum