Issue #65
November 29, 2007

Welcome to Inside Freelance Design (IFD), your free, bi-weekly e-letter from American Writers & Artists Inc. Every other week, you can receive this special alert with secrets, tips, and insights from AWAI's graphic design pros to help you improve your skills and reach your goal of becoming a professional graphic designer in the fastest time possible.

IN THIS ISSUE:
  • 7 Strategies to Boost Readability in Any Design, by Kammy Thurman
  • Quick Tip: Speaking a Common Lingo With Copywriters, by Will Newman
  • EXTRA! EXTRA! News and Job Opportunities
7 Strategies to Boost Readability in Any Design
by Kammy Thurman

Sometimes it’s easy to get so involved with the details of a design, we forget to step back and take a “big picture” look. Here’s a quick checklist to help you evaluate your design’s appearance – and catch any flaws before your client does.

  1. Rivers of white space – This happens with justified type (type that lines up on both the right and left sides of the paragraph) and narrow columns. You’ve probably seen it in newspaper articles – white space flowing down through the columns. The eye tends to focus on the white space, which makes reading difficult.

    Solve this problem by changing the text size or the column width. You can also use flush-left alignment (where the type lines up only on the left side of the paragraph).

  2. Gray pages – Columns of text, such as in a magalog, need sufficient breathing room. If the columns crowd each other or the edge of the page, or if the text gets too close to the graphics, the page will feel claustrophobic.

    When you hold a crowded page at arm’s length, it will look gray. To give the text breathing room, move it away from the graphics, make the columns narrower, or reduce the font size if necessary. Don’t go below 10-point type, however, as that’s too small for most people to read.

  3. Too many typefaces – There are thousands upon thousands of typefaces available to us, and one of the most common mistakes designers make is trying to cram too many into a design. To make matters worse, we can bold the text, italicize, underline, and use small caps and all caps.

    You’ve probably seen sales letters that look like the designer used every font she could get her hands on – NOT great for readability. Not to mention, it looks amateurish. Too many typefaces slow readers down, and that’s a perfect invitation for them to quit reading altogether.

    Avoid this problem by limiting your use of different typefaces. A good rule to follow is to use one highly readable serif font (Times, Garamond, Georgia) for the body copy. And use one or two readable sans serif fonts (Arial, Helvetica, Myriad) for the headlines, subheads, captions, and similar short-run copy.

    Adopt a consistent style structure for the various elements of your designs (headlines, subheads, body copy, and the like). Use the “Styles” function of your design or word processing software to make it easier. This will ensure that you’ll always produce pages that look clean and lead readers through the copy systematically.

  4. Tombstoning – This happens when headlines (or subheads) that appear side-by-side in parallel columns are too close together and look almost like one wide heading. This is not only hard to read, it drastically reduces the impact of the words. You can either move the columns further apart, or put a vertical line or graphic between the heads to separate them.

  5. Whispering headlines – Headlines should be larger and bolder than the copy they introduce. They should SHOUT for attention! Small, whispering headlines don’t do the job they’re supposed to do, resulting in a drab, gray page. This tells the reader there’s nothing on this page of importance.

    Bump headlines up to about 3 times the size of the text (i.e., 12-pt. text would have a 36-pt. headline) and increase subheads to between 2 and 6 points larger than the copy (i.e., 12-pt. copy would have 14- to 18-pt. subheads).

  6. Jumping horizons – On a multi-column page, jumping horizons occur when the columns start at different distances from the top of the page. This uneven effect distracts the eye and slows reading. Easy to avoid. Just make sure you look for it when you give your design a final check.
  7. Floating subheads – It can be confusing to readers if a headline or subhead is closer to the preceding text than to the text that immediately follows it. To anchor a floating head, use appropriate line spacing to separate it from the text before it and close the gap with the text that comes after it.

Paying attention to these little details will help you create a piece that’s inviting to read, has a clean, professional appearance, and moves the reader effortlessly through the sale.

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Quick Tip : Speaking a Common Lingo With Copywriters
by Will Newman

“I’d like the eyebrow in bold, much smaller than the main head but big enough to be obvious.”

What gives here? It sounds like the person talking to you has mistaken you for a hair stylist. But no. He’s a copywriter trying to explain something he has in mind for the design of the sales piece he wrote.

An eyebrow is a mini-headline that precedes the main headline. It can be a very effective addition to the headline … if written and formatted correctly. And getting it formatted correctly depends on clear communication between the copywriter and the designer … which can be difficult.

Fact is, although copywriters have a lingo all their own, it’s easy to learn. And when you learn it, you’ll be able to work with every copywriter more efficiently and effectively … and profitably.

To make your learning (and earning) faster, we’ve provided a glossary of copywriting terms on our website: http://www.awaionline.com/glossary/.

Access is free, of course, to all subscribers of Inside Freelance Design.

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EXTRA! EXTRA! News and Job Opportunities
  • PRINT DESIGNER – Bisk Education in Tampa, FL has an opening for a skilled designer to join their marketing team. You must be team-oriented and well-versed in print design. You’ll help develop initial concepts and then see the designs through to press. You’ll design a wide range of materials, from brochures and flyers to advertisements and newsletters. Send your resume to jobs@bisk.com. Candidates selected for an interview will be required to present work samples.
  • PRINT & WEB DESIGNER – Eview 360, a branding and communications company located in Farmington Hills, MI, is looking for a talented graphic designer skilled at working in print and on the Web. You should have at least five years of experience. You need to know Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, and Microsoft Office. You should also be familiar with all stages of the print process. Send your information to lisak@eview360.com.
  • GRAPHIC DESIGNER & WEB DEVELOPER – Creative Navigation, a development and design firm in Fort Collins CO, needs a graphic designer and Web developer. You must be talented in both the creative and technical aspects of your work. You’ll create new websites as well as work on designs for print materials. Send your resume with a link to your portfolio to careers@creativenavigation.com.
COMING NEXT ISSUE:
  • “Freemium” Design Ideas for Fundraising Packages
  • Quick Tip: Formatting Titles for Maximum Impact
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