How to write to be read.
Appearances count. The things which get read are the writings which:

• appear easy to read
• appear interesting
• appear brief
• appear important

Some of the obstacles to reading are:

• the centering of headings and other textual components
• arbitrarily changing the internal spacing of the material in order to force the text to fill out a fixed depth and width
• inconsistency in the order or the grouping of parts
• excessive use of indentation, suggesting paragraph breaks where they aren't really needed
• an excessive variety in the sizes, styles, and weights of typeface for heading levels.

• Are there format restrictions for this type of document?
• Are there limits on length?
• Are there other limits?
  • time
  • budget
  • availability of staff
  • accessiblity to equipment

The components of graphic design are

• structure, topical divisions
• type, size and style
• white space, margins and open spaces
• special treatments, for emphasis
• paper, type and color

Design is the area where legal writing faces its most limiting constraints. There is very little room to manoeuvre in the confines of the prescribed forms and traditional formats. Yet with some basic information about the most modern techniques, you will be able to make maximum use of the design tools available to you.

Simple design tools are available through your office word pro- cessing system; these include

• varied typeface
• capitalization
• bullets and daggers
• white space
• quotation marks
• bold face
• indentation

1. The eye is first attracted by the largest, most dominant matter on the page.
2. Absent any special feature or guide to eye movement, the eye will start slightly off center and travel in a clockwise direction.

Some basic rules of graphic design

• type face and type size
  

  Type face refers to the style of lettering which is used. There are two basic styles - Roman, and Gothic - and two variations - Italic and slanted. Each of these may come in fine, medium or bold. Another way to characterize type is serif or sans-serif. Roman types have serifs - the distinctive design element which is the finishing flourish or "tail" to many letters which serves to lead the eye to the next letter. The Romans left this serif when finishing with the chisel. The Gothic or Modern style eliminates the tail and has a stark appearance. Serif type is easier to read because the tails aid the eye in reading.

  The "fine print" in legal documents which has been decried for years is usually smaller than 8 point. Most people are comfortable reading 10 point or larger. People who have reached the age of bifocals find a larger type size more comfortable - 10 to 12 point.

• white space or negative space
  

  The text and artwork is called positive space in a layout. The white space which surrounds text is the negative space. Think of the white space framing and flowing through your text. Modern word-processing systems offer a multitude of ways to alter the traditional amount of white space.

  Margins should be at least 1 inch on top, bottom, left and right margins. The text line length should be no more than 5 inches wide. Other white space can be achieved by using relatively short paragraphs, varying the size of paragraphs, using sub-heads and indentations, and making indented lists of items.

  The white space between text lines must avoid a cramped appearance making the text hard to read, but must not be so deep as to destroy a sense of continuity. The distance between lines of text should be 70% to 80% of the height of the type print. Triple spacing between lines of text is excessive. With word processing programs you can set the "line spacing" in increments anywhere between 1 and 2.

  While ample white space is essential to make your document readable, it should not appear as waste space. There is a fine line between enough white space and what looks like awkward, wasted space. White space makes your document attractive and highlights important relationships in the text. But don't let yourself become so involved in the negative space that you lose sight of more substantial concerns.

• capitals and lower case
  

  Capital letters begin sentences and proper names. Any other uses should be reconsidered. Use of lower case facilitates recognition of words. Capitalized words are rectangular blocks and a full line of them becomes a box of horizontal lines. Capitalized words may be used as headings or for emphasis, but should be kept to a minimum. Don't include units of more than three or four capitalized words in text.

  Words in lower case have distinctive shapes which we recognize. Lower case letters have characteristics described as ascenders and descenders - the heads and tails of letters which make them distinc- tive.

• length of line
  

  The optimum length of line of text is the one that is most comfortable for eye movements. Shorter lines increase the number of eye movements while longer lines make it harder to keep your eye on the correct line. The best length lies somewhere between 3 1/2 inches and 5 inches. This can vary from 40 to 70 let- ters or character spaces per inch depending on the chosen typeface and typesize. Whenever possible in legal documents, columns are the preferable way to layout text.

  Margins are determined by the need for white space and the optimum width of text line. Ragged right margins make text easier to read. The eye can use the variation in line endings to help keep track as the eye moves down the text. Ragged right margins permit the spacing between words and between letters in words to remain constant and regular. Justified right margins require the word processing program to alter the spacing between letters and words to stretch the text to the right margin.

  Justified left margins are common practice and preferable. Word-processing programs have made centered titles easier to use, but this is not the best way to layout several lines of text. Whenever possible, place headings and subheadings at the left margin. In a table of contents, the page numbers should be set out in the left column rather than the right.

• lists and tabulations
  

  Lists can make text items as easy to read as tables of numbers. The items must be similar in nature, parallel in form and of equal importance. Lists are a visual way to focus information. Review your draft for suitable lists embedded in the text. Lists should include at least 3 items and not more than 7. People remember things better in groups of 3 and with more than 7 focus of the list is lost.

  Use these formatting options to set lists off from text:

  • spacing to establish a separate unit
  • indentation, at the left only or both left and right
  • numerical or alphabetic listing where you want to prioritize the items
  • special characters where there is no priority
    • asterisks - the easiest emphasis
    • bullets - for short lists of short phrases
    • dashes - for longer lists of sentences or paragraphs
    • boxes - for checklists or when ticking the box is useful
  • double column format for long lists of short items

• columns
  

  Columns are easier to read than text which is spreak 6 1/2 inches across the page. A shorter single column is easiest to read, but the number of words to fit on the page may dictate the use of two columns.

• paper
  

  Paper size and colour are usually dictated by the form of document. Other factors to consider are

  • bulk weight, thickness of individual sheets
  • density or opacity
  • finish, dull or glossy
  • colour

• colour
  

  Colour can be used in paper, type, graphics or background.

  Coloured paper can maximize the contrast between the type image and the paper. If the document will be photocopied then white is preferable. Otherwise, a pale yellow offers the best contrast without glare. The vivid orange-yellow sold as "goldenrod" is cheaper than other coloured papers. Older people and those with poor eyesight have difficulty reading black inking on goldenrod and they can even experience nausea.

  There is also a colour psycology to consider. Reds, or- anges and yellows give a feeling of warmth while greens, blues and violets are perceived as cool colors. Younger audiences respond well to warmer colours while mature audiences prefer the cooler colours.

  There are also cultural issues with colours. In Europe and North America, we associate white with youth, mar- riage and beginnings. In Japan and India white is the funeral colour having the same connotation as black does here.

  Different professions respond differently to colour. Red may excite moviegoers, but it is negative to accountants, healthy to doctores and danger to engineers. Yellow is happiness to movie- goers, importance to financiers, jaundice to medicos and caution for engineers. Pale green represents calm repose.

  The Citibank simplified bank note was printed with the text in a subdued green type. The title and the major dividing lines were in black and the paper was a pale buff.

• graphics
  

  A picture is worth a thousand words - trite but true. While tables are effective for actual numbers, graphics can show trends, directions, comparisons, and interrela- tionships. Graphic options include

  • bar charts
  • line graphs
  • pie charts
  • diagrams
  • line drawings
  • logos
  • maps
  • clip art

    <Go back