Double the comprehension of your audience
By Liane Sebastian, graphic designer, author of Women who Win at Work
Today’s readers are the most visually educated population in history. Consequently, readers are the most challenging for writers to reach. Beginning with USA Today (breakthrough publishing that changed average perceptions) and polished by the Internet (that forces greater modularlization of content), a new kind of reader emerges: the visualizer. This reader is impatient. They want you to get to the point.
Perhaps my sensitivity to visual content started much earlier than USA Today, for as a child, if a book did not have pictures, I would not read it. If the publisher didn’t have enough regard for their copy to make it visual, adding to the words, then I had no time for it either.
Subsequently I did learn to wade through seas of grey pages—so sad. Now, with the proliferation of formula publishing (6x9, 4/1—usually the cover color is visually wasted and the insides are one grey page flowing after another—so sad), the only breaks most writers know how to use are subheads and chapter sections!
This trend towards the visual puts more work on the writer’s desktop. For the past twenty years, the technology placed more and more work on the designer’s desktop—the software companies sold it soothingly as giving more ‘power’ over work. The reality is that more production work was taken away from printers. The designers did gain a renaissance of image mastery!
Consequently, the smart writer will step up to reach a higher visual bar and thus double reader comprehension. This means when most writers think that their manuscript is done, they must develop yet another step. They must LOOK at it, and make it more visually more distinctive. Here are a few approaches that can inspire.
CHECKLIST FOR VISUAL ENHANCEMENT
1. Less is more. Be careful not to load too many concepts into one article. Make copy simple. Limit the number of essential points. The less there is to read, the more it will be read! Discard tangential segments to better emphasize a main point.
2. Segment copy. Present main points and support with examples, boxes or sidebars that are set off with a different typeface and/or placement on the page. Then, the reader can separately read the example and not have to wade through it to get to your next (usually buried) point. Doing this well enhances (versus breaks up) the flow. Done poorly, this technique can seem choppy and discordant.
3. Use callouts and captions. They always get read first. Scientific American pioneered the use of these devices to carry the most important points of a story. Many SciAm readers just read those and look at the pictures. Captions portray the gist of the subject and if the reader wants to read further, the article fulfills. The Internet also uses callouts as major content carriers. Readers are disappointed if captions are trivial!
4. Create bullet lists. Break up any paragraph with sentences that
• have more than two categories
• have items divided by serial commas
• are an odd number of items (visually more interesting and more retained than even numbers).
5. Resist using 10 point body copy. It is the most common size used in books and often onscreen. But such a small size tires the eye if there are many paragraphs. Use 12 point type for paragraphs and incorporate white space. It is automatically perceived as friendlier, more accessible, and more inviting. If tight on space, sharpen the editing pencil. Don’t sacrifice point size. And don’t make the reader have to make type larger.
6.Use two type face families per document, unless educated with typographic training. The best rule of thumb is to use a serif for body copy (readership studies show that the little serifs increase legibility) and sanserif for headlines, subheads, segmented copy. Within the two families, latitude between sizes, bold, italic, and color, offers enough visual possibilities to allow both an interesting document and legible presentation.
7. Highligh with subheads: meaning or menace? It is unfortunate if subheads aren’t used to enhance the copy. In many of my favorite business magazines, I’ve learned to skip over the subheads because most don’t add to the copy; instead they are preitious. Give them a job to do.
8. Use consistent content formatting. If implementing any of the above devices, apply it the same way throughout the document. This takes time and proofing—two essential elements for professionalism. Web sites also demand visual clarity in the breakup and presentation of information. The most popular sites are easy to navigate and are consistent throughout.
9. Smaller (or shorter) is better in presentation. Small pages with large text is more inviting than large pages with small text. Break into two articles if too long. The only people who will read long articles must do so for professional reasons. Even that market appreciates brevity!
10. Create charts and graphs. There are several great charting software programs that provide fast and attractive images. Just don’t go crazy with effects and be sure to choose options that clarify.
11. Use color strategically. Assign meaning to each color used and apply that meaning consistently. If a color isn’t needed to get a point across, don’t use it. Emphasis grows with spot areas of color versus huge fields. Too much color becomes visually busy, tiring to read, and consumes ink if printed.
12. Incorporate images—photographs and illustrations. As technology allows greater control over visuals, there is also a proliferation of BAD images and/or poor effects. The danger of using stock is that one publication can look like another—the same photos can appear in several venue. I’ve seen businesswomen’s organizational sites with the same photos in the banners! Test any self-created images with sample viewers. It is easy to look unprofessional if images are crude, even though they may not look crude to the creator.
13. Even out elements. If segments or paragraphs or images that appear together and are close to the same length or size, equalize these characteristics.
14. Choose strategic places to break when continuing. To fit pages, breaks are usually ignored with the flowing copy approach. Large white spaces at the end of segments, subheads too close to the bottom of the page, too many elements crammed into too small of a space are all very common layout ills forced by an uncrafted manuscript. The best way to define layout parameters is to start with the longest segment (or chapter). Then test the design on the shortest. If these both work, apply the visual concept to the rest.
15. Use media strengths. Adapt content differently for each medium applied. Learn the visual requirements of each to use most advantageously.
To take a visual step back when creating publications can be very difficult—especially after the writing! Like how the majority of business initiatives fail through lack of follow-up, most writing misses its potential through lack of visual crafting. Scrutinize the content for visual options. After initial crafting, literally step back and evaluate pages. Test eye-tracking: what stands out from a distance? Make sure the eye travels according to the content’s meaning hierarchy. Do the most important points stand out? Is it easy to perceive the major subject?
The more care a writer takes with visual techniques, the more the enticing for the reader. And, being a visually sensitive writer will create stronger impact.
Philosopher of Business:
portrait of Jim Beré, visionary businessman and former chairman
of Borg Warner Corporation. Demonstrates innovative use of Acrobat format
and extending the page. Download
PDF
Give to Get: Quotations from exemplary businesswomen on growing business through contribution. Experiment in onscreen reading using Acrobat features. Download PDF
Strategic Strengths: Lessons learned from top writers on making the most optimum business moves.
A Voyage in Visual Vocabulary: ideas to help article writers compose words to enhance comprehension. Originally published in the Chicago Women in Publishing's newsletter.
Consistent and well-strategized visual content ensures that the reader perceives what the writer intends.
