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Chapter 3: Designing Documents with Visual Appeal
Part II: Chapter-by-Chapter Lecture Notes & Exercises
Chapter 3: Designing Documents with Visual Appeal
Teaching Suggestions
This chapter lays the foundation for good basic document design skills that will help any person in many
aspects of business life, whether that person is involved in actual design or not. Although this is not a
software textbook, students will be learning and using many formatting tools that will help them more
easily create professional, visually appealing communications. By the end of the chapter, they will have a
better understanding of the principles behind well-constructed letters, web pages, reports, and brochures.
Though much of the class will consist of examining the nuts and bolts of good design, students will be
invited to contribute to the analysis of documents and offer critique as well. They will also learn about
recent developments in creating accessible, searchable, and attractive online content. Collecting samples
of business letters, memos, reports, brochures, and web pages will be helpful for use with the students.
You can also encourage students to bring in their own samples for discussion with the class.
Another useful tool in Connect is “Writing Assignment,” which students can use to submit their
homework assignments online. For more information on setting up this service, go to
http://createwp.customer.mheducation.com/wordpress-mu/success-academy/create-writing-assignments/.
Learning Objectives
LO 3-1 Describe the four principles of document design: contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity.
LO 3-2 Lay out documents effectively to enhance readability and visual appeal.
LO 3-3 Choose fonts that enhance readability and visual appeal.
LO 3-4 Understand the impact of color on business documents.
LO 3-5 Design documents for print and online reading.
LO 3-6 Format business letters according to commonly accepted practices.
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Key Terms
contrast
repetition
alignment
proximity
Gutenberg diagram
Z-pattern
external spacing
internal spacing
serif fonts
sans serif fonts
x-height
F-pattern
inverted pyramid style
search engine optimization
HTML code
letterhead
return address
conventional date form
inside address
courtesy title
attention line
salutation
mixed punctuation
open punctuation
closed punctuation
subject line
title fly
title page
letters or memos of transmittal
acknowledgments
table of contents
table (list) of illustrations
references or bibliography section
Text Summary, Lecture Outline
Slides 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4
The appearance of a message plays a significant role in its communication being successful. This chapter
will help you present attractive and appropriate documents for a wide range of situations.
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Problem-Solving Challenge
As a mid-level manager at Masterson Insurance Agency, you and a coworker are assigned the job of
establishing standards for internal correspondence and a uniform look for Masterson’s social media
platforms and website. You also have to create a company-wide webinar to inform employees about
writing professional-looking documents. What formatting elements will need to be kept consistent across
Basic Principles of Document Design
Slide 3-5
The basic design principles that can work to improve the visual impact of a business document are
contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity.
Contrast means using conventions of typography, layout, color, or other visual elements to make the
content readily accessible.
The next few slides will discuss these principles in more detail.
Slides 3-6, 3-7
Contrast
Contrast is one of the best tools for making a document easy to read and easy to follow. It could mean
using dark text on a light background, or using bold, italics, or color to make main points stand out. It
could mean using a different font or capital letters to make headings clear.
For another fun exercise to illustrate the power of contrast, let students go to a favorite retail clothing site
and pick out elements that make a good outfit, or go to a site (such as People.com) and check out celebrity
images—which ones bank on the principles of contrast to make a stunning visual impression?
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Chapter 3: Designing Documents with Visual Appeal
You Design It
Let students suggest ways to redo this report to simplify it. Discuss how too much formatting can detract
from the goal of creating clear and attractive presentations.
Slides 3-8, 3-9
Repetition
Repetition is one of the simplest and most powerful formatting techniques to create accessible and
attractive documents. Using a consistent style for headings and subheadings helps the reader recognize
where the major and minor sections of the document begin and end. Icons can indicate recurring tips or
other features.
You Design It
Bring in a selection of local takeout menus for the students to use. (Scanned in images of menus could be
used for online students, or they can also find their own and scan them in.)
Slide 3-10
Alignment
Alignment helps to make your document look planned. Keeping blocks of text in line, or justified, in the
same way from one section to another, makes a document look more organized. Text can be left-, right-,
or center-justified. Or as the slide suggests, text can also be fully justified, but this can sometimes present
awkward spacing problems.
Consider giving students the task of creating an interesting document with very simple images (such as
Slide 3-11
Proximity
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Chapter 3: Designing Documents with Visual Appeal
The principle of proximity is another simple principle that can be used to have a great effect in making a
document easier to read and making information easily accessible. (See Exhibit 3-4 in the textbook for
one solution.)
Ask students to consider how they could apply the principle of proximity to make the list on the slide
more readable. Could more formatting have been used to help the reader find what they are looking for?
What improvements would you make?
Layout
Slides 3-12, 3-13
Common Text Layout Methods
A good layout helps the reader easily move through a document.
This slide describes common ways of laying out text, using the Gutenberg diagram, the Z-pattern, or a
grid. The main difference between the Gutenberg diagram and the Z-pattern is that the Gutenberg diagram
assumes the reader will attend to the beginning and ending of the document more than anything else,
spending little time on the content in between. Exhibits 3-5 and 3-6 in the textbook illustrate how both the
Gutenberg diagram and Z-pattern can be applied to a routine message.
Slide 3-13 gives students the opportunity to use the Gutenberg diagram to decide where to put the most
crucial pieces of information on a product web page.
Students should also check out the From the Tech Desk box in this section, which gives steps on how to
use Microsoft Word to insert visuals into a document, position them, and allow text to wrap around them.
Connect Assignment 3-1: Using the Z-pattern
Summary: Students will practice the elements of good document design by ordering and placing the sentences in this
activity into the appropriate places in the Z-pattern.
Learning Objective: 3-02
Difficulty: Hard
AACSB: Knowledge Application
Blooms: Apply
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Slide 3-14
Spacing
Both external spacing (the white space on the page) and internal spacing (the vertical and horizontal
spacing within blocks of text) must be considered when setting up a document. Direct students to check
out the From the Tech Desk boxes on line spacing and kerning to learn how to adjust settings that affect
spacing.
Fonts
Slides 3-15, 3-16
Font Choices
Choosing the right font for a document can make it look more professional.
Generally, script fonts such as Monotype Corsiva are not used frequently in business documents.
Business writers prefer serif fonts or sans serif fonts. Letters in serif fonts, such as Times New Roman,
have “tails” and “feet” that can make body copy easier to read. Sans serif fonts allow for more white
space, which makes letters and words stand out.
Consider your audience when choosing the styles and sizes of the fonts you will use. Make sure the style
and size of the font you choose for the majority of the text is very readable.
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Ask the class how many like to use two spaces after a period and how many like to use one. As a practice
exercise, give them a Microsoft Word document to use that has inconsistent spacing after the periods—
You Make the Call
Find out which font choices students like to use for business or other communications. Do they pay much
attention to the style of font that they use? Let them talk about times when their opinions of a product or
company were impacted by the font choice of that company’s marketing materials.
Slide 3-17
Make Your Case
Let the students vote on which coffee shop logo they like best. Ask them to give reasons for their choices
and describe the impressions they get from the various font selections.
Imagine some ways you would go about discovering what font suited the message you were trying to
create. What research would you do?
Slide 3-18
YOLO—You Only Logo Once
Divide the class into teams of 3 to 4 and let them practice their research skills. (Online students can work
on this logo design assignment on their own, or could collaborate with other online students through
Talk about what makes a logo identifiable and how important font choices can be in other areas of
business communications. Just for fun, perform an online search for “bad uses of comic sans” and see
some examples where the font did not match the message.
Color
Slides 3-19, 3-20
Although many times the colors in business communications are determined by the company’s brand
guides, sometimes employees do have to select colors that complement the company’s logo and other
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styles. Other times, employees may be in charge of creating their own presentations, reports, or even
email signatures that need to look professional, readable, and visually appealing. It will be useful to
students to learn some basic principles of color theory in order to be successful in creating effective
presentations. Software programs often provide color palettes to use and web resources such as Session
College’s Color Wheel Color Calculator can help in choosing a palette that works well together.
Color is an important tool for achieving contrast and repetition in business documents.
You also have to be aware that nearly 8 percent of men and .5 percent of women are color blind. When
you are using color to create differentiation, as in charts or graphs, you need to make sure to utilize
contrast and possibly patterns to accentuate the different areas.
Connect Assignment 3-2: Making Design Decisions
Learning Objectives: 3-01, 3-02, 3-03, 3-04
Difficulty: Medium
AACSB: Knowledge Application
Blooms: Apply
Follow-Up Activity: Students can provide reasoning for the each of the rejected design suggestions.
Slide 3-21
You Make the Call
Encourage students to look up images (company websites, Instagram marketing, etc.) to provide examples
of products with colors that affect them positively or negatively. (Online students can provide screenshots
or supply URLs.)
Design Considerations for Online Text
Slides 3-22, 3-23, 3-24
The basic principles of business writing apply to both print and electronic text; that is, your text must be
reader-centered, accessible, complete, concise, and accurate.
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Talk about examples your students are familiar with—both company web pages or blogs that have well-
designed online content and those that are struggling to present content in a clear, organized way.
Comparing Print and Online Text
In order to create successful online business communications, it’s important to recognize the significantly
different ways that readers view and use online text vs. printed text.
Ask students to find information to give three brief summaries of events in today’s headlines. These could
be stories about world events, local happenings, or celebrity news. Students should be able to find out the
Slide 3-25
Organizing Content
Online information must be organized well. The inverted pyramid style (as shown on the slide) puts the
main point first, followed by supporting information and then by any historical or background
information.
Online information should also be arranged in short paragraphs. Headings and lists should help to create a
logical structure for your writing.
Slide 3-26
Presenting Content
A writer creating content to be presented in electronic documents needs to consider several factors:
• Use sans serif font and no less than 12-point size to increase readability on screen.
• Keep line lengths relatively short—about 8 to 10 words.
Ask students to analyze the page on the slide or another web page they find during class or at home. What
have the content creators done well? What have they done poorly?
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Slide 3-27
SEO and Accessible Content
If you write for the web, you must consider what readers see in the final published pages, but also what
they don’t see. A part of search engine optimization happens behind the scenes, in the HTML code of a
web page.
According to Towner and Everett, experts in web and e-communication, you can increase the chances
your site will appear in a reader’s search by using the following methods:
Accessibility is another important feature in writing for the web. With advances in technology, many
people with hearing disabilities or visual impairments can now easily gain access to files that used to be
unreachable for them. Not only is it good business practice to include these customers, but creating
accessible content and accommodating disabilities is also generally a legal requirement. Here are some
ways you can meet the needs of these customers:
• Incorporate text along with audio files.
• Use voice-activated features or key commands instead of only mouse-controlled navigation.
• Make sure web content has been adapted for the use of screen readers.
o Add alt-tags to images—alternative text that describes what an image is depicting.
o Add descriptive captions to all images that contribute to the meaning of the text.
Challenge students to consider accessibility in this way. Select a typical news or business site homepage.
Ask the students to view the material as if they had a hearing challenge—what parts would be difficult to
understand? How could those parts be made less difficult? Then supply the text from that web page as a
pdf to be read by the text reading utility in Adobe Acrobat. What parts of the page are difficult to
understand now? How could the text be written or the page designed in order to be more helpful?
Connect Assignment 3-4 (a–e): Writing for the Web
Summary: Students will read the case and use what they know about considerations for creating Web content to
make suggestions for the best ways to convert printed materials for use on the website.
3-4a, 3-4b, 3-4c, and 3-4e
Learning Objective: 3-05
Difficulty: Medium
AACSB: Knowledge Application
Blooms: Apply
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3-4d
Learning Objective: 3-05
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Knowledge Application
Blooms: Apply
Format for Business Letters
Slide 3-28
Your students will likely have at least some familiarity with these traditional parts of a letter. You may
want to emphasize details that represent best current practices, such as being as specific as possible in
salutations and using “Ms.” instead of “Miss” or “Mrs.” for courtesy titles of women in business. Or you
Another interesting exercise: ask students to bring in selections of business letters. These could be their
own resume cover letters, utility letters, promotional marketing letters, insurance correspondence, charity
donation requests, etc. Talk about their impressions of these letters. Which ones grab attention? Which
ones feel more professional, and why? What impression do students have in general of business
correspondence? (Online students could scan in or take photos of samples to send in with their
explanations.)
For many students growing up in today’s digital world, the idea of writing or typing a letter on paper may
seem old-fashioned, stuffy, or like a waste of time. This would be a good time to talk about these
impressions and discuss why business letters still have a place in the world and how they can be an
important part of presenting a professional image. You may also want to discuss the more recent
Format for Memorandums (Memos)
Slide 3-29
You can refer students to Exhibits 2-18 and 2-19 from Chapter 2, which show correct memo formats.
Remind students that, although the exact form may vary from one business to another, all of the elements
Similar to email, any items that go with the memo itself are called attachments instead of enclosures (as in
letters). Usually the item is physically attached to the memo by a paper clip, staple, or some other means.
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Connect Assignment 3-3: Recognizing Letter Elements
Summary: Students will use this click-and-drag exercise to identify the parts of a business letter correctly.
Learning Objective: 3-06
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Knowledge Application
Blooms: Understand
Format for Informal and Formal Reports
Slide 3-30
Discuss with students the differences between informal and formal reports.
Informal Reports
• May be distributed as part of a letter or a memo. In either case, the report appears as part of the
body.
Formal Reports
• Page layout may need to take into account the binding.
• Title pages and divider pages may have a special layout and design.
• Text formatted in single-spacing lines (more popular for reports in recent years) with one space
between paragraphs.
• Must use consistent spacing, styles, and indentation (check out the From the Tech Desk box in
The best way to have students become familiar with the basic formatting tools for designing reports
would be to have them construct mini-reports for a pretend organization, either in class or as an
assignment. They could gather two pieces of information from classmates. For example, they could be
asked to find out the age and the eye color, favorite pizza topping, dream vacation location, or height of
their classmates. Or they could find the birth order of their classmates along with their birth cities, number
of states or countries they have visited, amount of money currently in their wallets/pockets, favorite
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(Online students can either gather similar info via an online survey of their classmates or by asking
friends, neighbors, etc.)
Format for Brochures
Slides 3-31, 3-32, 3-33
Brochures are still a viable marketing tool in today’s world, even though many companies rely more
heavily on an online presence. A brochure gives the potential customer a physical reminder of the product
and/or company and gives them time to think over the material being presented to them.
The most common format for a brochure is the tri-fold brochure. Many word processing programs have
built-in templates that you can use to help create a brochure’s design. As you consider in what section
each part of the content should go, think about the Gutenberg diagram and the Z-pattern, and ask yourself
Slides 3-31 and 3-32 offer students the chance to critique a brochure. Students may use the brochure
sample presented on the slides or any brochure they have available. They should consider the principles
Slide 3-34
Whether your business career is in advertising, marketing, accounting, healthcare, operations
management, information systems, or any other field, you can be sure your audiences will respond
Power Charge Your Professionalism: Use Standard Capitalization
Indicate which capitalization guide you used from Reference Chapter A to determine your capitalization
choices for each sentence. If the sentence is correct, leave it as it is. (Letters in bold show the corrected
capitalization.)
1. You will find advice about writing a business plan in Chapter 3, page 46.
(Words preceding most numbers, Words preceding page numbers)
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3. I wanted to major in accounting, but I enjoyed the Principles of Buyer Behavior course so much that I
decided to major in marketing instead.
(Majors, minors, and general references to courses, Official course titles)
4. To be reimbursed for your travel expenses, please submit your receipts to our accounting department.
(General references to a department)
5. Many companies ask job applicants to send their materials to the human resources department.
(General references to a department)
For further instruction on using the right word, see “Capitalization” in the “Punctuation and Mechanics”
module of LearnSmart Achieve.
Critical-Thinking Questions
1. What are the four basic principles of document design? Why is it important that you
observe these principles when writing business documents? (LO1)
Creating attractive and accurate messages in any form allows you to give an impression of
competence and care, and can create credibility. The four basic principles of document design—
2. What strategies can you use to incorporate the principles of document design in business
documents? (LO1-LO4)
Answers will vary, but should include some of the following elements.
You can create contrast through the understanding and proper use of elements of typography,
layout, color, and other visual elements. Using dark text on a light background, for example, will
Repeated uses of color, placement, font styles, or other visuals can help guide a reader through a
document. For example, setting a certain size, font, and style for major headings will make those
jump out for the reader. The repeated use of icons can indicate tips, questions, or warnings in an
informative report.
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In the same manner, the principle of proximity can guide you to put similar content closer
together, allowing white space to break different pieces of text (and any corresponding images)
apart from one another. Again, using the layout patterns described in this chapter, you can decide
3. Why are the Gutenberg diagram and Z-pattern helpful for laying out information? (LO2)
These patterns help us to understand how a reader’s eye moves across the page and what
information areas are going to get the most attention. Both patterns tell us that the most visually
4. How can writers use leading and kerning to improve readability? (LO2)
Adjusting the spacing between lines and between words can provide a break for the eyes when
reading large amounts of text. Even in cases where small amounts of text appear, a good
proportion of white space to text creates a pleasing effect.
Likewise, kerning, or the spacing between letters, can be adjusted to offset problems that occur in
some fonts. For example, if some letters appear too close together, a reader might misread the
5. What are some considerations for choosing a font(s) for a business document? (LO3)
The font choice should always match the overall tone of the document. Some other choices
writers have are serif vs. sans serif, the number of fonts, and the size of the fonts. Serif fonts tend
Generally it is best to limit the number of fonts in a document to two. Sometimes using two
different fonts can help to create contrast and also can help you to set headings apart from body
text. If you decide to use two fonts, it is best to make one a sans serif font and one a serif font.
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6. How can the use of analogous or complementary colors help you choose a color palette for
your business document? (LO4)
Both analogous (colors that are next to each other on the color wheel) and complementary colors
(colors that are across from each other on the color wheel) generally form good color
7. In what ways can social, emotional, or cultural connotations impact color choices? (LO4)
Colors can have different meanings attached to them depending on the audience. For example, for
an environmental group, green may signify safe practices and growth. But for a group of patients,
8. How does writing text for an electronic medium differ from writing text for a print
medium? (LO5)
Writing for electronic documents, like writing for print, requires you to keep your audience in
mind. Online readers, as opposed to print readers, tend to read in a nonlinear pattern. Instead of
starting at the beginning and going to the end, online readers will scan documents for the
Online readers also tend to read to accomplish a specific task—to find a location, to locate a
statistic, to fill out a form, etc. Online text needs to be designed in such a way as to naturally lead
the reader to the desired information.
9. What is SEO? How can a businessperson write online text to achieve SEO? (LO5)
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10. What are three ways that the format for a business letter differs from the format for a
business memo? (LO6, 7)
11. What information goes in the header for page 2 and subsequent pages in memo and letter
reports? (LO8)
12. What are three ways that Microsoft Word’s Styles feature makes report writing more
efficient? (LO9)
13. Why are brochures important business documents? (LO10)
Customers are likely to want brochures when purchasing “high-value or high-risk items,” when
there will often be more time between the purchase and the actual experience of the item. Since a
Skills-Building Exercises
1. Lisa Richards, owner of Lisa’s Childcare Center, has submitted an ad for Sunny Day
Travel Agency’s quarterly Travel Adventures magazine. You have reviewed the ad and
know that it needs a lot of work if it is to attract potential customers. Plus, you have
standards for the look of the material that appears in your publication, so you rewrite and
redesign the advertisement to reflect the basic principles of document design. In a letter to
Lisa, explain your design choices regarding the layout, font or fonts, and colors you used to
achieve these principles. Be sure to indicate to Lisa that you have enclosed the revised
advertisement for her review. Chapter 8 can help you plan and organize your content.
(LO1–LO4)
2. You are a new intern at your company. (You can pick the type of company and type of
internship.) Your company is redesigning its logo and letterhead, and your boss has asked
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for your opinion about fonts and color schemes. Thinking about the field you are in and
your company, pick three possible fonts and color schemes. In a memo to your boss, explain
why you think the fonts and colors would be appropriate for your business. Chapter 8 can
help you organize the content for your memo. (LO3, LO4)
3. You work for Mayfield Medical Center (MMC) in its human resources department. MMC’s
policy is that whenever someone leaves a position in any department, a department
supervisor must submit a proposal to human resources to request to fill the position.
Human resources must then approve the request before the position can be filled. The
approval process allows MMC to evaluate which positions are truly necessary and to
allocate its open positions to the most needy departments.
Because your office has used the same instructions for the proposal for many years, people
have continually added to the instructions without much thought to their look, organization,
and readability. As a result, the instructions are a mess, and you decide to revise them so
that the layout, font, colors, and other visual elements result in a form that is clear,
readable, and visually appealing. The instructions you need to revise are as follows:
Mayfield Medical Center Request to Fill a Position:
To request a position in your department, submit a one-page proposal in which you describe
the position qualifications, why it was originally staffed, why you need it to continue to be
staffed, the cost, the consequences of not staffing the position, why the duties of the position
are unique to your department, and other options you have considered. Be sure to organize the
the position cannot be done in fewer hours. In describing the history of the position, describe
how the person in this position helps you achieve your department goals. Use data to explain
the consequences of not replacing the position. Data include volume trends in your
department, productivity measures, efficiency measures, and other department-specific
measures that support your need for the position. If it’s a part-time position, explain why you
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4. Using a student group, company, non-profit organization, or other organization, design a
brochure for an event, product, or service. Then, write the text so that it would be
appropriate for content on the organization’s website. As your instructor directs, explain
your design choices to your client or student group for the web and print documents. When
you write the web document, be sure to think critically about which information appears on
the page the reader sees and which information you will link to other pages. (LO1–LO4,
LO5, LO10)
5. You have recently assumed the responsibility of assembling your company’s team for a city-
wide summer softball league. You inherited last year’s form, and you don’t want to use it in
its current format. Redesign the form so that the layout, fonts, and visual elements conform
to the principles of document design. (LO1–LO4)
6. Find a business website, letter, memo, report, brochure, or other document. As your
instructor directs, write a letter report, memo report, or formal report to the company
evaluating the document according to the principles of document design. Include a copy of
or link to the original document. See Chapters 11 and 12 for more information on report
writing. (LO1–LO4, LO8, LO9)