TCOM 2010 – Technical Writing Document Design Elements and Ethics
General Principles
Closeness / Proximity
Alignment
Repetition
Contrast
Example of magazine document design
Example of academic paper document design
Page-Level
Paper Size
Margins
Page Numbering
Running Headers/Footers
Block Format vs. Indenting
Page Breaks
Paragraph-Level
Justification
Line Leading
Spacing between Paragraphs
Heading Hierarchies
Heading Spacing
Font-Level
Typeface Appropriateness
Point Size
Serif / Sans Serif
Italics vs. Underlining
Spacing after Periods
Hyphens, En-Dashes, and Em-Dashes
Bullets vs. Numbers
Graphs, Charts, and Tables
Text in Tables
Titles and Captions
Choosing Appropriate Visual Representations