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November 30, 2021

10 Design Rules for Formal Documents



Formal reports can be an essential part of any good business or academic project. These documents are typically used to inform the reader about your business, product, or project, so it is important that they are presented in a clear, concise, and professional manner. A successful formal report will include the right combination of text, images, and symbols, allowing the reader to grasp the information quickly.



Follow the Design Rules for Your Documents

Many people do not know that the way they design their formal documents (e.g., business presentations, personal letters, etc.) has an impact on the way they are perceived. To make sure you are doing the correct way, use the following design rules for formal documents:

  1. Just keep it simple. A formal document is always better if it is kept simple, but most users are reluctant to delete unnecessary content. This can make documents more difficult to read, but it is an important lesson that companies must learn.
  2. Select context-appropriate typeface. Formal documents have specific expectations for the information they provide. It is important to choose an appropriate typeface, which helps maintain the integrity of the document’s reading experience. Most people are more familiar with sans-serif typefaces, which are easier to read, especially at smaller sizes. Also, serif typefaces are recommended for more formal documents since they are perceived to be more authoritative. Moreover, serif typefaces are recommended for longer documents since they are perceived to be more powerful.
  3. Stick to the standard font size and color. Of all the design principles for writing a formal document, the ability to use a standard font size and a standard font color is probably one of the most important. The lack of a standard font size and color is a common thread through many of the most common writing problems, from illegible text to garbled text, from a lack of readability to a lack of clarity. When there is a lack of a standard font size and color, it is difficult to know how large or small to make your text, and it is equally difficult to know how large or small to make your font color. The result is that it is easy to go too large or too small, thereby impairing readability and diminishing clarity.
  4. Use standard margins and page size. Have you ever seen a formal document with really large margins? Have you ever wondered why the paper is the only format for documents like this? The answer is simple: standard page size (8½” x 11” Letter size) and standard margins (1-inch margin on all sides) act as guides for good document design. Using these two design rules is an effective way to improve the appearance of your documents and help you create professional documents that are easy to read and understand.
  5. Paragraphs are always in the left alignment. This style is a great way to format a paragraph by aligning the left margin of the first line of a paragraph with the left margin of the first line of the next paragraph. A notable exception to this rule is when a line break occurs within a paragraph. A line break usually takes up space that is not available to other text elements. In that case, the default is to align the right margin of the first line of a paragraph with the right margin of the first line of the next paragraph.
  6. The first line of a paragraph should be indented. In common writing practice, it’s common to indent the first line of every paragraph. However, it’s also common to see many text documents where the first line of each paragraph is indented. Why? To keep the first lines of the paragraphs aligned with the first lines of the succeeding paragraphs. This is helpful because it makes the text flow better and helps users understand where they are in the document on the first read.
  7. Images are placed in between paragraphs. We’ve all seen it. The image goes above the text but doesn’t quite fill the space. It’s almost as if the image is competing for attention with the surrounding text. It’s probably time that you consider using images that are placed between paragraphs. Why would anyone want that? Well, for starters, it’s a good way to break up paragraphs of text. Placing images within paragraphs of text also gives you more room for captions.
  8. Select the context-appropriate line spacing. Line spacing is one of the most important aspects of design (and the one most people overlook), and it can make an enormous difference in the readability and legibility of documents. Double-spacing is a common style in academic papers and documents for a few reasons: it is the appropriate and most economical way to space at least one inch between each line of text, and it naturally suggests to the reader that they should be paying attention to the text after the first line.
  9. Break up the walls of the text with lists and headings. One of the most important aspects of designing a formal document is to make it easy to read and understand without looking like a science textbook. The most common mistakes in formatting are misusing headings, using too many lists, and failing to use line breaks to divide sections. For example, in a document, formatting should be consistent. That is, the same style should be used for headings, lists, tables, and paragraph text. Headings and subheadings are used to guide the reader’s eye and break up large blocks of text. Bullets and indentations are used to indicate key points and group-related information. Lists are used as a way of providing key information in a single place.
  10. Format your document the clean way – use section breaks. With so many new apps and websites, many people are struggling to keep up with all the information they need in one place. One of the most important rules in graphic design is to keep sections of your documents separate. Why? Because this provides a clear visual hierarchy and helps break up the overwhelming amount of information you might be digesting in one sitting. 
  11. Think long term. In the case, you’ll need to expand your business, and will need localization services- your design will have to live across multiple languages and markets.

Whether you’re writing a will, writing a business letter, or creating a formal business plan, it’s vital that you stick to the design rules for formal documents—and that you’re consistent in the rules you use.



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