User`s manual

Make a plan.
Decide which elements are the most important, and develop a layout plan that reflects that
ranking. You may find it easiest to make a rough layout on paper before you start work at the
computer.
Think visually.
Design should communicate your message, not distract from it. All design elements, including
illustrations, should be chosen because they reinforce your ideas, rather than for appearance
alone.
Keep it simple.
A simple layout is not only easier for you to handle, it’s also easier for the reader to take in.
Design the parts with the whole in mind.
You want everything the reader sees at one time to work together, and you want all parts of the
document to coordinate. A successful design integrates all elements, so that each contributes to
communication. Think at least in terms of a page, and better yet, in terms of two-page spreads,
and use those basic units to build the whole.
Don’t be afraid to borrow ideas.
Look at layouts you like, think through what you like about them, and then put what you’ve
learned to use.
Get help if you can.
If possible, find someone who knows about design to give you feedback on your preliminary
layout. Then incorporate that feedback into your final version.
Experiment.
Try different fonts and different layouts until you arrive at the combination that works best.
You can preview your work on the screen, and of course you can also print samples to see how
your choices actually look.
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Suggestions for further reading
Books on design would fill a library, but here are a few suggestions for further reading.
Bove, Tony, Cheryl Rhodes, and Wes Thomas. The Art of Desktop Publishing. New York: Bantam,
1986.
This is a good general overview of desktop publishing, although some of its specific hardware
and software coverage either doesn’t pertain to the Macintosh world or is out of date.
Carter, Rob, Ben Day, and Philip Meggs. Typographic Design: Form and Communication. New
York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1985.