Visual Design and Presentation of Business Documents

Yong-Kang Wei

Print Price: 

$25.00

E-book Price: 

$15.00

In Stock: 

July 10, 2010

Year of Copyright: 

2009

Number of Pages: 

95

Print ISBN: 

978-1-60649-031-0

E-book ISBN: 

978-1-60649-032-7

Business executives and professionals are frequently facing the challenge of how to effectively package or design information in their documents: to appeal to readers visually and, at the same time, to get messages across to them quickly, without wasting time. However, understanding principles of visual communication and applying them in document design is not necessarily complicated. This booklet, based on my years of teaching experiences, will hit the basics by explaining in a nutshell how information design can be effectively done through three fundamental approaches: namely, cultural, textual, and psychological.

The cultural approach will inform the reader of cultural contexts surrounding design decisions: for example, the layout of a design, or symbols chosen for cueing purposes. The textual approach will illustrate how document design can be dissected into four different levels and how these levels, with each serving a unique function, are then integrated into making the coherent whole of a document. The four levels are as follows: intra-textual, inter-textual, extra-textual, and supra-textual. The psychological approach deals with design from the point of view of readers’ psychological expectations, which can impact the way readers process and even interpret information. Because this book is about visual design, every approach will be illustrated with ample visual examples.

Apart from the three fundamental approaches in design, the main body of the booklet will include a chapter on design pitfalls, to warn the reader of common errors that amateur designers tend to make in design: for example, the abusive use of visual technology and obsession with decoration. The chapter will advise the reader, among others, of the needs to coordinate visuals with messages and to prioritize the functional over the beautiful. The booklet will also begin with some error examples (in introduction part) in an attempt to arouse the learners’ immediate interest in visual communication and to inform them of potential benefits that come with grasping basic design knowledge.